I just made it across town for Monochrome’s vocal sound check at the Dust, and if that was anything to go by, then I knew we were in for a treat. Hailing from the West Country, this metalcore five-piece play a slightly alt but hard-hitting take on melodic metal. The singer’s impressive clean vocals and the guitarist’s roars made for a good combination of light and dark, although they weren’t helped by the sound mix at times—which was ironic considering the perfect sound check. The singer even bled for her art partway through the set (nosebleed), but battled on heroically. It must have seemed a very long way to come, from Bristol to Brighton, to play a 25-minute set, but they put in a passionate shift and repeatedly thanked the crowd for turning up. We showed our appreciation in the usual way, especially when they got firmly into their groove during songs like “Leave It All Behind”.
One of my most-anticipated acts was up next at the Chalk: melodic hardcore ragers Glass Grave. Local boy Adam Connor was resplendent in his custom jumpsuit and orange bucket hat, screaming his way through this afternoon’s six-point catharsis—ably assisted by the roars from one of the guitarists and a battering backline. According to the T-shirt, they play ‘depression-core,’ but I got a lot of positive energy from their performance today. From “Death of a Dream” to “Red Paint” to “Crosshairs,” they gave it their all. Whilst not always pitch perfect, it was as much about the attitude and passion behind it. Adam had put in a shift on the first day of the festival too—mainly at the bar—but I’m sure I also saw him pop up for a guest appearance during Exist Immortal’s set. To misquote the end of a Glass Grave song, we most certainly did ‘get what we came for!’
Apathy UK may be a young band, but they are certainly on an upward trend—making waves by climbing their way up festival bills, for one thing. They were a man down when I first saw them play (Hammerdown Winter Militia in December 2024), but they are now back to full strength. They played their psychedelic metal hard, heavy and harsh today, and it looked like they’ve read the ‘how-to-conduct-a-crowd’ gig playbook from cover to cover, employing all the tricks in the book to generate a crowd response. Tracks like “Devour” and “Gravewalker” inspired a fair bit of headbanging with their mid-paced, technical style. They like to mix up the fast with the slow and are quite progressive on occasion. They went down well with the Hammerdown crowd, and it will be interesting to see how they get on on the Sophie Stage at Bloodstock later this year.
Brighton locals Sypha were next up at the Chalk, and I was impressed with the memorable quality of their songs. Alicia Pilling’s vocals soared above energetic metalcore, and they enthralled us with catchy songs that you can actually remember and find yourself humming later (I know, right?). She has a great voice—and some nifty moves to boot. “Limbo,” “World’s End,” and “The Afterparty” were set highlights, with Alfred Atkins’ dirty guitar riffs cutting through a bluesy rock backbeat. They treated us to a brand new song this afternoon: “Here We Go Again”—a poignant, heartfelt track about a bad relationship, and one that promises a leaning toward a heavier sound in their writing (as hinted at elsewhere). Sypha were a nice find.
Horrenda, on the other hand, were a very different proposition—with their corpse paint and hooded figures (natch). This Irish six-piece practically filled the small Dust stage and didn’t just play black metal, but ‘depressive suicidal black metal’; I suspect they were probably the most marmite band on the line-up today. Vocalist ‘Outis’ screamed/barked his vitriolic spite out with a lot of venom—facing stage left rather than the crowd for some reason (is that a ‘thing’?). Musically? Well, imagine a reel of barbed wire being pulled through one ear and out the other… something like that. They can clearly play, and I understand they are garnering some attention, so it will be interesting to see how they go from here. Strangely, the vocals seemed too low in the mix, and the performance would have worked better if the sound was turned right up—to fully immerse the audience in the maelstrom. I just need to be in the right kind of mood for this kind of extreme metal, and I just wasn’t, at this early stage of a Sunday afternoon.
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Dover-based Struck/Down gave off Metallica and Amon Amarth-flavoured vibes from the get-go—with a side order of Breed 77, maybe. The Viking look was sported to good effect, but they are not a Viking metal band. Linden Twyman led them through an impressive collection of groove-metal tunes, ably assisted by Ian Spurrett and Pete McLarney on guitars, Tommy Rogers on drums, and Will Mihr on bass. Linden’s sense of humour went down well with the crowd—and so did the meaty riffs, pounding drums, and widdly guitar solos. They made some new friends today, and yours truly was one of them.
Over to the Dust next for Recall The Remains, who hail from Shropshire and play bouncy metalcore—but with a Sepultura tone and attitude. Jacob’s bellows, growls, and howls are perfectly counterpointed by bassist Jordan’s catchy clean vocals, resulting in hooky songs with a bludgeoning backbeat and solid riffs (provided by Elliot, Zach and Anthony). I missed the name of the particular song I’m thinking of, but it reminded me of the epic Seps track “Roots Bloody Roots” at one point, which made for a fist-pumping anthem. This was a very enjoyable set which has inspired me to see them again.
In Arran Prime, alternative rock band Crushed By Waves have the ultimate frontman. Not only is he a lovely guy, he can really sing and has the enthusiasm, energy and ability to get an audience really involved in a show—getting in amongst them in the moshpit at times. Hell, he even managed to reinvigorate the (now tired and old) ‘squat down and jump up’ format which every band seems obliged to trot out. He should come with a permanent ‘Parental Advisory,’ though; put it this way, if they appeared on television, there would be constant apologies for “any bad language which you may have heard.” Ha! Crushed By Waves are consummate professionals, and their sound is full and rounded, with Andy Hoskinson and Dan Collict on shredding guitars and Tom West bashing away on drums. Undoubtedly one of the performances of the weekend—and the crowd lapped it up.
Hell Can Wait are another melodic hardcore band from Brighton, and their debut is titled Love.Loss.Hope.Fear., which covers just about everything, doesn’t it? Melancholic melodic notes hang in the air, riding over fast-paced drumming until Luke Buckmaster’s shouty vocals come in and rip everything apart.
Maintaining the high energy levels, Bleed Again lifted the roof off the Chalk with their shouty metalcore. The band are no strangers to Hammerdown, and frontman James Dawson works the crowd well, as the tight riffs nail down the backing for his gruff vocals and bassist Sam’s cleans to good effect. The metal is tempered by effective electronic flourishes, providing a careful balance between light and dark. They have shuffled the pack a bit since the last time I saw them, as founding guitarist Simon Williams has stepped away to concentrate on other commitments. Kinzoku’s Bobby Didcott has taken on Simon’s guitar duties and does a bloody good job today. The band have been working on new material, and “Obsession” is an absolute banger of a track. Sam’s vocal skills really shone through on “Black Heart” though, which is a powerful but catchy heartfelt ballad—and a highlight of the set for me (I got some serious Chester Bennington chills during one section).
Over at the Dust, Waterlines got the crowd going with a high-energy performance of their blend of nu-metal and EDM-infused metalcore, with frontman Ben Mars asking, “Have you ever seen a hand grenade go off in a jam jar?” So, at least we knew what they were aiming for today. They reminded me of Slipknot in parts, Seething Akira in others, with brutal beatdowns and half-rapped vocals peppering the set—ending with a full-on rave party. I particularly liked the idea of splitting the room into Sleep Token vs. Non-Sleep Token fans for the wall-of-death: inspired. Hammerdown Harry was even spotted in the moshpit wearing an inflatable duck(?) on his head. Well, I mean, obviously…
Apologies to In Search of Sun, but this was the time for me to go in search of some spicy Korean chicken… and then back into Dust to catch part of The Five Hundred‘s set. They play heavy and aggressive metalcore, but with maybe a bit more progressive melody than most in that subgenre. John Eley’s vocals work best when he is bellowing straight into the faces of the crowd, sending them off into the moshpit with a flea in their ear as the breakdowns slam into them from all directions. It was turning into a hot and sweaty afternoon after all.
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The first time I caught Dream State live was at Takedown Festival back in April 2025, and the South Walians seem to be gaining traction. Jessie Powell bounded onto the stage and launched into the first couple of songs with some gusto—good energy. She can flip between the higher-end notes to metal roars very quickly, which must be pretty difficult to do. However, it did take a little while for the band’s metalcore-influenced hard rock to stir the crowd into some movement. To then have a bit of a moan about the four-hour drive it took to get to Brighton—and start picking on individuals in the crowd to get them to start moshing—may not be the best idea though: bad energy. A few people started glancing at each other and I assume they were thinking the same as me—what’s going on here? Bearing in mind the fact that other bands on the bill had travelled a lot further, and for only half of Dream State’s allocated stage time, you’d have thought they would be grateful to those who had actually made the effort to come and see their set. Maybe there was something else going on? Whatever it was, I’m told that they had made up with the audience by the end of the set, with forays into the crowd and everything.
About ten years ago, from the deepest, darkest, doom-filled depths of err… Derby, a disgusting grindcore band crawled its way onto the metal scene, spitting and choking, vomiting its filthy innards into the ears of the unsuspecting metal hordes… Anyway, someone at Hammerdown thought it would be a good idea to book Raised By Owls as the Sunday headliners at Dust. What were they thinking?
Now I’m partial to a bit of Napalm Death or Anaal Nathrakh, when the mood takes me, but grindcore doesn’t feature on my day-to-day playlist, and I wondered how a band like Owls would fill a full set with tracks that are only one to two minutes long? The answer is by cramming in lots of jokes, guest appearances by comedy characters (who launched themselves into the moshpit), and—tonight—hosting your own special gameshow. Tonight’s special guests were Mr Blobby (twirling two killer dildos… obviously), ‘Cocknose’ from Slipknot, and The Nookie Monster (all played by Jamie, MSc.). Three lucky people got to take away highly inappropriate T-shirt prizes for ‘Best Headbanger,’ ‘Best Barney Greenway Dancing,’ and ‘Best Growler’ (for singing Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” — IYKYK). Put it this way, none of these shirts are ever going to be worn in public!
It sounds like these guys had a nightmare journey to Brighton as well, but were determined to take it out on their instruments instead of the crowd. Musically, they play straight down the line grindcore, and they play it extremely proficiently. Sam’s vocals were spot-on and Alex, Lee, Mark and Toby’s playing was tighter than a gnat’s proverbial tonight. It’s all about having fun with Raised By Owls, and the song titles should tell you all you need to know: “Ainsley Harriott Advises You To Give Your Meat A Good Old Rub,” “The Cult Of David Dickinson,” “Going For A Pint With Corpsegrinder,” “I’m Sorry I Wore A Dying Fetus T-Shirt To Your Baby’s Gender Reveal Party”… This set was so funny and so entertaining—they rounded off with their take on “Break Stuff,” which went down like a storm. The opening track on their latest album (Vol. 3: The Satirical Verses) is called “Comedy Metal Is a Fucking Embarrassment” – not a bit of it boys, not a bit of it.
The Raven Age have some great tunes (“Angel in Disgrace” is my personal favourite), and they came to Hammerdown Festival fresh from supporting Iron Maiden on their Run For Your Lives Tour. As you would expect from such a band, they are extremely well-polished—both in terms of musical ability and stagecraft. They really looked the part up there on the Chalk stage, with their matching outfits and choreographed moves. They blend a bit of Maiden with a bit of Trivium, and swirl it all around to form a classic metal sound. This was a top performance by a band at the top of their game right now.
So. Hammerdown. What a festival of music! And what a festival it promises to be next year too. Onwards and upwards!
