Incineration 2024 – Festival preview by Emily Castles
As the sun begins to haunt the Earth with late nights and early mornings, it’s time for the metalheads of London and beyond to crawl back into their familiar Camden lairs – the Electric Ballroom, the Underworld, the Black Heart and the Dev. Once again, the UK’s darkest metal festival takes over the venues of North London in a ritualistic celebration of all things gloomy, miserable and downright creepy.
This Saturday celebrates Incineration Festival’s tenth birthday – and the big celebrations are well and truly not to be missed. The Electric Ballroom is a real showstopper this year, with back-to-back unmissable bands – perhaps this is why Incineration have strategically planned out set times, ensuring that there are no clashes between the Ballroom and The Underworld for the whole day. A welcome luxury for a festival!
Incineration aficionados Winterfylleth take up an early set with their moody Mancunian sound, following recent guest performances alongside Emperor. Also returning to this year’s festival are Norwegian black metal legends Carpathian Forest, in a special UK exclusive fronted by the almighty Nattefrost.
A particularly exciting moment for the Ballroom stage will be seeing the esteemed Brummie destroyers Anaal Nathrakh return to the festival after headlining the inaugural Incineration Festival back at The Garage in 2014. Their headline set at Damnation Festival last year was transformative and completely mad – we can only expect the same and more.
Belphegor will also be destroying the stage with their usual gruesome antics, Helmuth reporting: “As the birthplace of NWOBHM and home to many of my all-time favorite bands, England holds a special significance for me, and playing there is always a thrilling experience”.
Finnish melo death metallers Amorphis headline the Ballroom, stating: ‘Playing a metal festival in the heart of London in May is a heck of a way to kick off the festival period of 2024.’ Their sound, continually evolving, remains rooted in the trials and tribulations of original death metal.
Over at Lucifer’s lair, otherwise known as The Underworld, Canadian black metaller’s Thantifaxath make their UK debut following the release of their second studio album Hive Mind Narcosis last year. Offering up a change of energy are Danish hardcore band Hexis – who are sure to deliver a fast, lively and brutal set. The Underworld is headlined by Greek death metal band, Dead Congregation.
For those willing to brave the upstairs of the Black Heart (Disclosure: it’s hot and sweaty!) you’re in for some real black metal theatrics with two Derby-born bands. Blackened thrashers Devastator are sure to cause havoc, having just released their second full-length album Conjurers of Cruelty, while cloaked ghouls Abduction will likely end up haunting your dreams (or nightmares).
With loads more bands on the bill, from blackened doom to speedy thrash – including some intimate sets at The Dev, this is sure to be the best Incineration yet – not a bad way to celebrate the end of its first decade!
For the very latest ticket and info visit www.incinerationfest.com
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