Saturday
Deadguy (2.20pm, Holy Goat Brewing Stage)
Playing in the UK for the first time since their first album in 30 years, June’s Near-Death Travel Services, New Jersey metallers will take to the stage early in the afternoon to rouse fans with classics from their seminal debut to latest ragers such as ‘Kill Fee’ and ‘New Best Friend’, ensuring Damnation 2025 starts just as powerfully as it means to go on.
Messa (3pm, Pins & Knuckles Stage)
Italian prog maestros break from their tour with Paradise Lost to take to the main stage in Manchester hoping to impress a crowd 6,000 people deep at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre. Armed with four albums under their belt now, their mix of blues and black metal intertwined in their sound is certain to please old fans and create new ones.
Orbit Culture (4.20pm, Pins & Knuckles Stage)
Swedish thrashers Orbit Culture come in hot off the back of their lauded seventh album Death above Life released a few weeks ago, and will be bound to create circle pits and walls of death galore with their mighty stomp, scintillating riffs, and frontman Niklas Karlsson’s powerhouse vocal sure to shake the walls of the arena.
Deafheaven (7.30pm, Pins & Knuckles Stage)
Another band with an acclaimed 2025 album, Deafheaven make their Damnation debut at the end of the UK leg of their European tour. A band fans have been clamoring to see on this festival’s lineup for years, the anticipation will undoubtedly translate into a frenzied atmosphere to witness one of the best live bands on the scene.
Gaerea (10.05pm, Holy Goat Brewing Stage)
Furthering the much multinational lineup, Portuguese black-metallers Gaerea close out the Saturday on the Holy Goat stage with a couple new tracks in tow, after announcing the release of their sixth album, Loss, for March 2026. Geared up in their signature hooded costumes, it’ll be a lovely precursor to the main event before the lineup gets arguably even heavier on Sunday.
Sunday
Hidden Mothers (12pm, Meliora Stage)
Opening the festival’s second day bright and early are Sheffield’s own Hidden Mothers, a band that never stop working, with 2024’s stunning debut album Erosion / Avulsion landing them a spot on Damnation’s 20th birthday bonanza to prove their prowess and show they’re ones to really keep an eye on.
Conjurer (12.30pm, Lou’s Brews Stage)
Continuing the theme of 2025 Album of the Year contenders, Conjurer’s latest, Unself, has been released at just the right time to give fans a couple of weeks to get familiar with the songs and prepare themselves for the all-out assault on the senses that the band always seem to muster at their live shows, ready to open the main stage in the most brutal way possible.
Anaal Nathrakh (5.55pm, Lou’s Brews Stage)
Grindcore punishers Anaal Nathrakh are set to bring in the evening with sheer menace, the two-piece - expanded into a five-piece live band - bringing their stellar discography to life in what should be an utterly horrifying show in the very best way. The core duo of Mick Kenney and Dave Hunt, 26 years into the project, will play their sixth Damnation Festival this year, proving it as an event they’re devoted to and will bring the best out of them.
Wiegedood (10pm, Cult Never Dies Stage)
Arguably the most ambitious set of the weekend, Belgium’s Wiegedood will undertake the incredible task of playing their first three albums, the De Doden Hebben Het Goed trilogy, back to back in a mammoth two-hour set. A huge crowd expected for the spectacle, this’ll be a set that has the potential to go down in Damnation history.
Napalm Death (11pm, Lou’s Brews Stage)
Closing out the fest are the godfathers of grindcore, Napalm Death. There’s not much to be said that hasn’t been said about Napalm Death’s live show over the past four-plus decades, but any chance to see the genre-creators is a chance that should be taken, especially given that they’re still at the top of their game.
Damnation Festival’s 20th Anniversary takes place November 8th and 9th at Manchester’s BEC Arena. The last remaining tickets can be purchased HERE.
