Damnation Festival 2011 starts with the lame-as-fuck news breaking that Decapitated will not be performing due to a near brush with danger flying back from touring in the US. Given the death metal legend's history of fatal accidents whilst on tour one can forgive the caution in not wanting to get back on a plane, but they will be missed sorely.
With that sad news we begin another Damnation and another fine celebration of great underground and not quite so underground metal and rock acts from the past, present and future.
The ransacking grinding aggression of A Man Called Catten is something to behold, outing old material from previous bands Murder One and Medulla Nocte.
It's the first I've heard of Paul Catten but all I can say is I certainly hope this isn't going to be a one off. Catten's unhinged cries are as deranged as they are excellent, and the songs all have exactly the right mix of metal and hardcore to give a unique proposition of uncompromising heavy that I certainly wouldn't mind more of. Speculation of a possible future after today's bellowing performance makes it a distinct possibility.
Shining's blackened jazz metal, is as one would expect, intriguing- it's a fair bet this will be the only act all day that will employ a saxophone. Jørgen Munkeby's occasional sharp, rasping, brass obscenities provide amusement but when he puts down the sax for his guitar the rest of the instrumentation leaves me a little cold. The rolling riffs vary from repetitive to meandering, and my interest likewise oscillates between borderline beguiled and being a bit bored.
Better knowledge of the material previous to showing up and a greater liking of jazz would no doubt aid enjoyment, but despite misgivings overall Shining are a pleasingly daring and avant-garde act, even if what they do is almost predestined not to please everyone.
Similarly but for very different reasons, Turisas are not for everyone. The sight of six fully grown Finnish men in war paint and wearing furs and armour isn't everyone's cup of tea.
It's more than a bit daft, it's not arch-highbrow stuff and yes, they look like they've wandered in from some re-enactment society's pub crawl, but pure entertainment-wise; there is no greater band.
Every song is a saga of war, glory, and adventure, expertly delivered with quite an uplifting level of enthusiasm from the assembled battle metal-heads given it's only quarter to five in the pm.
'One More' and 'Holmgard and Beyond' rouse hearty cheers, but not as loud as the competitive chanting between the two halves of the audience for the final song; “Battle!” from the right, “Metal!” from the left. Accordingly 'Battle Metal' brings the Lord of the Rings absurdity to an end with the certainty the questing Finns can only get bigger.
Meanwhile Dragged Into Sunlight are busy wrecking on the Terrorizer stage. A personal favourite for this year, this outfit's specialism is in nihilistic, sludgey black metal. Grim as it gets, not to mention fucking noisy, the effect is set off with animal skulls and unlit candles (possibly a philosophical statement, possibly fire safety) and the band face away from the audience for more or less the entire set.
There's no real let up in the assault and the only break comes in with sections of brooding, doomy ambience that would make the frozen archipelago of Svalbard seem cheery. Savagely bleak with their themes firmly set in extreme negative emotions against humanity, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable breach of the peace, a real talent.
Sacrificing seeing thrashers Evile wasn't easy, but Taiwanese metal exports Chthonic's blend of oriental melodies, black metal blasting and straight heavy metal hooks is a catchy yet still uncompromising proposition that's hard to turn down. Complete with their own take on corpse paint and an occasional mask the band cut an impressive image. Bassist Doris Yeh still inevitably attracts male attention and Freddy Lim's ghoulish vocals are interspersed with playing of the Uhu violin, adding a great eastern flourish to the sound. Somewhere after the second song the guitar is inaudible for a couple of tracks which is frustrating, but thankfully the glitch is corrected before it ruins an otherwise cracking set.
A head bang through 'Southern Cross' and 'Takao' brings the Asian darkness, saving the set and impressing the locals who make their approval known.
Grand Magus on the large Jagermaister stage crush with a soulful old school style, and instant classics like 'Kingslayer', 'I The Jury' and 'Wolf's Return' should normally be enough for any band to guarantee metal immortality. JB's stage banter is as usual a little off-beat but on the pounding of 'Hammer of the North' there is a huge audience sing-along from the assembled masses to the track's huge (and damn manly) refrain. A rumble through 'Like The Oar Strikes The Water' and 'Iron Will' brings things to a very successful close for the Swedish trio, hopefully they'll start getting recognition for their consistently strong work.
Pushing aside the disappointment of not catching crust punk masters Doom, with some difficulty given everyone's going on about how amazing they were, it's back to the Jagermaister for pioneering industrialist act Godflesh.
Complete with visceral visuals the two man duo of Justin Broadrick on vocals/guitar and GC Green on bass create a grinding, rusty, ugly sound over a harsh drum line that could be used as a method of crowd control.
This crowd though certainly doesn't disperse, revelling in the intolerably loud staccato rap of the snare drum and the ultra-high distortion on the guitar bordering on constant feedback.
It's so noisy that within 10 minutes it's clear this is a set that's going to lead to a huge amount of post-gig tinnitus.
After 20 minutes I've decided to commit heresy and spare my ears. These innovators aren't doing it for me. The repetitive steady pace I find dull rather than brutal or engaging, and I resign myself to the industrialists remaining a closed door to me and push off.
Amplifier on the small Zero Tolerance stage are far easier on the eardrums, and I catch the last few songs of the sharp suited prog post-rockers act. Fresh material is aired from new album The Octopus and the final performance of 'Airborne' is a glitteringly powerful consolation to the great sense of regret I didn't see more.
The time for the headliners has arrived and even though experimental leading lights Ulver on the Terrorizer stage are a tempting offer, Devin Townsend will win every time for me.
Even before the Devin Townsend Project takes the stage there's all kinds of cool, strange stuff.
Following cheese-pop on the PA and some comedy video shorts with Ziltoid the Omniscient, the alien puppet character from the album of the same name, the band appear with Devin Townsend at their head to a rapturous reception.
Without exception, the entire set is perfect. A crushing, heady intro of 'Truth' kicks off a diverse range of material, taking in a collection from the recent albums by Devin Townsend Project along with older favourites, all with loud ultra-clear sound to boot.
From the DTP records we have Deconstruction's fuck-off massive aggressive sound of 'Stand' and 'Juular', Addicted gives us the uplifting 'Supercrush!' and from Ki there's is the surge and build of melody on 'Heaven Send'.
Dev is as always a hilarious master of ceremonies, almost as much stand-up comedian as metal master. Ziltoid returns for 'By Your Command', everyone does their best to boogie to 'Bad Devil' and the blissful 'Deep Peace' looks to be taking us home. Dev comes back out, seemingly at the behest of the organisers, and we get an encore of the hilarious good fun which is 'Vampira'.
The ecstatic awesomeness of all of this is enough to ensure I finish Damnation 2011 hugging strangers, with huge smiles all round and a persistent ringing in the ears.
A wonderful set to end this year, we will await the next Damnation eagerly!
