Man of many roles, Sam Loynes, joins Damnation Vs to discuss THAT Goat of Mendes set, becoming Akercocke's unofficial "fixer" and the band's plans for the year ahead. Also, his long and rich relationship with Damnation and quest for more gin, limes and ice, Voices' latest record 'Breaking The Trauma Bond', if we'll ever see The Antichrist Imperium live again and the future of his most "fun" project, Shrines. Pure satan worship, at its most enjoyable.  #damnationvs #akercocke For further...

How did some of the UK's best emerging sludge, stoner and doom bands get signed, and in an age of Spotify, YouTube and TikTok, why is that still important? What impact does landing slots on festivals like Damnation, Desertfest and Bloodstock have on a band's rise to be Mastiff (!), beyond the back patting and Facebook likes? And where the hell is all the vinyl we've been ordering over the past year? APF Records boss Andrew Field is the man with all the answers... just don't mention...

It's 2022 but tour postponements, cancellations and reschedules feel depressingly 2020. Jonathan Almond, promoter with Scottish rock and metal booking giants, Triple G (Deftones, Fall Out Boy, Meshuggah, Queens of the Stone Age...) discusses the challenges of holding a calendar together with an ever changing landscape of lockdowns, covid variants and fed up fans, now reluctant to hand over their cash for shows that might never happen. Why did Knocked Loose and Terror agree to stick with...

Ever wondered how difficult it would be for a slam death band from Dunfermline to tour America and Asia without showing up at a venue in Idaho  where the promoter forgot you were playing, having your headline act held hostage in Indonesia or almost drowning in a tunnel in the Philippines? Well wonder no more, because Party Cannon's Chris Ryan and his band of merry slammers have done it all for you.  Jarring accents, camera phone calamities and a guitarist with a black foot... absolutely...

Few bands had a 2021 like Conjurer; levelling the main stages of both Download and Bloodstock before returning to their natural habitat of a packed indoor show at Damnation and leaving no one in any doubt that they are one of the finest metal acts the UK has to offer. Guitarist Brady Deeprose joins Damnation Vs for a mammoth two-hour stint to pick through the bones of those sets, his feelings on open air performances to 10,000 fans compared to packed "sweatboxes" and the possibility of being...

After two long years Damnation 2021 is in the bag! A two-day emotional rollercoaster for various reasons, including a brutal 1am Raging Speedhorn beating and a last-minute Green Lung covid cancellation. Damnation co-organiser, Paul Farrington, ("the other one") joins Damnation Vs to unpack it all, look ahead to Manchester  with excitement and terror and take a grilling from the fans. #damnationvs #damnationfestival For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival...

Brummie necro-punk Dunc (aka Drunk) grabs a can and joins Damnation Vs to relive some of the most chaotic shows the festival has ever hosted, from Mistress tearing up Jilly's Rockworld in 2006 and saying a fond farewell in 2009 to Fukpig enjoying a day out by the bins at Leeds Uni. He also chats about his live role in the much bigger beast,  Anaal Nathrakh, and future plans for Make Them Die Slowly and his own solo project. If you focus hard enough, you can almost follow him for the full 40...

Routing a tour can be a dog-eat-dog world, riddled with "avails", "holds", "first pencils" and "challenges"... and that's just in "market one". Venue boss, promoter and booking agent Ian Shaw is a man with his fingers in all the pies and he cuts through the jargon to explain how best to his bands from Brighton to Aberdeen without a ten-hour jaunt. We also discuss the problems facing venues currently booked for tours that are unlikely to happen this winter, promoters who won't pay up and...

From playing on broken stools in The Red Lion pub in Stevenage before the pandemic to being offered Bloodstock, ArcTanGent and Damnation post-lockdown, Pupil Slicer have caused a stir in isolation with the release of their debut album, Mirrors. Singer, guitarist and "band Führer" Katie Davies joins Damnation Vs to talk about the insane reaction to the record, future tour plans and that one time they played "internationally"... in Cardiff. #damnationvs #pupilslicer For further info on...

Will Pig Destroyer make it to the UK this winter to headline a sold-out Damnation and if so, where else are they planning to play on a rare overseas venture? Blake Harrison, the band's electronics maestro, tour manager, manager and social media voice joins Damnation Vs to lay out the 2021 plans for the US grindcore kings. He also takes a trip down memory lane to revisit the band's first taste of Britain - and haggis - on tour in 2004, their previous Damnation show in 2012 and the Temples...

ArcTanGent 2021 is cancelled. Organiser James Scarlett explains why the decision was made, the fears about hosting events without government-backed insurance, the response from bands across the world and where the festival goes next. Plans for an indoor event to mark the loss of 2,000 Trees and ATG this year, refreshing the line-ups for 2022 and the depth of talent emerging from the UK.  We get in about it all. #damnationvs #arctangent For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation...

Bloodstock booking boss, Vicky Hungerford, returns to the Damnation Vs podcast with all guns blazing - plans for this summer's festival no matter what restrictions the government throws at them, her feelings on an "all British" event, the highs and lows of appeasing some of metal's most demanding headliners and what do you do when oral sex is on the rider? #damnationvs #bloodstock  For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival...

Andy Farrow, manager of Opeth, Devin Townsend, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Bloodbath, Anathema and The Wildhearts, unpacks three decades of experience in an episode that digs deeeeeep into the business. The importance of bands getting their master tapes back, licensing deals, filling in those PRS sheets, 'syncs' with gaming companies and, finally, an explanation of what 'publishing' actually means. Pulling festival favours from Devin, setting up a merch company with Opeth, Zoom calls about...

Stephen Moss, organiser of the UK's biggest black metal event, Incineration,  talks about having to postpone the festival for the second year. The frustration of finally landing Emperor but not being able to go ahead with the show, the challenges of making sure bands with a dodgy pasts don't end up on the line-up and the acceptance of £100 parking fines and costly hotel rooms in the capital. He also discusses co-founding his own agency, Echelon, last year and building a roster which already...

From the Big Apple, Pallbearer's Joseph Rowland joins Damnation Versus to discuss the band's sound engineer becoming a viral internet meme after the fire alarm sounded while he was behind the desk in his Speedos. His hopes for 2021, including hitting...

Tom Taaffe - the hero responsible for Nails at Damnation - is this week's guest to discuss being a booking agent for the likes of Sleep, Exodus, Pallbearer, Higher Power, Every Time I Die, Loathe, Vein and... Vance Joy. He discusses the imminent decisions facing the major summer festivals which could cost them  "millions of pounds" if they don't call it right, the shock of being dropped by bands who "fancy a change" and the love/hate tussle between promoters and agents. And why getting the...

After releasing one of the best albums of 2020 - Phanerozoic II - as the pandemic brought touring to a standstill, The Ocean's Robin Staps spent his unexpected spare time at home writing the follow up.  He also spent lockdown in Berlin growing his label, Pelagic Records, and his planning to take the label's live show, Pelagic Fest, to Norway and Holland. As well as looking ahead to a future that WILL include the tour with pg.lost, Hypno5e and Svalbard - even if it needs bumped to 2022 -...

Stepping into Myrkur's slot on the black metal stage at Hellfest, being commissioned to perform new music at Roadburn and storming Damnation with her electric cello, before introducing Venom Prison... Jo Quail is a unique talent causing a stir in the extreme scene. She discusses all the above, touring with Winterfylleth, Mono, Caspian, the reception death metal fans have given her take on classical music and why we don't see more artists like her on our club circuit. For further info on...

Financially worthless Spotify deals barely covering two pints a month, living in an "open prison" during the pandemic, no live shows for two more years, cancel culture, freedom of speech... and Mgła playing Damnation.Primordial's Alan Averill is not a...

Maybeshewill’s John Helps discusses playing in (one of) the world’s best post-rock band, inadvertently calling it a day at their biggest ever show, returning in the middle of a pandemic and why he’s the reluctant “thank you” guy.He also talks about the...

Orange Goblin frontman and booking agent Ben Ward explains how losing his day job during the pandemic led to the birth of his own agency, Route One Booking, with a roster boasting the likes of Voivod, Discharge, Mutoid Man and Fu Manchu. The importance...

We did it! We landed a booking agent, and not just any old agent, the man responsible for putting more bands on Damnation's incredible line-ups than anyone... Haydn Britland of NMC Live.Alcest, Mono, Sólstafir, The Ocean, Cult of Luna, Enslaved, Nordic...

ArcTanGent and 2,000 Trees talent buyer, James Scarlett, opens up about the pressures of booking almost 300 bands each year for his festivals. Why won't Mogwai just say 'yes'? How realistic is it that we'll see The Mars Volta finally take the stage in...

Beating Covid-19, tour managing Machine Head, playing with Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax in Czech Republic, Wes Scantlin's bus antics, silver service at Graspop vs dodgy meal tokens at Download, handling huge production for Red Hot Chilli...

Suicidal black metal shoegaze enigmas Ghostbath, of North Dakota, China, screech and howl about life on the road in the States vs Europe, making their UK debut on Bloodstock's main stage at 11am, headlining Damnation against Napalm Death, signing with a...