FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Mammothfest 2018

Plummeting temperatures. Dark nights. It’s a depressing combination. And with autumn right around the corner, those halcyon days where we were all loitering in a field watching awesome bands with beers in hand certainly seem like a distant memory. Thankfully, there’s no need to reach for the Kleenex yet as Brighton’s heaviest and fiercest annual gathering is almost upon us. So, if you’re not off to Euroblast and are craving something decidedly less prog-tastic, Mammothfest is the answer to your proverbial prayers. The 2018 edition takes place from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th October across four venues and tickets start at a quite frankly, ridiculous £5 to cater for all budgets. Line-up wise, you can expect to see 50+ global musical heavyweights over the weekend with one collective goal; to lay waste to each stage and ensure every face is roasted off. Many of you will already have those schedules sorted, but for anyone who is still unsure on who to check out, Distorted Sound is here to offer up some recommendations and that all-important clashfinder general.

Friday 5 October

THE VENUES YOU’LL NEED: The Arch (Main Stage and The Hub Rikstock stage) and Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar

With a career spanning two decades, three albums and video hits reaching the millions, 2018 would see Glasgow’s BLEED FROM WITHIN return from a five-year hiatus with a colossal bang thanks to fourth opus Era’s punishing grooves and technicality. Call-to-arms anthem Crown Of Misery and riff-stomper Alive will undoubtedly devastate the hordes as the lads take The Arch main stage as Friday night’s headliner. Get ready for a lethal dose of sonic radiation as Mammothfest goes nuclear courtesy of German quintet CYTOTOXIN. Pulverising slams and riff-laden jams are guaranteed as the band’s so-called “Chernobyl death metal” incites a mass of seething pits. We just hope you’re prepared for the post-set fallout.

Harnessing the very best of both old-school and modern thrash aggression, a DIVINE CHAOS live performance is the epitome of technical brutality. Guttural rasps wrestle with mechanical blastbeats and menacing grooves whilst chaotic time signatures showcase this UK mob’s penchant for reckless ferocity. Just don’t stand right next to the speakers for this one. Drawing influences from metal, punk and drum ‘n’ bass, Brighton’s own MAGNA CARTA look set to bring the party with their plethora of cross-genre sounds. Sitting somewhere between SKINDRED and GALLOWS with a smattering of throbbing electronica chucked in for good measure, these hometown heroes will have everybody bouncing from start to finish. You’ll also get to see festival director Steve Dickson rocking out on bass. Anyone aching for a dark, fuzzed-out slab of doom should head straight to the second stage over at Sticky Mike’s for the haunting darkness of DEAD WITCHES whilst the CANNIBAL CORPSE-meets-THE HAUNTED energy of Chesterfield’s FORGOTTEN REMAINS will please any fans of old school thrash and Swedish melodic death metal.

Saturday 6 October

THE VENUES YOU’LL NEED: The Arch (Main Stage and The Hub Rikstock stage)

It’s been a challenging 12 months for DECAPITATED. The release of seventh studio opus Anticult would be overshadowed by allegations of rape and kidnap which would go on to haunt the Poland natives until all charges were dropped earlier this year. And it wouldn’t take the Mammothfest organisers long to confirm them as the very first headliner for the festival back in March:

“If you had told us nearly 10 years ago that one day we would be welcoming the mighty DECAPITATED to our stage I think we would have laughed in awe, but it is one of our proudest moments to confirm we have them!”

The tech-death titan’s headlining slot is a UK festival exclusive and is guaranteed to be as emotional as it is explosive. Miss this at your absolute peril folks. Blistering speed? Check. Punishing riffs? Check. Ferocious beatdowns? You had better believe that nihilistic kings INGESTED have all of these and more to boot. The Mancunian slam crew have long been referred to as one of Blighty’s most savage death metal acts and look set to spread the filth across the pond as they return to the US next month. Grab those earplugs and secure your place down the front well in advance. Despite having one of the grimmest monikers Distorted Sound has ever heard, musically RECTAL SMEGMA are an enticing proposition. Serving up a delectable mix of goregrind and groove-spliced death metal with just the merest hints of punk, this Netherlands collective are certainly worth checking out. KRYSTHLA’s balls-out belligerence and resolute belief that great songs will outlive any musical trend, has ensured the Northampton extreme metallers’ longevity. Word on the street is that album number three is currently a work in progress – so fingers crossed we get to hear some of that new material this weekend.

PROJECT SILENCE started life back in 2008 as an aggrotech band with a love for creating dark, oppressive soundscapes. Their 2016 signing to American label Sliptrick Records would see the Finns gravitate more towards the extreme end of the spectrum, and current EP Infinity is a bludgeoning mix of tech-death, industrial and black metal. Fans of fast and filthy riffs will want to be front and centre for the monstrous PERPETUA who will be shredding the hell out of the Rikstock Hub Stage along with flamboyant tech-death merchants EMBODIMENT, but if your tastes are more cerebral, BEYOND GRACE might just be the ticket to sonic stimulation. With brand-new single Barmecide Feast due to drop just after the festival, vocalist Andy Walmsley has promised the Nottingham omni-dimensional death metallers will not only to perform this one live, they’re also going to debut additional material from their soon-to-be-released sophomore album.

Sunday 7 October

THE VENUE YOU’LL NEED: Green Door Store

Sundays at Mammothfest are done a little bit differently with the much-anticipated Battle of the Bands final kicking things off from late morning. The running order was revealed in a live-streamed video this past weekend via Mammothfest‘s Facebook page with names being pulled at random to form the schedule. The lucky winner will be drawn after all the bands who took part have performed. Good luck to everyone involved!

It will be a bittersweet moment when local legends KING LEVIATHAN destroy the Green Door Store stage for the final time, as well as being one of the last times they’ll play a show on hometown soil. Raise a beer and your horns as Adam Sedgwick and his fellow purveyors of glorious misery unleash their unmissable brand of blackened thrash upon the baying masses. Be sure to end the weekend in style and with your craniums rattling as the lords of heavy music intended. Come join the doom cult and worship the old gods. Despite having a relatively small discography, Irish hardcore-metallers BAILER have already garnered press attention from the likes of Metal Hammer and Metal Injection, and to date have landed shows supporting NORMA JEAN, SICK OF IT ALL and PALM READER. Their latest self-titled EP screams with ambition and the four-piece’s love for throat-gargling shouts and riff-heavy hardcore is sure to devastate audiences. Expect London sextet HARBINGER to roll out an arsenal of riff-drenched maelstrom – these rising tech-metal wizards combine intricate technicality, ferocious rhythms and bursts of enticing melodies to consistently make waves in a live setting. With roots in modern American hard rock and heavy metal, the core METASOMA sound is characterised by its love for melodic vocals, crushing basslines and grooving riffs. New EP Chapter II is chock-full of headbang-worthy jams that are sure to be blasted at volume.

We’ll see you down the front!

Mammothfest 2018 takes place on 5-7th October 2018 in Brighton. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here and you can find see all the bands performing over the weekend and times via this handy clashfinder.

For more information on the festival like their official page on Facebook.