Damnation Festival announces first wave of bands for 2026

January 12, 2026 James Weaver

Damnation Festival announces first wave of bands for 2026!

Following a blockbuster weekend to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary in 2025, Europe’s biggest indoor metal festival returns to BEC Arena, Manchester, on Saturday and Sunday, November 7th and 8th, and the first 16 bands have been revealed.

Spearheading the announcement are US hardcore stalwarts WALLS OF JERICHO and sludge veterans EYEHATEGOD, joined by British death metal legends BENEDICTION, reuniting deathgrind heroes GOREROTTED, and Belgian shoegaze standouts SLOW CRUSH.

Speaking about returning to perform at this year’s festival, GOREROTTED says, “Public Health warning! GOREROTTED are back from the dead and will be bringing the unholy racket of Mutilated In Minutes and Only Tools And Corpses to Damnation.”

Also confirmed for this year’s festival is Danish deathcore outfit CABAL, US blackened shoegaze trio HOLY FAWN, Swedish post metallers THE MOTH GATHERER, US progressive metallers RWAKE, German black metallers ULTHA, US black metallers LAMP OF MURMUUR, Dutch/Swedish D-beat group DÖDSRIT, and French industrial exports FANGE. Crossing the Atlantic for their first UK shows, post-metal/doom metallers BLACK SHEEP WALL and noise metallers INTERCOURSE will also appear. Finally, UK underground thrash/hardcore favourites MEDULLA NOCTE complete the first announcement with a return to the live circuit to play 1998 cult classic A Conversation Alone in full.

Speaking about performing at this year’s festival, MEDULLA NOCTE‘s Paul Catten shares, “it’s taken me years to feel comfortable about putting MEDULLA NOCTE back together, but now is the right time. Playing A Conversation Alone in its entirety, in tribute to the ones who have left us. And where better to conclude the story than Damnation? I’ve had the best times at this festival, and it’s an absolute honour to be asked to play again, and in the band where it all began. See you in November!”

Festival Organiser Gavin McInally says, “we’re absolutely buzzing to announce the first 16 bands, of which 14 are Damnation debuts, for this year’s edition. Having UK extreme metal legends like GOREROTTED and MEDULLA NOCTE dust themselves off to go again for a new generation of metal fans (alongside with us older buggers) is very special and we’re honoured they chose to do that at Damnation.

EYEHATEGOD are a band we’ve wanted to play our stages since 2005 but never managed to get our paths to cross so it’s brilliant to finally have them in our 21st year, while WALLS OF JERICHO will turn BEC‘s main arena into a sea of flailing limbs for their only UK show of 2026.

BENEDICTION are long overdue a return to Damnation after 18 years and to have the talents of HOLY FAWN, SLOW CRUSH, RWAKE, ULTHA, and LAMP OF MURMUUR involved is down to the sizable demand from our fans to have them play the festival. I want to give a special mention of BLACK SHEEP WALL and INTERCOURSE who will both be coming to the UK for the first time, to play Damnation. Those who don’t know them should check both out now. Incredible bands.”

Although this is an opening salvo of artists we’re hugely excited about, it’s a fraction of our main stage bill, and all six headliners over the weekend have still to be announced. So the next 32 bands are also going to be very, very special.”