Top 10 bands you must watch at Damnation Festival 2025
Carving its place in the metal calendar, Damnation Festival is one of the scene’s biggest success stories. Rewind two decades to 2005, and from a small but major statement of intent at the sadly now defunct Jilly’s Rockworld in Manchester, and over the following 20 years, the festival has grown to hold a respectable title of the biggest indoor extreme metal festival in Europe. With an arsenal of highlights – BOLT THROWER in 2014, AT THE GATES performing Slaughter Of The Soul in its entirety in 2022’s Manchester debut (we spoke with head honcho Gavin McInally, which you can read here), or last year’s jaw-dropping Hatred For Mankind set from DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT – it’s fitting that Damnation 2025 is pulling out all the stops to celebrate its milestone anniversary. In quite possibly the most stacked lineup we’ve seen on our shores, over the course of two days, there’s a feast of talent to experience. Here’s 10 bands you cannot afford to miss.
PANZERFAUST – Holy Goat Brewing Stage, Saturday – November 8th
They may have a career that matches Damnation, but its only been in recent years where Canadian black metal horde PANZERFAUST have broken out of the underground. Their recent run of The Suns Of Perdition album series (beginning with 2019’s Chapter I: War, Horrid War) has established the band as a truly intimating force and Damnation will be their hunting ground. Armed with last year’s staggeringly colossal The Suns Of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion, expect a primal, misanthropic, and utterly venomous offering from one of black metal’s hottest properties.
MESSA – Pins & Knuckles Stage, Saturday – November 8th
Damnation Festival has a habit of booking sleeper hits and this year, we anticipate that award to land firmly with MESSA. The Italians really turned heads with 2022’s Close and with this year’s The Spin, arguably an album of the year contender, in their locker, their mid-afternoon set on Saturday is set to be special. Just like PSYCHEDELIC WITCHCRAFT in 2016, with MESSA, we’ll be treated to a truckload of killer riffs, hypnotic leads and a powerhouse vocal performance from frontwoman Sara. Nestled between the trad metal theatrics of CASTLE RAT and the crushing modern grooves of ORBIT CULTURE, MESSA will be your perfect palate cleanser.
SPECTRAL WOUND – Cult Never Dies Stage, Sunday – November 9th
Canada has a reputation for producing killer black metal, as PANZERFAUST the day before can attest to, and in SPECTRAL WOUND, Damnation has arguably one of the most exciting new names in black metal. Last year’s Songs of Blood and Mire catapulted the band to new-found heights, with their brand of black metal as ferocious as it is catchy. Just as we witnessed at this year’s Inferno Metal Festival, at Damnation, we expect SPECTRAL WOUND to be utter carnage; especially with the likes of Fevers & Suffering and Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal in their locker. The speed will be relentless and will serve as the perfect adrenaline shot for the final stretch of the festival.
HELLRIPPER – Cult Never Dies Stage, Sunday – November 9th
Festivals of Damnation‘s flavourings are perfect for black thrash, given the audience and their appetite for chaos. And year after year, we’ve seen rooms become a sea of flying limbs and surfing bodies. Just as HELLRIPPED achieved in 2021, the final time the festival would take place at Leeds University, their return to Damnation‘s 20 year birthday bash is set to be a spectacle. The band have grown in stature in the four years since they last graced the festival, with 2023’s Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags elevating HELLRIPPER to greater heights. Nestled away on the Cult Never Dies Stage, for those who don’t fancy the emotive post-hardcore offerings from DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL, expect a blistering black thrash attack, swirling pits that never cease in intensity, and a sea of bodies cascading over the barrier as one of our finest black thrash acts proudly flies the flag for British metal on home soil.
PERTURBATOR – Pins & Knuckles Stage, Saturday – November 8th
The overlap between synthwave and metal is a curious venn diagram, but the more darker strokes of the synth brush are right at home at Damnation Festival. Just as the more progressive-leaning RADAR Festival has welcomed the likes of CARPENTER BRUT and THE MIDNIGHT to their stage, Damnation Festival 2025 has a number of synth-laden offerings this year. And PERTURBATOR is the cream of the crop. Helmed by James Kent, PERTURBATOR has been a welcome storm at numerous festivals on our shores over the years, with performances at ArcTanGent and the aforementioned RADAR Festival in recent years showing that a darksynth rave can fit right in among the blast beats. At Damnation, with the penultimate slot on the Pins & Knuckles Stage, expect an aural voyage chartered by pulsing electronics, thick industrial tones and enough pulsing rhythms to place you firmly in the world of Blade Runner. What’s more metal than that?
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY – Pins & Knuckles Stage, Saturday – November 8th
To be a truly memorable main stage headliner, you have to have something special up your sleeve. And over Damnation‘s history, they’ve had their fair share of blockbuster headliners. The aforementioned BOLT THROWER in 2014 instantly springs to mind, but there’s BLOODBATH in 2017, CARCASS in 2021, or CONVERGE performing Jane Doe in full in 2022, take your pick. Whilst NAPALM DEATH firmly retain their worthy headliner status with a masterclass of grindcore planned for Sunday, Saturday’s responsibility falls to CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, a masterstroke of a booking. The veteran metallers have long been a established name with a career spanning a staggering 40 plus years. As such, they have an arsenal of headliner-worthy anthems at their disposal, with the likes of Vote With A Bullet, Albatross, Wiseblood and of course, Clean My Wounds all set to leave their mark. And there could be a sniff of new material with reports of a new double album set to drop in 2026, Damnation could be our first opportunity. Having experienced CORROSION OF CONFORMITY cap off a festival in grand fashion at Desertfest London two years ago, we can expect a fitting and anthemic conclusion to day one of Damnation Festival 2025.
PIG DESTROYER – Meliora Software Stage, Sunday – November 9th
Their third visit, American grindcore veterans PIG DESTROYER return to Damnation to ignite bedlam once again. 2022 saw the band perform the classic Prowler In The Yard, and as good as that album-focused set was, we’re hotly anticipating a much more varied set this time round. Expect a ton of ferocious slabs from Book Burner, Phantom Limb and Terrifyer to accompany the classic Prowler In The Yard cuts, as the band will keep the adrenaline surging from minute one through to its explosive finish by hitting double figures in record time. Experiencing grindcore live can be exhilarating and if PIG DESTROYER fire on all cylinders, expect a high-octane show that gets you warmed up for ANAAL NATHRAKH who follow immediately after.
GAEREA – Lou’s Brews Stage, Saturday – November 8th
Portugal’s GAEREA are showing no signs of slowing down, with the anonymous black metal collective exploding from the black metal underground to now seemingly expanding beyond the initial traits of the genre. It’s an evolution that is seeing GAEREA establish themselves as a genuinely special band, with last year’s Coma signally the beginning of this shift, albeit a brilliant one. Live too, the band have been transformative. Initial performances on our shores were damn impressive, but recently, sets at last year’s Fortress Festival and this year’s Inferno Metal Festival have shown a new level to GAEREA‘s live performances. And it’s jaw-dropping to experience. Their placement to close the festival’s Holy Goat Brewing Stage on Saturday looks set to be one that will long in the memory, and be yet another fabled chapter of this special festival.
HIDDEN MOTHERS – Meliora Software Stage, Sunday – November 9th
Damnation has long held a proud tradition of elevating bands from the underground to give them a much bigger and brighter spotlight. For some who take hold of the opportunity, it can open the door to greater things. CONJURER and SVALBARD in 2016, M∅L in 2018, WINTERFYLLETH in 2012, GREEN LUNG in 2022, the list goes on. This year, it seems fitting that we are expecting the same profile boost for Sheffield collective HIDDEN MOTHERS. Since forming in 2019, the band’s brand of post-black metal has worked a treat in the UK heavy music scene, reinforced through the release of debut album, Erosion / Avulsion, via the respectable Church Road Records. Not to mention the band members’ prolific engagement in the festival’s brilliantly ran forum on Facebook, HIDDEN MOTHERS at Damnation looks set to be a match made in heaven, and the perfect way to kickstart day two.
CASTLE RAT – Pins & Knuckles Stage, Saturday November 8th
New York City’s CASTLE RAT have enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity this year. Last year’s Into The Realm, very much living up to its namesake, has transported the metal world into their handcrafted fantasy lore, and soundtracked by a doomy heavy metal flare, it’s cool as hell. It might be technically be the Year of the Snake, but CASTLE RAT are trying their damn hardest to make it the Year of the Rat. Sophomore effort The Bestiary, and a heaving UK debut at this year’s Desertfest London has only reinforced the hype. Their live show is extremely theatrical, trust us on this one, and benefitting from the extra space granted by Damnation‘s Pins & Knuckles main stage, this is set to be one of the most visually striking and entertaining sets of the day. All hail The Rat Queen!
And that’s just scratching the surface of what this year’s Damnation Festival has to offer. Whether it’s a grindcore masterclass from NAPALM DEATH, having your head caved in from AMENREA and ANAAL NATHRAKH, basking in old school thrash from ONSLAUGHT, or shedding a tear to OVERHEAD, THE ALBATROSS, on this beautifully curated bill, Damnation Festival is THE extreme music event of the year. Happy Birthday Damnation, here’s to the next 20 years. We’ll see you down the front.
Damnation Festival 2025 takes place at BEC Arena, Manchester from 8th November – 9th November 2024. Tickets are available now and can be purchased here.
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