Damnation Festival 2021 Preview

We stand on the edge of the precipice. This time next week we will all be deep in the bowls of the Labyrinth that is Leeds Student Union. You see, even though it felt that it would never come around, we are now a mere seven days away from Damnation 2021. Well, what a journey it has been. For obvious reasons Damnation 2020 went off with the fairies and the bill that we will feast our eyes and ears on next Saturday bears little or no resemblance to the one that they launched late last year. BUT it is testament to the tremendous work of Gavin McInally and Paul Farrington that, not only, has it been sold out since March this year, but they have managed to put together a much stronger bill than they had at the start. There is also the small matter of an absolute cracker of an opening party in the shape of Night of Salvation (this Friday, tickets still available!!!).

As you can guess we are a bit giddy about this here at ROCKFLESH towers, so let us entrance you with tales of the bands we really really can’t wait to see. Starting with the Friday and starting with start of the Friday. There is a real danger that the festival will start so big it will have no where else to go. You see first on at 8pm will be Blackened Prog legends Akercocke. An appearance by Ackercocke alone is enough for us to break out into cold sweats, but get this, its Ackercocke in suits doing their morose masterpiece “Goat of Mendes”. Our satanic ritual cup floweth over. For Akercoke devotees this is akin to the second coming, and this is going to happen once and once only next Friday (did we say tickets are still available?). And then, straight after, we have the only performance ever (apparently) of Svalbard’s extraordinary “If I Die Do I Get Better?”. Number seven in our 2020 countdown, we called it a “stunning peerless record”. It is a breathless cacophony of pain, rage, and redemption. It screams at the ills of the world, but there is also, in juxtaposition, so much positivity in the record. It is about standing tall and seeing hope in hopelessness.

To be honest we would happily go back to ROCKFLESH towers satisfied after those two, but the Saturday holds more, so much more. In terms of word of mouth there is Urne, Dvne and Green Lung. All three are kicking up a storm in underground circles. All three have released utterly magnificent albums this year. Most importantly you are going to have to get into the respective rooms early if you want to see any of them, as every other bugger (and their dog) will be attempting the same. There is also a wonderful mix of different genres. If you want thrash you’ve got Evile (going through a magnificent resurrection with Ol Drake at the mike),Video Nasties, Gama Bomb and the legends that are Onslaught (who proved at Bloodstock they are more relevant now than they have ever been).

For those wanting Black Metal there is Wode, Hellripper and Winterfylleth (in the tiny subterrain room, Jesus it’s going to be like rush hour on the central line). If you want doom there is lethargic legends Conan, if you want post there is Year of No Light, if you want old skool death there is Memoriam, if you want industrial noise there is Godflesh and if you want to stand there and think “I don’t know what this is, but it is bloody brilliant”, there is Conjurer. But, but for this particular member of ROCKFLESH’s fraternity it all pales into insignificance when it comes to the final two bands on the main stage. At 9.00pm we have Paradise Lost doing “Gothic”, having sobbed my way through them doing “Draconian Times” at Bloodstock I will have my hankies at the ready. Then at 11.00 pm, it is probably the biggest coup of them all. The return for a record breaking third headline slot of the Titan that is Carcass. They are our Velvet Underground; in that you can hear their influence in every single band that came after them. No one since Sabbath and Priest has been so influential in shaping the development and evolution of our world. And as gods descending from Valhalla, they will stand amongst us next week. And then it will be time to go try and remember where the hell we left the car. 

So have fun people, let us know if we missed out your one’s to watch (yes, I know Mountain Caller, Man must Die, Esoterica etc) and come back here early the week after to catch our unrivalled coverage of what went down in Leeds. Most of all have a good one and see you in the pit for Ackercocke.