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home » festivals » Damnation Festival » Damnation Festival 2011
Damnation secures itself as a cornerstone of the metal sceneDamnation Festival 2011 reviewThursday 10th November 2011 As the last signs of life fell away from the trees, surfaces began to crack with frost and night time began its dark purpose of eating away at the day, Leeds Student's Union opened up its doors to fans of the darker side of music for Damnation Festival's seventh event. What better way to celebrate the death of all things bright and green than to guzzle beer in a dingy venue, listening to some of the UK's most brutal, and creative metal acts?
A Forest Of Stars were a pleasure to behold, both visually and aurally. Their 'Victorian Black Metal' aesthetic had them dressing in the finest attire of England's 19th century, while the discordant tremolo of the guitars and the shrieking of the fiddle spoke of all the atrocities of the era. Something has to be said for the excellent sound quality and levels. Another act on this stage that deserves praise is Altar of Plagues. Opening with the beautiful Earth: As a Womb, from this tiny stage they unleashed a whirlwind of sound that was all encompassing. A tragic portrayal of the state of humanity's relationship with the planet, vocalist Dave Condon screamed wretchedly "Awareness will come slow, if at all..." at which point guitarist Eric Netto's heart breaking melody surfaced from the crackling distortion, giving an incredibly emotive crescendo. It's rare to feel choked up at a metal gig, but I imagine it's a regular occurrence with these boys. Fans of their more ambitious album Mammal, will not have been disappointed, with Feather and Bone's crushingly heavy beginning subsiding for a melancholic and introspective conclusion, both to an incredible song and to an unforgettable set.
Despite the layered, fast and sometimes confusing nature of the music, the sound quality was such that every discordant note could be picked out and mulled over. This band bought one of the most interesting sounds to the weekend, and an unrivalled energy to the stage. Blackened doom metallers Dragged into Sunlight, however, did not enjoy the same quality of sound engineering. In an attempts to replicate their muddy, lo fi sound in the live arena, the speakers threw out a sound that too loud, and too blurred to give much enjoyment to the listener. Enjoyment could be derived, however, from the formidable stage presence. The platform was completely dominated by a huge shrine placed at the front, made up of a tall gothic stand holding up the giant skull of a goat. The band took up their places, standing all with their backs to the audience, and they kept this up for almost the entire show while the stage was routinely filled with smoke. A nightmare to photograph, but a great spectacle to watch.
As is the way with such events, there is always an impossible choice to make. The headliners of Damnation festival 2011 were a particularly sad case of this. On the Zero Tolerance stage was God is and Astronaut, while the Jagermeister Stage presented one of heavy metal and prog's best loved names, Devin Townsend. But hailing from Norway with a history that traces right back to the beginnings of the Norwegian black metal scene, it was Ulver that I went to see.
This quality of sound, along with the psychedelic and satisfyingly responsive visuals, made this a welcome relaxed and introspective end to what had been for the most part a loud, chaotic but brilliant day of metal music. Damnation festival has secured itself as a corner stone of Britain's metal scene. review by Robert Knowles photos by Robert Knowles 
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