Words: Kate Allvey.  Images: Penny Bennett and Download Festival

Code Orange

“Wake the fuck up,” screams Code Orange vocalist Jami Morgan and there’s no way we could stay asleep with their opening volley of maximum volume metalcore. Morgan’s bleeding by the end of first song ‘Grooming My Replacement’, their moodiness Korn-ish without being corny, their harshness the brutal shaking we need to start the third day of Download. In fact, they try to play on after the end time of their shortened set and that level of dedication to providing music to make our teeth rattle needs to be applauded.

 Creeper

Combine AFI, Misfits, the Damned and the cast of Phantom of the Opera, and what do you get? Southampton’s own Creeper, adding a dash of drama to the main stage. ‘Cry To Heaven’ drags power chords and maximum gothic intonation from vocalist Will Gould into the daylight, explaining why there’s such a big turnout for a band so early on the bill. The duelling drums between Gould and second vocalist Hannah Greenwood, the retro anti-cuteness of ‘Down Below’ or the fact they are so damn stylish as a band could also be the big factors in drawing the masses to the bottom of the hill, but with a surprise appearance from Dan Jacobs of Atreyu on ‘Lovers Led Astray’, our early rising is richly rewarded. 

Kerry King

The legendary guitarist is intent on forging his own path away from Slayer, and his set at Download is the first time his solo supergroup (featured members past and present of Machine Head, Death Angel and Testament) have visited the UK. It’s a set that’s understandably heavy on songs from his recent solo debut, ‘From Hell I Rise’, which if we dare say it, sounds very close to everything else King has worked on in his career, the extent that ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Black Magic’ are indistinguishable from the solo tracks. The classic metal sound is a quintessential part of Download and there’s a transparent reason why King at the top of the heavy metal pantheon, and his set is very much playing to the guitar worshippers in the crowd. ‘Toxic’, “about the fucked up state of politics and politicians across the world” according to vocalist Mark Osegueda, feels a bit clumsy considering the nuanced political statements shared by many other acts, but the old school aggression is a welcome oasis in the Download experience.

Parkway Drive

“Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone,” warned Friday headliners Queens of the Stone Age on ‘The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret’, and the rumour mill had been running overtime about who might fill the empty slot on Sunday. Slipknot and My Chemical Romance were mentioned, as were heretical swedes Ghost, but the alert finally confirmed an hour before their set that Australian metalcore superstars Parkway Drive would be the surprise addition. Naturally, the crowd stretched twenty metres in every direction outside the tiny Dogtooth Stage, with nervous security unsure of the severity of the upcoming band posted on every corner. They needn’t have worried though. Parkway Drive create the kind of uplifting atmosphere that every festival needs, a shared community of folk ready to dance through ‘Glitch’s unearthly guitar as the ground squelches beneath our feet. They drag out the bridge of ‘Prey’ for heightened pleasure before ‘Idols and Anchors’ satisfying payoff and slow-motion slamming. We embrace for ‘Wild Eyes’, the passion poured into the drums diffusing out into the clearing sky. 

Of Mice and Men

Heavy, bouncing and compelling, Of Mice and Men capture the interest of those for whom the stage-clashing Sum 41 are anathema. ‘Obsolete’s grow up emo translates into all seeing darkness that hypnotises onlookers rather than provoking a visceral reaction, until singalong song ‘Castaway’ adds a little cyber energy for our approval and we’re suddenly dancing like our lives depend on it. ‘Would You Still Be There’ feels like it belongs in the future, an era yet to be discovered that grabs a full tent who sing as they run in, and ‘O.G. Loko’ is a big fan favourite, even with toddlers dressed as unicorns who perch on their parents’ shoulders and mash their hands to the roof of the tent in time to the music. 

Thy Art Is Murder

Thy Art Is Murder kick off to a slow and dirty start with ‘Slaves Beyond Death’ keeping the contrast high between the stages, guttural screaming from Tyler Miller as the only appropriate accompaniment to the drum onslaught from Jesse Beahler. In each circle of friends in the crowd, one person loves Thy Art Is Murder and slams like it’s their calling in life while the rest look on politely. At the front, the core acknowledged as “muddy and disgusting” by Miller (a fair statement) will place this as their top set of the weekend, feeling every second of the beautiful juxtaposition between the barrage of noise highlighted with sirens and the late afternoon sunshine. ‘Blood Throne’ is just the perfect example of the kind of wholesome brutality that characterises this corner of the spectrum of bands at Download. 

Corey Taylor

The Slipknot frontman has shed his mask both literally and metaphorically to present a set that’s equal parts raw, sophisticated and silly. ‘Post Traumatic Blues’ comes across as very classic rock until he opens his mouth and let’s out the the full hardcore roar he’s known for, minimising the melodic parts of his range. A show like this, with roughly half the crowd in Slipknot shirts, is like shooting fish in a barrel for him but he puts his all into the solos, determined to live up to his own legend. “There’s no way I was missing this show,” he says sincerely, referring to his health issues which prevented him from touring earlier this year, and with a clean, gleaming smile, he takes over on rhythm guitar for ‘Black Eyes Blue’. Much of his set tackles serious topics with gravity and charisma, until he breaks into the SpongeBob Squarepants theme, winning over those hesitant about his solo prowess with his humour. 

Limp Bizkit

It’s impossible to separate Limp Bizkit’s performance from the inexplicable cult status, and they were, without a doubt, the band with both the biggest crowd and the most enthusiastic response of the weekend. However, the choice to alternate each song with a recording of a pop song, which frontman Fred Durst sways awkwardly through, was an odd one, as was bookending their set by playing ‘Break Stuff’ twice. “We’re just kinda warming the place up for Avenged Sevenfold, keeping it mellow for you guys,” he explains in one of the excruciatingly long pauses between songs. But when they decide to focus, Limp Bizkit still have the magic that sent them to the top of the charts. The reaction to ‘Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle)’ and ‘Take A Look Around’ is genuinely vibrant, creating the atmosphere that you’ve seen on countless YouTube videos and desperately hope to experience for yourself. Yes, there’s a distinct irony in a fifty-three year old with a Santa beard singing about how people don’t understand ‘My Generation’, but the sheer joy that most take from hearing their karaoke staples played across the main stage is infectious. They know how to manipulate, how to masterfully create a buildup, and when they use their maximum energy, it’s easy to see how they’ve won over so many fans who weren’t there the first time around. Thousands simply go home after Limp Bizkit’s set, their Download weekend concluded with a satisfying high. 

Avenged Sevenfold

As the sun sets on another Download Festival, we enter the rich and mysterious world of Avenged Sevenfold. There’s so many sides to their set, from complex narratives, sweet moments and even some plan old rock songs, and they emerge from technical issues as a triumphant headliner. Early song ’Afterlife’ stimulates our remaining brain cells like a sledgehammer with choruses that reach to the darkening sky as ghostly visuals fade to dust in our final twiddly guitar fix of the weekend. “Today is a special day, it’s Father’s Day. There is nothing cooler in this world than being a good dad,” declared vocalist M.Shadows before ‘Hail To The King’, and our weary fists punch upwards in a show of survival as we wail the chorus back. They dedicate ‘Fiction’ to former member The Rev, who passed away in 2009, their baroque piano sincerity prevailing in a tender and honest moment without pretension.

Of course, their most straightforward songs smack the hardest. ‘Bat Country’ is a huge hitter, provoking manic dancing between the drying puddles, and ‘Nightmare’ wins the fight against sound system issues to emerge as the memorable anthem of the last day. ‘A Little Piece Of Heaven’ shakes us through a nightmare with thunderous glee and the level of spectacle you’d expect from a headliner, with monstrous skeletons serenading on the saxophone projected behind. The misty and mystical penultimate ‘Save Me’ drifts into ‘Cosmic’ as an emotional finale, bidding farewell to the weekend in a way that feels fundamentally right and giving us the closure we crave to before rejoining the real world. 

Click the below image for the full ‘Download Festival – Sunday’ gallery

This scene of a senseless murder and the perpetrator’s zen acceptance that no one and nothing in the world cares is from Albert Camus’ ‘The Stranger’ and is iconic to fans of French philosophical literature. It’ll also very shortly become iconic to fans of Avenged Sevenfold, who’ve based ‘Life Is But A Dream…’, their first release in seven years, on Camus’ 1942 novella. It’s an album that’s taken four years to write and record, and is designed to be consumed as a single piece of musical art that you sit down and contemplate as you would a particularly worthy, Oscar-nominated movie rather than as singles or individual songs. Claiming to tackle the big existential questions, this is a release which treads dangerously close to ‘concept album’ or ‘rock opera’ territory, and if you’re one of those folks who’s questioned whether Avenged Sevenfold are ‘Metal’ enough then you’ll find your cynicism vindicated. For those of us coming in without that kind of internal barometer, you’ll find this to be a record equally as dramatic and overblown as the rest of the band’s catalogue, only it operates under it’s own private, surrealist logic. It’s an incredibly compelling, labyrinthine record that is gloriously and utterly bonkers in it’s construction.

The curtains rise for the overture, ‘Game Over’.  Here we have a Metallica-meets-Led-Zep energy that weaves its way between hardcore drumming, dreamy semi-classical guitar, Muse-level crashing piano chords and the kind of dramatic pauses you’d get in a West End show. An effortless flow into ‘Mattel’, a System Of A Down throwback if Serge Tankian scored a metal remake of ‘Alice In Wonderland’. There is an incomprehensible beauty to their insanity, a narrative of grinding guitars and grungey atmospheric triumph on numbers like ‘Nobody’, and a spacey, prog urgency that trips between industrial beats and shredding intensity on ‘We Love You’. M. Shadows’ vocal range is tremendous, giving us everything from grunge wails to guttural growls. Synyster Gates too is on top form, stretching each note on ‘Cosmic’ to it’s absolute breaking point until it separates and drifts into electronic fibres.

’Life Is But A Dream…’ is the musical equivalent of a sci-fi novel which aims to encompass ten thousand years of a civilisation in five hundred words. Instrumentally, each individual layer must be up there as some of Avenged Sevenfold’s finest work in years, but when put together, it’s attempting to tell a story which must be beyond human understanding or convey a philosophical point so deep that only hoodie-wearing spiritual masters can grasp it.

‘It’s easier to just walk away…’ intones the Daft Punk-esque robot voice on ‘Easier’ and, realistically, some of the Avenged Sevenfold faithful might take that android’s advice. But if you take the time to appreciate the majestic amount of effort it took to create this musical grimoire, there’s wonder shining through like tiny flecks of gold dust, even in ‘(O)rdinary’, a funk track that dissolves into racecar noises then turns into a disco ballad.

This is not an album you can dance to, or jump into the pit to, or really do much in response to except nod sagely. There’s a fine line between genius and madness, and Avenged Sevenfold seem to be walking that tightrope gingerly, wobbling between each side with every step. Perhaps, if you listen to it enough times, you’ll discover the meaning of life or an intergalactic truth, but you’ll have to hack your way through a lot of piano vines to get to that point. 

KATE ALLVEY

The Punktastic team headed up to the Donnington Castle site to check it out.

Images: Penny Bennett, Words: Mark Johnson [MJ] / Chris Lee [CL]

Blackpool quintet Boston Manor have the honour of opening the main stage, and the organisers’ decision to put a pop punk band up first pays dividends. You’re guaranteed fast tempos and bouncing rhythms with this genre, and Boston Manor do it with style, not letting the massive occasion (and the equally massive stage) phase them at all. It’s unlikely their sound has ever sounded this huge, particularly the drums, which are pristine and punchy, getting the crowd tapping their feet whether consciously or not. Opening track ‘Burn You Up’ is a perfect introduction, the lyrics “You better get used to this” being a fitting way to kick off a festival that has plenty to more to come over the next three days. [MJ]

Employed to Serve state their purpose from the outset; guitarist Sammy Urwin shouting “it’s time to wake up Download. I don’t care how early it is, I want to see you move” as soon as he takes to the stage. A large space opens in the crowd immediately and as soon as the first notes of the guitar ring out, a circle pit is in full rotation. Tracks from their incredible album ‘The Warmth of a Dying Sun’ don’t sound as heavy as they should, with the guitars lacking their usual punch in the mix, but it’s more than made up for by Justine Jones’ incredible vocal performance, which brings the depth and power that’s needed to keep the audience’s energy levels up. During the outro of the final song, Urwin heads into the crowd in an attempt to surf his way out of the tent. He gets 90% of the way there, making it a fitting metaphor for this almost perfect set. [MJ]

The first standout moment of the weekend comes from Texas’ Nothing More. Front man Jonny Hawkins leads the band out barefoot and bare chested, and though his chiseled physique is impressive on its own, musically the band are in even better shape. The early back to back coupling of huge singles ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Go To War’ have the audience eating out of the palm of their hands, as Hawkins nails every note across a wide range of melodies. Before taking center stage, Hawkins started life behind the drum kit, and he finds time to occasionally pummel some skins using his custom-made percussion apparatus. But it’s the more weirdly constructed vocal equipment that emerges as the star of the show. Known as the ‘scorpion tail’, and constructed by the band’s welder-cum-bass player Daniel Oliver, it allows Hawkins to control midi samples, guitars and other strange effects using a series of levers and switches. For the finale of the set, Hawkins leaps onto it, gets lifted into the air, and produces an incredible live cover of Skrillex’s hit ‘First of the Year’. It’s inventive, visually impressive and musically perfect; it’s the perfect summary of a set that manages all of this from start to finish. [MJ]

Stray From The Path keep the energy high on the Avalanche Stage, adding more fuel to the circle pits with big riffs and infectious rhythms. Drew York commands the stage well, zipping from left to right as he barks out classics like ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Badge And A Bullet’. His energy makes up for the disappointingly low vocal mix, so although he can’t always be heard, he can certainly be seen. The sound desk at the Avalanche Stage is still warming up it seems, but thanks to this high energy set, the crowd are well and truly up to temperature. [MJ]

American Hardcore outfit Stick To Your Guns take full advantage of playing on the first day of this years festival by injecting an ominous sense of chaos into the Avalanche stage. Their brutal riffs ensure that there’s not a single person standing still throughout their set. The deep, ferocious breakdowns crash over the crowd like a storm hitting shore. The set is laden with tracks from the latest release ‘True View’ and rightfully so as that record was outstanding. All in all Stick To Your Guns do what they do best, tear it up! [CL]

Loathe are a band on the rise and this may be their biggest and best performance to date. Bereft of the technical difficulties experienced at Slam Dunk, the band’s visual imagery, signature tones, and staggering heaviness combine perfectly to form their tightest, most spectacular show yet. For all the bravado and menace of fronting a metalcore set, the band can’t help but crack the facade and show their genuine thanks to the packed out audience in front of them, and they’re humbled even further by the shouts of “Loathe as one” erupting organically from the floor as they finish their set. Loathe are bringing a fresh and inventive voice to metalcore, and to our delight, people are starting to take notice. [MJ]

It feels like the Cancer Bats have literally been everywhere imaginable since the surprise release of latest album ‘The Spark That Moves’ this coupled with an anniversary tour for the brilliance that is ‘Hail Destroyer’ have gone to show just how good the Canadian hardcore outfit are. Watching a packed tent scream “Hail Destroyer” at the top of their lungs will never ever get boring, How could it? The guys bring with them an almost unrivalled raw energy to their live sets that ensures their presence is felt across the whole festival. [CL]

It’s always a party when The Bronx roll through town and this set was no different, transforming the Avalanche stage into a sea of movement as frontman Matt Caughthran demands the biggest circle pits Download Festival has to offer, and the crowd duly oblige. The LA punks set flashes by almost taking us by surprise at the end, but they say good things come in small packages and hot damn are The Bronx not only good live, they’re masterful. [CL]

Donington Park has been home to the best in metal and rock music since 1980, with many of the alternative world’s titans having graced the stage. British rock has had its fair share of the glory over those years, and before our American cousins in Avenged Sevenfold close the first day, Bullet For My Valentine prove that British metal is still going strong. It’s a crowd pleasing set that’s a reminder of how much quality content the band has put out since their inception in 1998; even if you aren’t an avid fan, the band have put out enough singles over twenty years to allow even a passing listener the opportunity to sing along. Matthew Tuck and Michael Paget’s dual vocals interact brilliantly, both projecting their voices with power and precision, and with a strong instrumental mix working in their favour it’s an assured set that shows all their years of experience. The mid-set drum solo adds little to the performance and disturbs the impressive momentum they’d been building, but ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ gets the crowd back on side before they exit the stage. [MJ]

Californian punks Bad Religion simply emanate fun from the second they take the stage as an 8-bit version of My Sharona and launch straight into ‘Generator’. It’s the band’s first time back in a few years and as front man Greg Graffin points out the crowd look better than ever. The band, well they’re not exactly young these days but that in no way means they don’t know how to work a crowd. It’s Graffin’s energy that propels the band through an exquisite live set full of energy and exuberance in which the bands racing guitars and soaring solos are faultless. 38 years strong and still going Bad Religion don’t plan on simply lying down anytime soon. [CL]

The Zippo Encore stage played host to it’s first headliner of the weekend, You Me At Six who despite sharing the headliner mantle with metal power houses Avenged Sevenfold still managed to draw in a huge crowd. Gone were any signs of mosh pits and instead replacing these were a field full of people dancing and singing along to every lyric. This set may have been one of the softest over the whole weekend but those who had headed over were treated to some rasping vocals that seemed to match the epic sunset in the background. [CL]

Bullet For My Valentine may have brought a drum solo to the main stage, but if guitar solos are more your thing, then US metal giants Avenged Sevenfold have you covered. Synyster Gates immediately breaks into one as he enters the stage, and through the course of opening track ‘The Stage’, manages to squeeze in another four, with help from duelling guitarist Zacky Vengeance. It’s the kind of classic rock swagger that feels right at home at Download, and there’s a brief pause during the set while the band pay a touching homage to late drummer The Rev, plus other friends who have been lost along the way. The bravado of their performance, with the addition of pyrotechnics, fireworks and huge projected videography, makes Avenged Sevenfold worthy headliners of the opening day, and based on the number of heads banging and air guitars on show, no one would begrudge them coming back to headline again in the future. [MJ]

Black Stone Cherry, Shinedown, Thunder, Volbeat, You Me at Six, The Bronx, Marmozets, Milk Teeth, Rolo Tomassi, Boston Manor, Jonathan Davis, The Temperance Movement, Thrice, Baroness, L7, TesseracT, Hatebreed, Cancer Bats, Dragonforce, The Struts, Monster Truck, Less Than Jake, Greta Van Fleet, Whiskey Myers, Thy Art Is Murder, Cradle of Filth, Inglorious, Kreator, The Maine, Stray from the Path, Jamie Lenman, Miss May I, Employed to Serve, Shvpes, Bury Tomorrow, Puppy, Higher Power, Dead Cross, Stick to Your Guns, Blessthefall, The Bottom Line, Emmure, Plini, Myrkur, Knocked Loose, All Them Witches, Malevolence, Zeal and Ardor, No Hot Ashes, Gold Key, The Hyena Kill, Sun Arcana, Tigress, Death Blooms, The Faim, Turbonegro, Corrosion of Conformity, Savage Messiah, Myke Gray, Von Hertzen Brothers, Woes, Powerflo, Sleep Token, and Koyo will join the likes Ozzy Osbourne, Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N’ Roses and more at the Donnington Park based rock/metal festival, which takes place from the 8th to the 10th June. More bands will be revealed soon.

Tickets are available to purchase now on the festival website.

Alexisonfire, Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Body Count, Bullet for My Valentine, Dream State, In This Moment, Marilyn Manson, Mayday Parade, Meshuggah, Neck Deep, Parkway Drive, Pink Slips, Rise Against, The Hives, and WSTR will join headliners Ozzy Osbourne, Avenged Sevenfold and Guns N’ Roses at the Donnington Park based rock/metal festival, which takes place from the 8th to the 10th June. More bands will be revealed soon.

Tickets are available to purchase now on the festival website.

They will join previously announced headliners Ozzy Osbourne and Avenged Sevenfold at the Donnington Park based rock/metal festival, which takes place from the 8th to the 10th June. More bands will be revealed soon.

Tickets are available to purchase now on the festival website.

Ozzy Osbourne and Avenged Sevenfold will be playing the Donnington Park based rock/metal festival, which takes place from the 8th to the 10th June. More bands will be revealed soon.

Tickets are available to purchase now on the festival website.

Despite only playing to a third of the arena as most of the audience are still battling through an army of security, Swedish metal legends In Flames open the show in style. With a setlist that covers the last 17 years of their established career, they thrash their way through some of their most influential tracks like ‘Leeches’ and ‘Bullet Ride’. Unfortunately, even though In Flames are one of many bands that paved the way for tonight’s headliner, their blend of melodic death metal goes over the majority of the audiences heads. It’s definitely not a good sign when singer Anders Fridén’s banter is more engaging than their overall performance.

Constantly proving that their 2015 comeback was the right move, Disturbed are the perfect choice of support act. Offering a near-enough greatest hits set, David Draiman’s trademark ‘oh wah ah ahs’ still sound remarkably stupid, but tracks like ‘Stupify’ and ‘Prayer’ sound as dominate and as heavy as they did over ten years ago. The most beautiful moment of the entire night came when the crowd lit up the arena during their cover of Sound of Silence. Disturbed’s only drawbacks are their over rehearsed stage moves which somewhat ruins the sincerity of their set. They might not be as musically relevant as they were in their nu-metal days, but their nostalgic performance (along with a healthy dose of fire going off left, right and centre) makes for an hour that can’t not be loved.

Every metal band view the idea of a stage show differently. Some believe in the less is more approach, some like Disturbed love a shit-load of flames, some like an 80s glam metal style runway, some like massive video screens with eye popping visuals and some just want some pretty lights. Avenged Sevenfold instead picked all of these and more to put on a visual spectacle. Despite being a bit gimmicky at times (see the floating zombie spaceman), Avenged have taken their stage show to a level only Maiden can compare to. Having worked with some of the Cirque Du Soleil producers, the band have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at the O2. They dazzle the audience with tricks when they need it but they still strip it back and create a more intimate atmosphere with just a change of lighting without breaking their momentum.

Their setlist isn’t a run-of-the-mill greatest hits that would be typically expected for such an extravagant show, the band pull out all of their best cuts from new album The Stage like ‘God Damn’ and ‘Sunny Disposition’ along with a healthy dose of old favourites including ‘Bat Country’ and ‘Almost Easy’. Regardless of song, the sea of fans sing along so loud like it’s the last time they’ll ever get to hear them.

Regardless of the stage show or the band’s song choices, it’s their musicianship that puts them a cut above the rest. The dual guitar solos from Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates are blistering fast, perfectly in time with each other and still beautifully melodic (‘A Little Piece of Heaven’ is the highlight of the night). Their new drummer Brooks Wackerman handles the huge stage like an old pro (whilst doing the band’s fallen original sticksman The Rev more than justice) and M. Shadows commands the stage with a flavour of honest showmanship along with his distinct and quite guttural voice that doesn’t wear at all.

Whilst In Flames and Disturbed are slowing turning into heritage acts who may have to rely on full album tours and more package deals in the future to stay at the level they are on, if there’s one thing that Avenged Sevenfold have proved, it’s that they don’t even need to wait for the legendary rock bands to retire and start passing the torch, as they have already taken it. In terms of showmanship, production, professionalism and musicianship, A7X are now untouchable. Here’s to the future and many more crushing performances as they win over the entire metal world.

Louis Kerry