Live Review : Damnation Festival 2021 - "A Night Of Salvation"

We ended our Damnation 2019 review by stating that we were already counting down the 365 days till the next one. Well, we got that spectacularly wrong, didn’t we? Damnation 2021 has been a long-time coming and has faced many hurdles during its elongated gestation period. But here we are back together once more at Leeds University Students Union.

A Damnation preshow is not in itself a new concept. For the last ten years Night of Salvation has taken place at Temple of Boom and featured a roster of emerging local acts (many of whom would go on to the play the main event in subsequent years). This Year, Gav and co have decided to go for broke and pull out all the stops.  Night of salvation has been upgraded to the main refectory at the Union and they have secured not one but four world exclusive sets. The strength of the evenings building is most significantly illustrated by the fact that the fan-boy dream of a besuited Akercoke playing a one-off rendition of “Goat of Mendes” is first out the traps.

Extreme Metal is a bit like your first experience of beer as a young teen. Initially you cannot fathom what people see in. It tastes harsh and unpalatable. However over time the subtle textures and tastes start to emerge. You become aware of the layers and the way that the preliminary coarseness actually is a myriad of distinct and contrasting flavours. “Goat of Mendes” is exactly the same. The un-initiated may see it as wall of corrosive noise, but actually it is a highly complex ecosystem of delicately balanced musical elements. Tonight, Akercoke present it attired the same way that they were in the noughties, namely suited and booted. There is wonderfully contrast between their debonair appearance and the utter satanic noise that erupts from the stage. Jason, Sam, Fredico and Paul stand in a foreboding line at the very lip of the stage adding to the feeling of utter intensity.

“Goat of Mendes” is twenty years old but does not seem to have dated in any way. In fact, its sonic assault still feels remarkably fresh and current. Its blood-curdling screams, throbbing synths and pulsating riffs bond create an emotive and hypnotic atmosphere that drags the listener in. It is obvious that the band are chuffed by the adulation that they are being afforded. Jason, with some pride, commends the faithful that had followed their lead and also turned up in suits. Akercocke live are always are always a highly emotive experience but tonight takes it to another level. It is a fantastic mix of nostalgia and sentiment, a long over-due celebration of a landmark record. As the final notes of the set ring out you can feel the waves of adulation. What a way to start the weekend. 

After the utter wonderance that was Akercocke the question is where do you go from there, but then Svalbard sidle up and go “You thought that was poignant, nah this is how you do poignant”. “When I die, will I get better?” is a deeply personal tome. Tonight, for one show only they play it in full and it becomes apparent how much of herself Serna Cherry has put into the eight tracks.  She lives and breathes every syllable that she howls. ‘Listen to Someone’ is highly autobiographical and details her ongoing fight with depression. She uses it to thank her band mates for sticking with her through the rough and the smooth.

You can tell that detailing her personal struggles in song is both highly cathartic and also immensely draining for her. By the time we reach final track ‘Pearlescent ‘ it has all become too much “This is a love song” she proclaims, “But I can’t’ sing the words now as they will make me cry, so we are going to do it as an instrumental.” It is that rawness and honesty that is at the heart of both “When I die will I get better?” and Svalbard as a band. There is no show or pretence, what we get is a genuine glimpse into the issues that effect Serna. Essentially it is the contents of her soul put to music. But it isn’t always dark and jagged. There are parts which are blissful, transcendental and incredibly joyful. The fact that she sports a big grin for all of the set is not inconsequential. She is exorcizing her demons and it was an utter honour to be a part of that.

Orange Goblin are proper route 101 Metal. Big, ballsy and drenched in the blues that was the spark that ignited this whole style of music over fifty years ago. Their contribution to the deck of special sets is to chronologically take us through their whole career with one (and in some cases two) tracks from every album. As we said in our Bloodstock review it is obvious that Orange Goblin arrived in a fully formed state. There is very little progression and evolution between 1997’s “Saruman’s Wish” and 2018’s “Sons of Salem,” and that is because there didn’t need to be. Orange Goblin do what they do remarkably and consistently well. Tonight, they are strident and in utter control. “Let’s Party” bellows man mountain of frontperson Ben Ward and then produces an hour and fifteen minutes of music to drink beer and bang your head to. Utterly utterly wonderful.

The signs had not been good. Earlier on in the day Raging Speedhorn had been posting pictures online of a gigantic pre show bar tab from TGI Friday and it seems that a lot of those sticking around for their gone midnight set where doing so in the hope it would be a car crash event like their recent Nottingham show. Well, they will be disappointed as tonight Speedhorn are nothing short of phenomenal.  Festival organiser Gavin McInally stated on Saturday that they actually play better drunk, and he is not wrong. They may all be all about seven sheets to the wind, but they still manage to be tight, taut, and utterly brutal. They stage is a whirlwind of bodies as dual frontmen Frank and Daniel hurl themselves around like Sumo wrestlers on speed. 

The energy exuding from the stage manages to wipe the audience into a massive, frenzied maelstrom. The front becomes an all-consuming tempest of limbs and bare flesh. They are performing their first album in full tonight, but frankly they could be playing the hits of Daniel O’Donnell and still get the same reaction and level energy from the crowd as they are simply that good. Normally sedate individuals (including the two festival organisers) are gripped by the pits gravitational pull and enslaved to join its swirling depths.

There are not the words to do justice to exactly how intense and utterly wonderful Raging Speedhorn are for their fifty minutes on stage. They capture everything that makes this music so exciting. The danger, the chaos, but most of all that communal experience of togetherness. For the duration of their set everyone in that room (including the band) are joined in an unholy matrimony of exhilaration and passion. Bonded together by the utter love for this music that means so much to all of us. And that is only the warm up, there is another day and 27 bands to come…..