Festival Review: Damnation Festival @ Leeds University Union

Date: 5th November 2011

Reviewed by: Joseph Sheridan-Ruddy

As a resident of the People's Republic of Lancashire, one is not supposed to look forward to a trip over the border. The White Rose County should be viewed with suspicion; something to be feared and avoided.

In reality, visiting North Yorkshire is just about the closest thing a man can get to staying at home in Lancashire. The scenery is similar, the people are friendly and you can still get gravy on your chips. For this particular visit, Leeds University Union was the venue, and Damnation Festival 2011 was the event.

Damnation started life as an intimate festival to Manchester which served the purpose of filling the giant void caused by the corporate mess that has become of the UK's heavy metal festivals. It has grown steadily over the years into a multi-stage event at the giant Leeds University Union, spanning like a sacrificed goat on the giant cattle-grid of extreme music genres. In recent years the headliners have got bigger, yet the festival manages to retain its credit in the often exclusive scene.

I could write a massive review about every band I saw over the weekend, but there are countless other people who will have done this with much more knowledge of the bands, the music and their fans. Instead I will merely speak of my highlights. The first band I managed to watch after shuffling down the giant behemoth of a queue was Shining. Expecting Swedish Black Metal (turns out there are two bands called Shining), I was graced with Saxophone-led, avant-garde, jazz.

Shining are fantastic, gracefully switching between any genre you can think of in a sweeping style, with a clear ability to turn on a sixpence. They had the crowd at their mercy and it was apparent that many people hadn't been quite sure what to expect (glad it wasn't just me then).

Not many bands can drag an intro tape out for over five minutes and not enter the stage to find an empty room. With right noises and right audience, Dragged into Sunlight managed to create a dark-ambience of anticipation which makes the beginning of the set hit like a shot-gun blast in the mouth within the walls of a wooden hut in the woods. The band were easily the highlight of my day, and although fire safety issues stopped them from lighting any of their 150 candles they succeeded in manufacturing a crushing anti-image, with faceless band members and ailment-inducing strobe effects. From the queue at the merch stand from after that moment, it was clear that DIS impressed.

I must admit that I missed Devin Townsend. Drinking canned lager is a brilliant way to lose track of time.
 
My hope for Damnation is that it doesn't get too big. The crowd was buzzing all day and I didn't see one spot of trouble from anyone.

It is big enough for all to be accepted, but not too big as to lose integrity within the line-up. Bring on next year.

Tickets are no longer available for this event