Live Review: A Night of Salvation / Damnation Festival 2024

Taking place on Saturday November 2nd, 2024, (With the pre-show, A Night of Salvation taking place the day before) at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Manchester and spread across three stages, Damnation Festival is Europe’s biggest indoor extreme metal festival.

This was only our second time at Damnation, and our first at the BEC, but just like the 2021 edition, we have come away super-satisfied and determined to make it a yearly event for us going forward now. Not just because of an array of outstanding bands drawn from an array of interesting genres, but because of how well run the festival was and how enjoyable our overall experience was. We had a great time at the festival, which includes A Night of Salvation, and you can watch our in-depth review of the festival experience below.

This review is going to cover the bands, and we saw a hell of a lot.

A Night of Salvation

Insanity Alert

Train cancellations and delays meant we didn’t arrive at the site until the festival had kicked off, missing the first bands, but getting in to see thrash party punk band, Insanity Alert fire off some heavied-up covers. What would undoubtably be fun in a different environment doesn’t go down too well here, and the sound in the cavernous hanger-style room does them no favours.

Sugar Horse

Whereas Sugar Horse sound immense over on the Pelagic Records stage (the smallest of the three), delivering the new tracks from their latest album with such style and even more grace. Their music is all about the nuances, and the sound on this stage ensures all the detail is heard. Hell, even the crowd is (mostly) respectful during the ‘quieter’ moments. Another epic showing from a band who just keep getting better and better.

Discharge

Over on the big stage (Lou’s Brews), it’s hardcore punk time as Discharge are playing their ‘Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing’ album in full. Of course, that does mean a casual listener isn’t going to be as invested as others, which is very much the case here. It’s enjoyably noisy and likably chaotic, but that’s about it.

Morne

One the bands of the entire festival, Morne’s heavy and atmospheric doom-infused misery is freaking mesmerising. Time seems to disappear in an instant and the longer it goes on, the more it impresses. It might be super-serious music, but it is pure auditory pleasure when heard in this environment.

A Burial at Sea

A truly joyful set from A Burial at Sea. The crowd were awe-struck, but that also came from the band who looked so happy to be playing. The circumstance that resulted in them replacing Hippotraktor on this bill was very unfortunate, but A Burial at Sea made sure to take everyone in attendance away with them.

Employed to Serve

A hit of energy is needed and the mighty Employed to Serve have exactly what we need, even if it is an album in full set. The album in question is Conquering though and that’s got many banging tracks on it. Bringing the fire, literally, this an adrenaline boost and they sound immense on the big stage. The big smile on faces afterwards tells you all you need to know about this show.

A Swarm of the Sun

Tired legs and minds after one hell of a day travelling (as well as very long week), meant that A Swarm of the Sun’s brooding and melodramatic soundscape doesn’t quite hit as it should. It’s not them, they do sound incredible, but we need something to wake us up.

Mizmor

Which is where the nihilism of Mizmor’s black, death, and doom soundscape comes in. On a night of varied sounds, something this fast and furious might not stand out, but the turbulent approach here is startlingly good, and even more intense. As a final band of the night for us, it’s a garishly lovable way to end A Night of Salvation.

Damnation Festival

Enforced

A new day, a fresh day, and having (finally) caught up on some sleep, we were raring to go for Damnation, choosing to start our day off with some ‘in your face’ thrash that just so happens to groove here and there. It’s Enforced, and they set the bar high for heaviness immediately.

A.A. Williams

You won’t find many voices stronger and more captivating than A.A. Williams, and this heavily atmospheric set shouldn’t sound as impressive as it does on the big stage (Pins & Knuckles), but it really does. That being said, you really have to be a certain mood to fully get into it, and this early in the day, it’s not quite holding the attention. Stunning, yes, but interesting? Not so much.

Gillian Carter

Making their UK debut, we went to watch Gillian Carter on a recommendation and came away so pleased with their absolute manic performance. Even with some sound issues, they still delivered a stellar set of explosive noise that will live long in the memory. They earned themselves new fans on this showing.

Celeste

A band that seemed to take many by surprise, seemingly not expecting them to sound as heavy as they do, Celeste create a strong sense of dark drama on the big stage. Utilising darkness and head torches to give a sense of otherworldliness, alongside a powerful (albeit, questionable) showing of the video that goes alongside ‘Le Cœur Noir Charbon’. Many walk away having been shaken by the experience of Celeste live.

Gatecreeper

The big stage is feeling a bit fuller, but for good reason. Gatecreeper have arrived and with them comes an absolute brutal showing of death metal that creates carnage in the pit. Tight and energetic, Gatecreeper are on form and deliver their set with the kind of poise that comes from a band at the top of their game.

200 Stab Wounds

Speaking of being at the top of their game, 200 Stab Wounds are on the form of their lives here. Sounding bloodier and gorier than ever, the medium stage (Holy Goat Brewing) has already seen its fair share of pits, but the ones that kick off for this band is something else entirely. Pure aural violence.

Ne Obliviscaris

Whereas with Ne Obliviscaris you want to hear the nuances, feel the different shades of progressive metal washing over you, and be lost to the melody, while banging your head as hard as possible. Happily, that is exactly what we got here, an unforgettable live experience. Have you ever seen a violin played with that much vigour before?

Fuming Mouth

Pulling in a huge crowd, Fuming Mouth is a popular one, but due to a clash with another band, we only watched a little bit of the death metal band’s set. Unsurprisingly, it was going freaking hard.

Hangman’s Chair

The band of the festival, the sludgy and stoner sound of Hangman’s Chair is on a different level and the small stage (Eyesore Merch) is decimated by the heaviness of their sound. However, it’s not just the music (which sounds immense), but how they perform that sticks. Moving around with so much energy and looking like they were loving every moment of the show. Outstanding stuff.

Nails

What you want to hear? That Nails were f**king heavy? That Nails were stupidly brutal? That Nails were one of the most explosive bands of the entire festival? That their pits were downright dangerous? That the recovery from their show might take a few more days? Well, you already know that all of this applies here, and then some. Nails brought it and brought it harder than anyone could have ever hoped for.

Memoriam

Not quite as hard, but equally as lovable, Memoriam never disappoint, and once again, it’s a strong showing from the death metal heavyweights, and as always, vocalist Karl Willetts looks like he is having the best time on stage.

Bleeding Through

Meh. It was hard to get too excited about a full showing of the ‘This is Love, This is Murderous’ album (which they didn’t actually do anyway), but when the sound was as poor as it was (at least for the first few songs), this Bleeding Through show ended up being one of the worst of the festival sadly.

Inter Arma

Whereas Inter Arma might take first place for being the heaviest. Seriously? What the actual f**k was going on here and how did they manage to pull it off and still have so much detail in their songs? Dissonant heaviness at its most extreme.

Russian Circles

It’s fair to say that an hour of instrumental post metal this late in the festival isn’t going to be for everyone, but those who have come to the big stage are as transfixed as we were for this incredible band’s set. Everything stunning (which is a lot) about this band on record is enhanced live, and the sound on the big stage does a great job of capturing all their detail. Once again, a huge number of people (including us) are captivated.

Ahab

Following that, it’s fair to say that some straight-forward death or thrash metal would be nice, but Ahab’s funeral doom will have to do instead. No complaints though, it is the kind of ugly noise that goes down nicely at the end of the night.

Cradle of Filth

Considering all that has been seen, it does feel a little strange to be experiencing Cradle of Filth as the final band of the festival. There’s nothing nuanced here, especially when they’re providing us with an ‘old-school set’, and for many, it’s a underwhelming way to end the night. For everyone else though, us included, it’s a blast of classic Cradle from a band not just capable of still delivering these tracks, but a band arguably doing it better than ever. They look like it’s fun, Dani is shadowboxing and bouncing on the spot non-stop, and the pyro is out in full force for a delightfully horror-laden closing set.

We loved our time at Damnation 2024, and with the festival celebrating 20 years next year and going to a full weekend, you can bet on us being there again!