FESTIVAL REVIEW: Damnation Festival 2022 Live at BEC Arena Manchester


Crowd at Damnation – Credit: Rich Price Photography

Following the highly successful 2021 post-lockdown return of Damnation Festival to Leeds University, 2022 sees the event move back to its original home city of Manchester, now expanded to take place in the 6000-capacity BEC Arena.

 

The move, whilst probably inevitable, was always going to be something of a gamble. Some of the smaller rooms at the Leeds, Damnation were getting dangerously crammed, and the festival’s repute, ticket-buying demand, and band-booking clout had outgrown its former venue. But, on the other hand, many had come to regard the Leeds University Union, for all its quirks and eccentricities, as Damnation’s home.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2022 Part 2


Catton Park, United kingdom, 14 Aug 2022, Lamb of God performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine

 

SATURDAY

Considering most people are already feeling like overcooked baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil, the fact that today is meant to be the hottest day of the festival really isn’t the best news. Still, that certainly doesn’t deter a healthy crowd from shaking off the hangovers and getting on with the business at hand, Baest and Lost Society both grabbing the main stage by the scruff of the neck while Sister Shotgun and Mastiff do the same on the Sophie stage.Continue reading


Mastiff to Host Gimme Metal Special Today; New Album Incoming via eOne Records


UK blackened HC band Mastiff will host their first ever Gimme Metal guest DJ special today, Wednesday, July 7th at 5:00pm ET / 2:00pm PT. You can listen for free on the website or app and hang with the band in the chat. Their special drops in advance of their forthcoming and highly anticipated new music video for Leave Me The Ashes Of The Earth full-length via Entertainment One, due out September 10th, 2021. Created in five days at No Studio with producer Joe Clayton (Pijn, Wren, Leeched), the band’s third full-length promises to be full of ragers.

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AFP Records Launches Charity Compilation and Merch Benefitting the South Liverpool Food Bank


AFP Records, the excellent UK based label with such current and future greats as BEGGAR, Video Nasties, PIST, Bong Cauldron Desert Storm, Mastiff, Possessor and more has launched a fundraiser. Celebrating their third anniversary, the label is releasing a t-shirt, double CD and digital download under the title APF Records: The Sound of Heavy 2020 all benefitting South Liverpool Food Bank here in the UK. The download is a “pay what you want”. The bundle is due out on the 15th of May.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Badgerfest 2019 Live at The Breadshed, Manchester


2019 see’s the third installment of what’s becoming an important event in the calendar for the discerning Heavy Metal connoisseur, BadgerFest. The brainchild of the undeniably hardest working man in the Manchester metal scene John Badger, If any qualification of that were needed, aside from it being reiterated by every band of the weekend, as well as their gratitude as to the smooth running, he’s also running the Drumming up Change in November whereby he’ll be playing the drums for the full sets of all ten bands. There’s hard-working and then there’s John Badger. Continue reading


Badgerfest Earlybird Tickets Going Offsale After Today


Today is the last day to get your tickets to Badgerfest! With the recently added Hecate Enthroned to an already excellent lineup of bands from across heavy music, Badgerfest looks to be one of the best values for the money in a music festival in 2019. Don’t miss out!Continue reading


Desecration, Mastiff, Jonestown, Sworn Amongst, and more booked for Badgerfest 2019


Badgerfest returns once again to Manchester, UK for 2019, and so far the lineup is shaping up to be a killer experience. So far the lineup counts Desecration, Mastiff, Jonestown, Sworn Amongst, Night of the Dead, Archetype, Zhorairelad, Blanket, Five the Hierophant, and more have been booked for the fest with ten more bands yet to be announced. The fest takes place at The Bread Shed in Manchester, 18th, and 19th of October. Tickets are on sale now at the link below. Continue reading


Mastiff – Plague


For the better part of the past six years, Hull’s Mastiff has been slowly festering in the underbelly of the UK’s underground scene. A handful of demos and 2016’s Wrank set expectations for the band to become mainstays of any grotty pub or club gig you’d care to attend, and Plague (APF Records) continues their trend of spreading as much abject misery as musically possible.Continue reading


GUEST POST: Lisa Coverdale of HoldTight PR – Top Albums Of 2018


To say that HoldTight PR has a whole cohort of bands that sit very much within the Ghost Cult world is to state the bleedin’ obvious. With a specialism in noisy, discordant, progressive, sludgy, punky and cutting edge, we’re easy bedfellows. Added to that, head honcho Lisa Coverdale is a potty-mouthed whirling dervish with a wicked sense of humour and a way with words that lures you into checking out her bands with a glint of excitement before you’ve even hit play. We’re delighted to continue to work with her to give exposure to a whole host of the modern underground scenes’ best new up-and-coming bands. We’re also pretty chuffed to be hosting her albums of the year post, too…Continue reading