FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Download Festival 2022
Is there a sweeter time than festival season? The sun is shining (albeit intermittently), tents are receiving an overdue airing out, and the booze aisles of many a supermarket are being pillaged for a cheeky cold one. The DS team ride at dawn and are set to descend upon the first full-on Download Festival in almost three years. Donington Park will be teeming with ecstatic festival goers as a stacked line-up takes over. Pouring over the Clashfinder website deliberating how to be in multiple places at once? Let us as Distorted Sound help you out as we look across all three days and all four stages.
Friday June 10
Starting as Download Festival means to go on, the festival kicks off with metal darlings HERIOT on The Dogtooth Stage. With material from Profound Morality looking to dot the set, we’re sure to open with a bang. For those looking for a steadier start to proceedings, A.A WILLIAMS will be serenading The Dogtooth Stage with her alluringly simple brand of all things heavy. Meanwhile, The Avalanche Stage will welcome blistering sets from rock upstarts AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS and pop-punk trio MEET ME @ THE ALTAR. As the sun starts to sink low in the sky, the enigmatic SLEEP TOKEN will undoubtedly attract a huge crowd to The Avalanche Stage after a gem of a set at Download Pilot.
Over on the newly branded Opus Stage (always Second Stage in our hearts) MYLES KENNEDY & COMPANY grace us with the first of two visits from Kennedy across the weekend before LACUNA COIL remind us of just why we adore gothic metal. Rounding off Opus’ evening will be the incredible FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES promising a boisterous live set like no other. The rebranded Apex Stage seeks to give us the top tier talent within the rock and metal scene. With the likes of BURY TOMORROW and SKINDRED primed to drop the sets of their careers, the name could well be fitting. Drawing the Friday to a close, the DS team will be donning the face paint and enough hairspray to incapacitate those within a three-mile radius for the return of KISS. With Gene Simmons recently declaring the band is looking to retire while they’re ahead, it will be interesting to see what the rock titans bring to the table.
Saturday June 11
Day two has us spoilt for choice from the off with THE RAVEN AGE opening Apex Stage to blow away the cobwebs and bleary eyes from the night before. With the theme of the fancy dress being nu-metal, it seems a crime that DEATH BLOOMS are playing early on the Saturday, but The Dogtooth Stage is in for annihilation from the Liverpudlians. Fans of the heavier the better may find themselves wanting to camp out at the smaller stage as a triple bill of death metal from VENOM PRISON, scorching heavy metal with BLEED FROM WITHIN, and DYING FETUS paves the way for a headliner from the almighty SEPULTURA. Don’t let us dissuade you from moving however as death metal takes over The Avalanche Stage in the form of LOATHE. The beloved HOLDING ABSENCE will be capturing hearts shortly after, before the tag team of CREEPER and FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND sweep us away in a sea of newfound emo nostalgia.
Sad Girl Summer begins for CASSYETTE and her fusion of pop-rock over on Opus Stage. We also have a ferocious set from recent cover stars MALEVOLENCE who bring us Malicious Intent to sink our teeth in to. Throw in live performances from horror-metallers ICE NINE KILLS and the long-awaited return of MASTODON and MEGADETH – Opus Stage is shaping up to be a point of interest. Attention grabbing Apex Stage will feature the legendary Zakk Wylde as he brings BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to the Donington Chapter, the militant SHINEDOWN seek to offer us an insight into upcoming album Planet Zero, and the captivating DEFTONES will sate our need for alt-rock goodness. Saturday night is all about IRON MAIDEN however as the monolithic metal troupe bring Senjutsu to Donington Park for a show which is always nothing short of a spectacle.
Sunday June 12
Hangovers well and truly present, Sunday morning’s offerings look to clear foggy heads in quick fashion with in-your-face-punk from WARGASM, hardcore quartet STATIC DRESS, and clown-metallers THE INJESTER opening three out of the four stages. Appearing for the first time at Download Festival, drag artist BIMINI brings their British punk to sashay all over The Dogtooth Stage. PHOXJAW usher their indie Royal Swan through to set the stage for melodic death metal in the form of ORBIT CULTURE and Satanic doo-wop from TWIN TEMPLE before MYLES KENNEDY returns for an acoustic set in the tent. Alternative is the name of the game over at The Avalanche Stage as they offer THE HARA and JAMIE LENMAN. Though be forewarned of a distinct change of pace as SPIRITBOX make their long-awaited debut at Download Festival. With rumblings of line up dissatisfaction among fans, the proof will be in the pudding when The Avalanche Stage becomes Eternal Blue for 30 minutes. As BOSTON MANOR and punk stalwarts DESCENDENTS end proceedings, The Avalanche Stage will most definitely not be for the faint of heart on Sunday.
Opus Stage is the home of good ol’ fashioned hard rock with MASSIVE WAGONS and BARONESS sandwiching TREMONTI. Glam metal comes out at night as THE DARKNESS and first-time headliners STEEL PANTHER look to inject some juicy riffs and questionable humour into proceedings. The Apex Stage looks to cement itself as home to the top echelon of heavy music with Chicago heavyweights RISE AGAINST obliterating the late afternoon. Fresh from their Servant Of The Road tour Danish VOLBEAT fuse some rockabilly to the harshness, while legendary KORN mix bounce into the mosh pit with recently released Requiem. With a lot to prove and a huge first, Scottish rockers BIFFY CLYRO have the gargantuan task of bringing Download Festival to a close. Could this be a start of newer bands coming to the forefront and headlining these larger festivals? We can only hope so.
Download Festival takes place at Donington Park, Castle Donington from June 10th-12th 2022. Tickets are available now and can be purchased here.