Festival Review: Download Festival 2023
Photo Credit: Andrew Whitton
Download 2023. Headlined by Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon and Metallica(s), it was a true celebration in metal music, both new and old, as Donnington’s Download turned Twenty.
With the queues for camping on the Wednesday somehow making Slam Dunk look organised, Download 2023 started off a little rocky; people with nine plus hours queuing just outside of the festival entrance, a lack of visible marshals and unclear directions and advice led to panic and pandemonium. Still, everyone eventually managed to get in and settled — just in time for the chaos of the Thursday!
Even before the first band of the day, the crowd seemed busier and buzzier than anything from last year. The walkways were already thronged with people, and the queues for the nicotine and the tattoos were only eclipsed by that of the merch, winding snakes of metalheads hundreds strong. None of this escaped the notice of first band of the weekend, Las Vegas based outfit Cherry Bombs, who were met with raucous cheers from an already sunburnt crowd. Cherry Bombs, if you don’t know, are less focussed on the auditory and more on the visual — their thirty minutes on the Opus stage saw eccentric and exciting dance routines to some fan-favourite metal tracks, which had the crowd roaring in appreciation and headbanging in adoration in equal measures. Their spectacles included ribbon dancing/climbing to ‘The Summoning’ by Sleep Token, fiery, satanic burlesque to ‘Breathe’ by The Prodigy, and a combination of pretty much everything else — fire dancing? Check. Shooting sparks out of a cannon? Check. Flinging shirts into the crowd, transforming themselves into human t-shirt cannons? Check. Performative, masterful feats of metal-tracked fantasy offered a superb showcase of strength, finesse, grace and control, with a healthy dose of sex appeal, and the perfect start to a long ol’ weekend to come.
Riffs blasting from the main stage gave rise to our second act of the day, Mammoth WVH. Lead singer Wolfgang Van Halen, in sky blue shorts, didn’t seem like too much of a rock star at first - but then he opened his mouth, and any doubts as to whether the band had earned their place on the main stage were put to rest. The four piece were fantastic, intricate drums underpinning piercing guitars while Van Halen’s soulful vocals soared over the top; classic rock gave way to thudding headbanging, all while the band seemed to channel a host of legends through their music — ‘Stone’ in particular felt distinctly Deftones-y in its instrumentals, much to the crowd’s delight — and just generally wowed their Donnington audience. The set took a while to pick up steam, the earlier songs feeling more methodical than chaotic, entrancing rather than anthemic, but in terms of classic Download rock? Their sound couldn’t really have been better. By the time rowdy recent single ‘Another Celebration at The End of the World’, and Van Halen’s shredding solo, came around, the energy had ramped back up and had seen the crowd moving in their droves. A fantastic set, with closer ‘Don’t Back Down’ a particular highlight; it may be hard not to compare him to his father, but suffice to say — Eddie Van Halen would be damn proud.
Theatrical emo rockers Fearless Vampire Killers were next. Bedecked almost entirely in black, the recently reunited group were quick to introduce themselves as they tore across the Avalanche stage; guttural cries, pop-punk whines and surprisingly powerful vocals all blended together in a cacophony of frantic and furious fun. Although much of the crowd might not have known too much of their discography — ‘that one was shit’, one of the members on stage joked, laughing at the crowd’s attempt to sing along to ‘Neon in the Dance Halls’ — it wasn’t long before the horns were up and the mosh had started, ‘Braindead’’s pounding drums in particular getting the circles caving in. Fearless Vampire Killers might not be the only emo vaudevillian groups on the line-up, but they sure made their mark and left a crowd hungry for more.
A short wait led to the most stupidly joyous set of the weekend, that of Punk Rock Factory. Having played the Village last year, it was only right that they be upgraded to a bigger stage; it wouldn’t be a push to suggest that, out of every band playing over the weekend, Punk Rock Factory has the most known back catalogue. Punk Rock Factory, you see, has the songs that soundtracked your life gloriously transposed as pop punk classics. So, with a set comprised of such classics as a mash-up of ‘You’re Welcome’ from Moana and ‘The Prince of Bel-Air’, ‘Pokémon Theme’ — which saw crowd surfers probably achieving a life long dream — and ‘Mamma Mia’, how could you not have the time of your life? And, of course, ‘Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers’; with a ‘Sausage Wielding Punk Rock Factory’ backdrop, the five original power rangers displayed and posing along the front of the stage, and its distinctive guitar line, the iconic was made incendiary. An incredible set, and the most fun a few thousand can have in a field, particularly when you factor in thousands of metal heads happily belting Disney lyrics.
Heralded by a holographic hologram, Puscifer, from the onset, were… interesting. Another of Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s eclectic bands, it was hard to know just what to think of them — both the music and the performance were simply unnerving. ‘We are here looking for alien life among us’, he tells us, and it’s utterly believable; with extras somewhere between The X-Files and the agents from The Matrix, soon transitioning into greys with lightsabers, it was hard to know quite what to think. But somewhere in the anxiety-inducing instrumentals, and the haunting vocals, was a phenomenally good, if eccentric, rock band. ‘Apocalyptical’, ‘UPGrade’, ‘Horizons’… each track was stranger than the last, and yet by the end each and every one of the thousands arrayed in front of the Opus stage were loving it — bewildered and bemused, perhaps, but loving it nonetheless. Puscifer might have been one of the strangest bands Donnington’s seen in a while, but you can’t help but think that they’re also one of the best.
Finally, as the sky began to dim, and the air began to chill, it was time for headliner one of two of three — ie, the first of Metallica’s two headline sets. The definition of legendary, Metallica are as revered a band as they come, evidence of which can be seen in having two headline sets at the sold-out 20th anniversary of Download festival. And for good reason; the iconic ‘Black’ album alone is better than most bands’ entire discography. Getting to see Metallica is a bucket list item in any book; getting to see them for almost five hours, playing two entirely different sets, is something special indeed. Having just released their eleventh studio album, ‘72 Seasons’, a mixture of heady anticipation and excitement filled the air, everyone waiting to see how the old and the new performed together.
Photo Credit: Matt Higgs
Opening with Ride the Lightning’s ‘Creeping Death’, Metallica’s imprint was everywhere — huge erected light and sound towers throughout the crowd broadcasted their images, while the attached speakers thrummed with bass, Lars’ masterful drumming beating against each and every chest of the 100,000~ arrayed opposite; awe-inspiring and impactful, it was a new experience seeing a band in 4-D! It was interesting, though, to look at the crowd and see such a blend of diehard Metallica fans and metal fans seeing Metallica for the sake of seeing Metallica… although the music quickly converted the latter.
The music was as impressive as the ever-present hype and hysteria suggest. With as little stage adornment as possible, bar a large screen behind them to depict their actions to those too far to easily see, it was just them and their songs. For a ninth time headlining Download, they still managed to pull out all the stops, playing tracks from all over the full 37 years of their career. And, although 72 seasons was (narrowly) the most played album, it didn’t hold the crowd back from screaming along. As good as the heavier songs that Metallica are known for were, however, it was the slower ones that stood out — namely, ‘Fade To Black’ and the beautiful ‘Nothing Else Matters’, by way of letting the band seem human rather than their usual rock God status.
It’s also important to note just how full circle the set felt — although Metallica had headlined Download before, this wasn’t just any old download: this was the twentieth download. And, as one of only three bands playing this year who played the initial iteration, it felt right having them there to usher in such an important milestone in the festival’s history. And, as ‘Master Of Puppets’ blared out over the festival grounds, and the Thursday came to an end, the festival finally felt open.
Another day, another schedule, and Friday’s first came in the form of Norwegian band Fixation. Having supported Devin Townsend earlier in the year, as well as playing the RIP Courtyard stage on Wednesday, Fixation had already gained a hell of a following in the Download camps; this meant that their set opening the Avalanche tent was met with a pretty packed crowd, much to their delight. Blasting straight into recently released ‘Stay Awake’, Fixation punished the foolish few turning up to a set hungover, with destructive drumbeats demanding full focus, while Jonas Hansen’s soulful, brutally strong voice pierced the dust and haze of the tent. ‘Ignore the Disarray’ and ‘Bloodline’ just flew by with their brand of explosive prog-metal, before finally their fan favourite epic, ‘What We Have Done’, saw the tent erupting into pits and horns, culminating in the band throwing some ‘Fixation’ T-Shirts into the crowd. One that’s going to get far, and a fantastic start to the Friday.
“Welcome to the game we know as reality”. Bursts of static and a foreboding voice-over gave way to Swedish electro-rockers Smash Into Pieces. With the drummer wearing his signature holographic mask, and the rest of the band wearing some scavenged, ravished, dystopian threads, Smash Into Pieces were as conceptual as their tour earlier in the year with renowned performers Starset would suggest. The crowd might not have been the most vocal, but they sure made up for it in sheer engrossed passion, Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye’s husky vocals ringing out from the Apex stage over the thousands of banging heads on the audience. With an early slot, they didn’t have quite as much production to play with as usual, but they didn’t let that stop them — from the soaring ‘Superhero’ and the epic ‘Six Feet Under’ to the more guttural ‘Glow in the Dark’ and the vengeful ‘Vanguard’, and everything in between, the set felt polished, refined, and arena-ready. It might have been their first UK festival, but it certainly won’t be the last: or the last time in the UK, with Sörbye announcing that they’ll be back in November!
When rumbling tummies had been sated, and thirsts had been quenched, it was time for The Blackout. Weaving through the gridlocked crowd led to a prime spot at The Avalanche stage, ready for the Welsh favourites. With some people travelling to Download just for them — with their intimate comeback show at Merthyr Tydfil selling out instantly, nowhere big enough for a first show back, Download’s Friday was currently the only way to see them — The Blackout, reuniting just before Download 2023, might not have had the biggest fan base of the weekend but they for sure had the most passionate. With their hometown show being the first time the six piece had stepped on stage together in over eight years anticipation was high. But, as the ‘Fuck The Blackout’ banner was raised, and chants of ‘we are the dynamite’ raised throughout the crowd, all was forgiven — they were back. Blasting into ‘Children Of The Night’, Sean Smith immediately climbing into the crowd, the microphone hanging from his neck, The Blackout were nothing but smiles. Well, smiles, and screaming, and love, and chaos, and just a million other things. In fact, it felt like half the band were spending as much time striding and riding across the crowd as they were the stage, just wanting to be as close as humanly possible to their fans who’d waited oh so patiently for them to come back. With no new music out since they stepped off stage all those years ago, the set felt like the embrace of a forgotten favourite; an incredible return, and hopefully the start of a new chapter, rather than just a blip in the epilogue.
‘Hello Download’, wafts a familiar soft Scottish brogue; “we are Empire State Bastard”. Going from possibly the most family friendly band at Download 2022, the headliner no less, to possibly the heaviest band on the bill of Download 2023; as gentle an introduction as Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil gave his grindcore extreme metal side project, nothing could prepare you for those opening notes of debut single ‘Harvest’. As Dave Lombardo tears into his drums, Mike Vennart lets loose on his guitar, Naomi Macleod busts out her bass and Simon Neil shreds his vocals, any similarity between the band members’ other projects — bar Slayer, of course — is destroyed as brutally as the audience’s eardrums. Yet, even in the noise, and in the feedback, the talent on display is undeniable, particularly with touring member — how ridiculous a phrase — Dave Lombardo. But, even as the mostly unreleased and mostly unheard set thrilled and terrified their captive crowd in equal measures, no two tracks sounded alike; toe curling screams over heart-palpitation inducing drums one moment, foreboding chant and black metal-esque thumping instrumentals the next, all held together by true masters of their craft. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but by Christ is it one hell of an exhilarating experience, and one infinitely hard to measure without experiencing it yourself.
Architects, penultimate act of the Apex stage at Download - a sentence the band likely never thought they’d be able to say. But the Brighton born lads have more than earned their spot on the main stage over their ten studio albums. Besides - what other song can open a set as beautifully, as brutally, as ‘Nihilist’? ‘Black Lungs’ and ‘Giving Blood’ came up next, the openers to number one album ‘Do You Dream of Armageddon’, before some tequila wetted Sam’s parched, torn throat. “Download, it’s been ten years — but we are here, and we are ready.” Ten years in the making, the set was nothing short of a celebration: flitting between the old and the new, with ‘tear gas’, ‘when we were young’, deep fake’ and ‘a new moral low ground’ all serving to give recent album ‘The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit’ a healthy showing, while a steady drip of classics — namely, ‘Royal Beggars’, with Sam giving a few words to a lucky crowd surfer, and of course ‘Doomsday’, dedicated to Tom Searle, without whom Architects would never have been a thing. A great set, a long time in the making, if one marred by Pendulum’s set over-running and taking up some of their time — and the conspicuous absence of ‘Goliath’, the never played song featuring Simon Neil, possibly the one opportunity to air it!
Photo Credit: James Bridle
‘Post Human 2. Press Any Button’
Bring Me The Horizon. As the only first-time headliner, bar 2021’s reduced-capacity Pilot, since 2018’s Guns N’ Roses — who don’t exact count as newcomers — the Sheffield based band, with their ever evolving sound, seemed to have a chip on their shoulder long before taking the stage. Rather than a grudge though, it manifested itself as sheer determination to prove themselves, which seemed just the push the band needed to achieve greatness: a faux-cathedral backdrop, a dire dystopian warning, fire cannons, writhing mutated experiments and a goat skull microphone doesn’t even cover the first song. New single ‘AmEN!’, if you’re wondering, introduced as ‘Post Human 2: Extreme Difficulty’ followed closely by ‘Teardrops’ and Sempiternal classic ‘The House of Wolves’. To say Sempiternal is the perfect album for Download is an understatement; for anyone under the age of thirty, Sempiternal was probably their first introduction to metal; hearing it’s tracks as a headliner of Donnington felt monumental. They’ve been played as All Points East headliners, they’ve been played as Reading and Leeds headliners — but Download seems to have always been the goal.
Photo Credit: Abbie Shipperley
‘Dear Diary,’ saw a holographic dragon breathing fire over the stage, accompanied by Sykes’ sinister chuckle, ‘Parasite Eve’ saw a gothic castle and giant cephalopod creatures, ‘LosT’ saw confetti cannons and a kaleidoscopic explosion of colours (and drugs), 1X1’, along with a dystopian cyberpunk cloning set-up, had Nova Twins returning to the main stage once more… basically the set was a climactic exploration of everything that makes the Yorkshire lads so great: production, pizazz, and pure talent. More than that though, it raises the question — what’s taken Download so long?
Elsewhere, Amy Lee joined the boys on stage for beautiful ballad ‘One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death’ for the first verse and chorus, which despite being the original feature marked her first time playing it, as well as taking on Grimes’ part of ‘Nihilist Blues’ — which also saw lasers streaking across the crowd, malformed beings writhing across the stage, and pillars of fire reaching up into the heavens — while ‘Kingslayer’ felt like a mash up of an anime intro and a dance track, colours, lasers and lights blending into one glorious cacophony with the crowd’s impassioned singing. Finally, the set had to come to an end; an acoustic and emotional rendition of That’s The Spirit’s ‘Follow You’, the anthemic ‘Drown’, with Oli embracing the fans at barrier, a fiery, sanguine ‘Throne’ and an explosive finale of the recently repopularised ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ (thanks Tik Tok!) saw the newcomers, having clawed their way to the top, see off their phenomenal Download set.
Saturday, Alex Stage, Polaris. For the acerbic Australians, opening the main stage, it was probably a nice cool Winter’s day — it just seemed the polite thing to do to warm everyone up. With cries for circle pits even before the first drum had been bashed, it didn’t take long for the Friday night blues to be washed away, with the soft — sorry, screeched — vocals to ‘Landmine’, ‘Lucid’ and ‘All of This Is Fleeting’ erupting over their sweaty, sunburnt fans. The emotional ‘Masochist’ and the UK debut of recently released ‘Inhumane’ — new album Fatalism coming September 1st — came next, before finally ‘Hypermania’ and ‘The Remedy’ saw waves of fans tossed unceremoniously over the barrier. For a band too rarely seen over in the UK, Polaris getting such a huge showing and opportunity can only promise good things to come.
Having announced the departure of original members Aric Improta and Stephen Harrison at the close of last year, at least half of the draw of Fever333 was just to see whether they still had the explosive, exhilarating live presence that they’re known for. In a word? Yep. Along with eruptions of fire and steam, Fever333 were just incendiary, explosive energy underpinning their vitriolic tracks. Walking to the end of a stage? Too pedestrian for Jason Butler and new member April Kae both — try running, or perhaps some somersaults. Or, maybe, just skip the stage entirely and use the crowd themselves, walking and surfing across the packed out front of the Apex stage. Jumping up and down? For Butler, try jumping off the stack of five amps, a feat that could easily have gone wrong, or maybe climb one of Metallica’s mid-crowd towers. “We’re a Black band talking about issues facing Black peoples, POCs and Immigrants around the world’ announced Butler, introducing the band; “whatever else, you belong.” The message felt particularly poignant in 2023 — not only is it the 20th anniversary of Download, but for the UK it’s also the 75th anniversary of the Windrush migration and the subsequent 5th anniversary of the Windrush scandal, where somehow the legality of belonging was so heinously called into question for so many people.
With a show reminiscent of fellow political activists and bona fide legends — and previous Download headliners — Rage Against The Machine, their forty minute set felt part stirring performance and part demonstration, and was nothing short of breath-taking, both metaphorically and literally; a mash-up featuring Blur’s ‘Song Two’ got even the newcomers to the band screaming! See them in February with Enter Shikari for a masterclass in vitality and vitriol.
Having played a mid-afternoon set on the Opus stage, and ramming the walkways with fans excited to see one of the most exciting acts in modern metal — if only for the theatrics — Download 2023 decided they needed a bigger space. The Apex stage, and the extra production it offers, wasn’t only better: it was necessary. The bloody shovel from ‘Funeral Derangements’, the sanguine soaked extras and sawn-off arms for the Hostel-inspired ‘Wurst Vacation’, the decapitated head and the Patrick Bateman’s signature raincoat in ‘Hip To Be Scared’, killing the poor Download Dog during ‘The Shower Scene’; every track managed to bring to life the most important aspects of the beloved films and stories that they’re based on, and left the set feeling as much of a multi-media performance as it did a metalcore meltdown. A literal sea of crowdsurfers making the security sweat didn’t hurt either! As fantastic as ever.
Alexisonfire. They might not be the only band at Download, but they’re still the only band ever — and what a band. The five piece are always a stunning sight to behold; their instrumentals tight, their voices blending together perfectly, their bassist Chris Steele a crazed, manic, theatrical madman. And, launching straight into ‘Dog’s Blood’, the theme of the evening seemed to be go heavy and hard or go the hell home. As much as you could wax lyrical about their sound, and Dallas Green’s soft, lilting voice in particular, it’s their live presence that really makes them so superb; whether they’re harmonising to ‘Sweet Dreams Of Otherness’ or blasting through ‘Familiar Drugs’ and ‘Young Cardinals’ they just own the stage, the afore-mentioned Chris in particular.
Even audience members at the back of the audience, normally the ‘I’ll see them for the sake of it’ crowd, were happily singing away, both to the known classics — ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’, ‘Boiled Frogs’, ‘We Are The Sound’ — but also to the newer tracks, with ‘Sans Soleil’ as always a particular highlight.
Getting to see Alexisonfire live always feels special, but seeing them play to tens of thousands at Download 2023 feels even more so.
Penultimate band Disturbed could probably have been Download headliners themselves, with the reaction the crowd gave when David Draiman and co took to the stage. With seventy minutes to play with, Disturbed could easily have made their set a string of deep cuts and greatest hits, celebrating themselves; instead, it became a surprisingly emotional and introspective set, full of confessions and poignancy, with Dave at one point brought to tears himself by the crowd’s visceral reaction. There were the greatest hits of course — ‘Are You Ready’, ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, and of course ‘Down With The Sickness’ — but there was also a lot of heart. Impassioned indictments of our internal demons, namely depression and addiction, led to a listing of some of the heroes and friends we’ve lost, Chester and Keith Flint getting particularly vocal reactions, and fantastic covers of both Genesis’s ‘Land of Confusion’ and their incredibly powerful rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’. As the last of the three bands to have played the first Download — Metallica and Evanescence completing the set — Disturbed proved that, twenty years on, they’re still as strong as ever.
Headlining a stage at Download is no easy task, but New York prog rock band Coheed and Cambria made it look effortless over on the Avalanche stage. Well, not prog per se. More prog, with guitar solos straight out of classic rock, all set to the all-encompassing world of a space opera, with the lore of a multi-media universe. In fact, often more than one — with the majority of the band’s albums being concept albums based on Sanchez’s The Amory Wars, which also includes a series of comic books as well as full-length novels (though the albums come before the comics), Coheed and Cambria blow most lore-based worlds out of the water. Simply put, their tracks whisk you away on a journey, an odyssean tale of dystopian, futuristic, warlike fantasy, and they’re as otherworldly as they sound. Conceptually, they’re not the most accessible — it’s hard to cram the knowledge of nine albums and 32 comics, among other things, coming in so late to the game — but each song tells a story. Hearing thousands of fans sing along to the tales of Claudio Kilgannon and the Red Army during ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ or the contention between Ryder the Writer and Erica Court in ‘Welcome Home’ is always a special experience, and Download 2023 was no different.
At first glance, anyone who wasn’t blown away on Thursday and were hoping for something different from Metallica’s 10th headline set — meaning they’ve headlined 10 out of 59 of the total days for Download — were out of luck. Everything seemed identical, even down to the two tracks playing on the stereo before Metallica came on. But then, everything just seemed to dial up a little. The lighting was more diverse, the production a little more intricate, the songs a little more varied. It felt almost as if they’d seen Bring Me The Horizon’s set the night before and upped their game — not that anyone was complaining. And, for the vast majority, for whom seeing Metallica again felt as life-affirming as the first, whenever that may have been, Saturday was as good as anyone could have hoped. With a ‘no repeat guarantee’, you could roughly plan out their set from what hits were missed on Thursday — here ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’, there ‘One’, and obviously ‘Enter Sandman’ at the end — but that doesn’t tell the full story. The visuals playing on Metallica’s towers depict a genesis, a celebration of Metallica’s career and their progression as a band, while the band seemed to just have a little more fun with it all. There was even a celebration of youth, a mother at barrier passing a child up to the band, although the crying and reaching back to for the mum felt a little bittersweet!
Basically, that extra half an hour seemed to give the band a little more oomph, regardless of whether you think they need it or not.
There are surprises from the set of course — ie the ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ tease, instead going into the tour debut of ‘Whiplash’ — but the biggest has to have been for the locals living over ten miles away who could still hear Metallica from their 288 loudspeaker set-up, meaning the sold-out weekend got to reach even more people. Free Metallica - score!
One of the most talked about bands in up and coming modern metal, Bloodywood getting to open the Apex Stage on the Sunday as their debut appearance is testament to their talent. A blend of modern metal and Indian folk, there just felt something instinctive about Bloodywood; seeing the old combining with the new, the traditional with the modern, made something urgent and exciting. With a blend of Hindi and English, a host of instruments usually uncommon yet distinctly characteristic of India — including the Dhol, the single stringed Tumbi, at least one flute, and several others — and a host of songs taken from their recent album Rakshak, which was itself nominated for Best International Breakthrough Album at this year’s Heavy Music Awards, their set just felt exciting, energetic and vastly different.
Photo Credit: James Bridle
With a deathcore-esque backdrop barely legible even knowing the band, Lorna Shore didn’t try and mask their intentions. They can add as many melodic, string-filled intros to their songs as they want, but Will Ramos and co can’t disguise what’s to come — bursts of blast beats so quick as to sound continuous, Ramos’s blood-curdling, physically petrifying feats of vocal destruction, and shredding guitars, which for once felt like the voice of reason. Even the mountains of dust kicked up by the arena-wide circle pit did nothing to hide the band, with the litany of speakers blaring their oxymoronically melodic deathcore odysseys. A forty-five minute set didn’t feel enough, particularly with how Lorna Shore’s songs usually clock out at six or so minutes; the deathcore-favourites made each count though, even bringing ‘To The Hellfire’ out for their set, described as an oldie — but who can forget those guttural animal noises Will blasts out at the end? Certainly not anyone in earshot on Sunday. As good and as heavy as you could hope, and then some.
Some bands are amazing when you know the lyrics to the songs but suffer if not — The Hu, with the majority of their lyrics in their native Mongolian, had to find a way to combat that. With the most entrancing live set-up, instruments and members spread across the stage, and their insanely talented and incredibly distinct throat singing vocals, it’s no wonder that they’ve developed such a rabid global fan base for their live shows. Their rhythmic and hypnotic sound feels primal, almost otherworldly, the lyrics incomprehensible — if you don’t speak the language anyway, as with the majority of Donnington — but somehow still leaving you feeling like you’re just on the cusp of understanding. With a Mongolian cover of Metallica’s ‘Sad But True’ thrown in for good measure — arguably better than the original played on Thursday — The Hu truly conquered Donnington.
Having headlined (and sold out!) OVO Arena Wembley earlier in the year, after four years of waiting for the patient people of the United Kingdom, it took I Prevail less than three months to get back again — this time, as one of the final acts on the Apex Stage for Download 2023. With the oppressive ‘Bow Down’ kicking things off for the Michigan natives, I Prevail quickly launched into a lively set, flitting between Eric Vanlerberghe’s heavy screams and Brian Burkheiser’s comparatively lighter touches, focussing particularly on their anthemic tracks; more than that though, they kept their sound moving: heavy or rapped one second, electronic or ballad-y (if the emotional ‘Hurricane’ can be considered as such!) the next.
The crowd reaction was slightly muted by the weariness of the weather — it feels a very British thing to do to complain about the rain for years and then complain about the lack of rain the next — but a mix of moving and moshing music won over the tens of thousands arrayed in front of them, particularly by the heavier ‘Judgement Day’, which saw the stage obscured by the circle pit’s wake; nor did it hurt at all to hear a partial cover of former Download headliners System Of A Down’s ‘Chop Suey’ into their ‘FWTYTK’, which saw a crowd scream their alcohol-ridden hearts out. A fantastic set, from a band who’s soar to UK fame over the past few years has been nothing short of spectacular.
Blazing torches held by zealous acolytes preceded the entrance of prolific metallers Parkway Drive,as Winston and co took to the stage; casting a striking figure, all in white, Winston McCall felt the image of a cult-leader-stroke-returning-hero. A band that comfortably played Alexandra Palace last year, with While She Sleeps and Lorna Shore — a stacked lineup if ever there’s been — the multiple thousands arrayed in front seemed to feel like another day in the park for the vitriolic veterans, particularly their smiley, charismatic frontman. Some of the showmanship on display, however, felt like distinctly Download territory, with the adored Winston venturing into the circle pit, held aloft in the centre as hundreds flew around him, before crowd surfing back onto the crowd during ‘Idols and Anchors’, or the long, emotional ‘Darker Dtill’, full of strings, haunting whistling, and raised fists from the crowd.
“That was the break’, we’re told after the latter; “this one’s called ‘Bottom Feeder’”, and suddenly normal service on the Apex stage was resumed, complete with guttural growls and gushing gouts of fire. And, as triumph radiated from their beaming faces, Parkway Drive just refused to let up; right up until the final pitched scream of Atlas’s ‘Wild Eyes’, Parkway Drive put on a hell of a show, and were undoubtedly the perfect penultimate act for the biggest stage of the biggest Download.
‘It always rains for Slipknot’: a phrase heard by many a doomsayer over the weekend. But whether a saying or a prophecy, the lightning strikes in the distance and the slowly rolling in blanket of grey across the sky in the thirty minutes before Slipknot were due to take the stage certainly meant fate was being tempted — but come hell or high water, Corey Taylor and his adored collection of vagabonds and misfits were taking the damn stage. This was Download 2023, and although they might have headlined Download before, with the Sunday being their fifth time, they hadn’t headlined the 20th anniversary. Even a recent change in lineup, with the departure of longtime member Craig Jones, and the short-term absence of Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan, couldn’t hold them back, and, as they took to the stage with ‘The Blister Exists’ the weather was holding… just.
Slipknot are a special band. Often the face of metal, or at least the face of parents’ fears about their kids listening to metal, they are as iconic now as they were when they were trailblazing the way for any degenerate band or masked collective to rise up over their detritus and make super stardom. And, although countless people in attendance would have seen them before, it still beggars belief just how influential a band they are.
Opening with a bang — literally, a loud clash interrupting the music, along with smoke streaming from the bases of Metallica’s towers, as if rising from the sulphurous pits of Hell below — Metallica might have been legends, Bring Me The Horizon might have been newcomers, but Slipknot are still just stars.
As fun as some of the heavy ones were though — ‘Liberate’, ‘Eyeless’, the it was some of the more varied ones that gave the crowd ample opportunity to vent anger that stood out, like ‘Wait and Bleed’, ‘The Heretic Anthem’ and of course, ‘Psychosocial’, with the crowd shouting and staggering their way through chaotic catharsis; though fate missed a hell of an opportunity for dramatic irony by not letting loose during the latter.
Their production was as satanic as you could hope, demonic gateways to Hell shining behind the masked madmen while gushes of flame bursted out in time to the newly masked Jay Weinberg‘s frantic, thunderous thumps… even the eyes of the totems’ either side of the stage glowed with a haunting, sanguine glow.
There are rumours that the short-lived absence of Crahan — who ended up flying in especially for Download — and the departure of Jones has spelled the beginning of the end of Slipknot. Their set, completed by the one-two-three punches of ‘Duality’, ‘Custer’ and ‘Spit It Out’, overwhelmingly suggest otherwise. And, as those final frenzied, anarchic moments of ‘Spit It Out’ faded away to the screams of the near hundred thousand arrayed opposite, and Download 2023 with it, only one thought remained: ‘bring on 2024!’
Although marred by a slight lack of preparation — the traffic on Wednesday was only the start of it, with queues everywhere and a scarily severe lack of shade across the whole site, given the ridiculously hot weather — Download 2023 was a thrilling and enthralling success. There were surprises, newcomers, heroes and legends; it really did feel like a celebration worthy of a twentieth anniversary. Happy Birthday Download. See you next year.
Words by James O’Sullivan
