Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
Overnight rain hasn’t dampened our spirits or soothed our sunburn as we rise for day two of Download. We’ve got a packed schedule ahead of us, with sound clashes across the stages ensuring that whatever flavour of heavy you’re into, your favourite sound will be heard at maximum volume.
A huge, charismatic boom announced their presence, a blazing wake up call. Loathe’s sound is so heavy but so needed at the same time, their first main stage Download set sending the early birds slamming and kicking up the first dust clouds that will irritate so many eyes before the day is done. Vocalist Kadeem France appreciates every second of the circle pit he creates, and we’re thankful for Loathe kickstarting our brains.
Keeping it heavy at the top of the hill, Currents temper their avalanche of sound with melodic choruses, Brian Wille’s passionate vocals tunneling their way out of the landslide. ‘Remember Me’ smashes and breaks into powerful drums, and Wille sings like he’s split his soul in two, whipping his hair as a flag while his band project total mutual cool throughout ‘The Death We Seek’. Their honesty and sheer architectural constructions, projected through sonic bursts, make them a brilliant refreshment.
Poppy appears as an unlikely main stage sensation in her cute red dress but she’s got a scream that commands our attention.’Have You Had Enough?’ is her chance to show off that wail before she dares us all to “beg for forgiveness” over ‘Bloodmoney’ and its furious guitar stomps. She’s a cyborg, dragging us into the future with haunted beats and robotic shred. The ferocity of her growl on ‘The Cost of Giving You Up’ compensates for the overly lolita aesthetic, and when she tells us to go mad in a frenzy of screaming, we can’t wait for the opportunity.
Mothica’s come a long way since we last saw her. She’s “eight months sober, playing her first show since rehab”, and is ready to take her place as Gen Z’s Amy Lee. Her version of Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ magnetically draws on us to her, and her tender emotional release on ‘Buzzkill’ signals the start of her new era. We love all aspects of Mothica, and she indulges her fun side with her blossom sweet cover of Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ to counter the depths she’s drawn from in her emotionally raw set.
Polaris are earth-shaking, literally and figuratively; we feel the vibrations from ‘Landmine’ long before we catch sight of the Australians and the tornado their pit has raised. There’s never even a second of silence, and ‘Dissipate’ invokes vivid dreams and nightmares conjured through insomniac shred and apocalyptic beats. The classic rock echoes in the riffs of ‘The Remedy’ are enough to start heads banging in appreciation for the rising metalcore stars.
As soon as the wild, twisting intro to ‘Flow’ begins, there’s a rush into the Avalanche stage. We’d desperate to hear a set crammed with fire and riffs that reach into the sky, somehow packed into the smallest tent on site. It’s easy to close your eyes and imagine these guys throwing out choruses on the Apex stage. “Are you ready to jump like it’s 1997?” shouts Chris Sörbye, amping up the festival mood with ‘Let Me Be Your Superhero’, a song that’s ready for anthem status with its retro-heavy dance quality. ‘Boomerang’ gets every hand waving, its pop-rock balanced perfectly with irresistible callouts from a band destined for for bigger things.
There’s a massive crowd storming the Apex, ready to hear Don Broco achieving their potential. ‘Everybody’ sees them ditching the gimmicks for a straight set inflated with party energy, and ‘Pretty’ spreads a groove across the field as we relish the most joyful act of the day so far before ‘Technology’ hooks us in with pure earworm enthusiasm. Sure, this might be the last time we see these guys for a little while as they reveal they will be working on a new record in the near future, but that only makes the sugary stylings of ‘Come Out To LA’ even more special, and the raft of t-shirts whirled around heads for ‘T-Shirt Song’ move a tiny bit faster in our sun-drenched memories.
Frontman Jesse Hughes is leaning heavily into classic rock and having the time of his life as he does it. “I feel like a solid gold erection covered in diamonds right now,” he declares after the vintage presence of ‘Silverlake’ sweeps over us. Of course, he might be in full swing as a rock ringleader, but he still apologises to his sister somewhere in the crowd for his choice of words, and seconds later their take on Duran Duran’s ‘Save A Prayer’ fills the field with devotion and class. It’s their Bowie cover, “written for us before we were even born” as Hughes puts it, that cements Eagles of Death Metal as the future festival band of choice because he is absolutely correct; ‘Moonage Daydream’ could have been written with this picture perfect update in mind.
Minimal and moody in purple, the Scots offer modern realism in the form of ‘Salvation’, fizzing with earnest desperation. ‘No Sleep’ throws in chunks of Placebo-influenced distortion as we crane our necks for a glimpse of one of our Punktastic favourites. Sam McTrusty’s everyman voice, speaking his own truths, resonates so fully with shared, relatable optimism as Twin Atlantic pour everything they’ve got into each song. The wind picks up, and it feels like ‘Get Out’ is carried, light as sand, through to every eager ear milling outside.
The renewed and refreshed Mallory Knox have the power to conjure the sun. Confident and sincere, ‘Ghost In the Mirror’ emerges fully mature and their core of diehard fans light up for ‘Beggars’. Every song grows in strength and temp compared to the last, their experiences lyrically floating like suspended hopes during ‘Getaway’. ‘Shout At The Moon’ is the comfort blanket song that touches us with enough emotional fervour to raise our hands and keep us optimistic that Mallory Knox are back for good. “There’s nothing quite like this feeling, man,” exclaims Mikey Chapman, and he’s right; seeing his band back again on a huge scale must be one of the greatest emotions for so many.
The Sex Pistols aren’t just the token legacy act on this year’s bill; whole families have gathered to see the punk icons in their latest incarnation. They’re very much reinvigorated and still necessary with Frank Carter at the helm, and he’s returned to his melodic vocal style rather than trying to imitate a Johnny Rotten sneer. He enthusiastically opens a pit during ‘Pretty Vacant’ and dives in, full of bravado and delight… until the rain forces him to rearrange and stop the fun. “Apparently you can’t have a single circle pit on a sloped hill in the rain – lesson learned!” The frontman laughs, still loving every minute of performing with his heroes. “It’s a pleasure, honour and a privilege to be onstage with these legends,” he declares and he believes every word of it. Of course, the show is a bit of a classic punk shambles, but we wouldn’t expect anything less from a band who took on the world. They’re proud of their music and don’t lean on faded headlines for relevance, and Carter knows know to keep the anarchy flowing.
No one likes to call a set “career defining”, but Sleep Token’s appearance at Download can’t really be called anything less. Gorgeously immersive and cinematic from the second the curtain dropped revealing a vast set, they’re more majestic, more metal, the living art they always intended to be. Vessel glides serenely through this window into another world, cracking the set open with a roaring ‘Look To Windward’ that transforms into ‘The Offering’, each guitar drop is just enough to consume us. ‘Caramel’ emerges from the smoke with delicacy and bass you can feel through your whole body, until ‘The Summoning’ is extended out to be its own story in a wall of scarlet fuzz.
Vessel might be the figure we know and revere, but this show proves how he earned his moniker. He’s now only one small part of a much larger vision that’s coming to fruition after years of foundation. The ninety minutes of their set passes in seconds, as much of a dream as seeing Vessel clad in flames on huge screens during ‘Granite’, and we’re left stunned by what Sleep Token have become. They’ve always denied being a metal band, but after tonight’s cliff-like guitar and the hold they have on the fans, it’s impossible to completely agree with them. However, they’ve become so much more than that, with a set that is unlikely to be topped any time soon.
Words: Kate Allvey // Photos: Penny Bennett // Sleep Token Photo: Adam Rossi
Loathe
A huge, charismatic boom announced their presence, a blazing wake up call. Loathe’s sound is so heavy but so needed at the same time, their first main stage Download set sending the early birds slamming and kicking up the first dust clouds that will irritate so many eyes before the day is done. Vocalist Kadeem France appreciates every second of the circle pit he creates, and we’re thankful for Loathe kickstarting our brains.
Currents
Keeping it heavy at the top of the hill, Currents temper their avalanche of sound with melodic choruses, Brian Wille’s passionate vocals tunneling their way out of the landslide. ‘Remember Me’ smashes and breaks into powerful drums, and Wille sings like he’s split his soul in two, whipping his hair as a flag while his band project total mutual cool throughout ‘The Death We Seek’. Their honesty and sheer architectural constructions, projected through sonic bursts, make them a brilliant refreshment.
Poppy
Poppy appears as an unlikely main stage sensation in her cute red dress but she’s got a scream that commands our attention.’Have You Had Enough?’ is her chance to show off that wail before she dares us all to “beg for forgiveness” over ‘Bloodmoney’ and its furious guitar stomps. She’s a cyborg, dragging us into the future with haunted beats and robotic shred. The ferocity of her growl on ‘The Cost of Giving You Up’ compensates for the overly lolita aesthetic, and when she tells us to go mad in a frenzy of screaming, we can’t wait for the opportunity.
Mothica
Mothica’s come a long way since we last saw her. She’s “eight months sober, playing her first show since rehab”, and is ready to take her place as Gen Z’s Amy Lee. Her version of Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ magnetically draws on us to her, and her tender emotional release on ‘Buzzkill’ signals the start of her new era. We love all aspects of Mothica, and she indulges her fun side with her blossom sweet cover of Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ to counter the depths she’s drawn from in her emotionally raw set.
Polaris
Polaris are earth-shaking, literally and figuratively; we feel the vibrations from ‘Landmine’ long before we catch sight of the Australians and the tornado their pit has raised. There’s never even a second of silence, and ‘Dissipate’ invokes vivid dreams and nightmares conjured through insomniac shred and apocalyptic beats. The classic rock echoes in the riffs of ‘The Remedy’ are enough to start heads banging in appreciation for the rising metalcore stars.
Smash Into Pieces
As soon as the wild, twisting intro to ‘Flow’ begins, there’s a rush into the Avalanche stage. We’d desperate to hear a set crammed with fire and riffs that reach into the sky, somehow packed into the smallest tent on site. It’s easy to close your eyes and imagine these guys throwing out choruses on the Apex stage. “Are you ready to jump like it’s 1997?” shouts Chris Sörbye, amping up the festival mood with ‘Let Me Be Your Superhero’, a song that’s ready for anthem status with its retro-heavy dance quality. ‘Boomerang’ gets every hand waving, its pop-rock balanced perfectly with irresistible callouts from a band destined for for bigger things.
Don Broco
There’s a massive crowd storming the Apex, ready to hear Don Broco achieving their potential. ‘Everybody’ sees them ditching the gimmicks for a straight set inflated with party energy, and ‘Pretty’ spreads a groove across the field as we relish the most joyful act of the day so far before ‘Technology’ hooks us in with pure earworm enthusiasm. Sure, this might be the last time we see these guys for a little while as they reveal they will be working on a new record in the near future, but that only makes the sugary stylings of ‘Come Out To LA’ even more special, and the raft of t-shirts whirled around heads for ‘T-Shirt Song’ move a tiny bit faster in our sun-drenched memories.
Eagles Of Death Metal
Frontman Jesse Hughes is leaning heavily into classic rock and having the time of his life as he does it. “I feel like a solid gold erection covered in diamonds right now,” he declares after the vintage presence of ‘Silverlake’ sweeps over us. Of course, he might be in full swing as a rock ringleader, but he still apologises to his sister somewhere in the crowd for his choice of words, and seconds later their take on Duran Duran’s ‘Save A Prayer’ fills the field with devotion and class. It’s their Bowie cover, “written for us before we were even born” as Hughes puts it, that cements Eagles of Death Metal as the future festival band of choice because he is absolutely correct; ‘Moonage Daydream’ could have been written with this picture perfect update in mind.
Twin Atlantic
Minimal and moody in purple, the Scots offer modern realism in the form of ‘Salvation’, fizzing with earnest desperation. ‘No Sleep’ throws in chunks of Placebo-influenced distortion as we crane our necks for a glimpse of one of our Punktastic favourites. Sam McTrusty’s everyman voice, speaking his own truths, resonates so fully with shared, relatable optimism as Twin Atlantic pour everything they’ve got into each song. The wind picks up, and it feels like ‘Get Out’ is carried, light as sand, through to every eager ear milling outside.
Mallory Knox
The renewed and refreshed Mallory Knox have the power to conjure the sun. Confident and sincere, ‘Ghost In the Mirror’ emerges fully mature and their core of diehard fans light up for ‘Beggars’. Every song grows in strength and temp compared to the last, their experiences lyrically floating like suspended hopes during ‘Getaway’. ‘Shout At The Moon’ is the comfort blanket song that touches us with enough emotional fervour to raise our hands and keep us optimistic that Mallory Knox are back for good. “There’s nothing quite like this feeling, man,” exclaims Mikey Chapman, and he’s right; seeing his band back again on a huge scale must be one of the greatest emotions for so many.
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols aren’t just the token legacy act on this year’s bill; whole families have gathered to see the punk icons in their latest incarnation. They’re very much reinvigorated and still necessary with Frank Carter at the helm, and he’s returned to his melodic vocal style rather than trying to imitate a Johnny Rotten sneer. He enthusiastically opens a pit during ‘Pretty Vacant’ and dives in, full of bravado and delight… until the rain forces him to rearrange and stop the fun. “Apparently you can’t have a single circle pit on a sloped hill in the rain – lesson learned!” The frontman laughs, still loving every minute of performing with his heroes. “It’s a pleasure, honour and a privilege to be onstage with these legends,” he declares and he believes every word of it. Of course, the show is a bit of a classic punk shambles, but we wouldn’t expect anything less from a band who took on the world. They’re proud of their music and don’t lean on faded headlines for relevance, and Carter knows know to keep the anarchy flowing.
Sleep Token
No one likes to call a set “career defining”, but Sleep Token’s appearance at Download can’t really be called anything less. Gorgeously immersive and cinematic from the second the curtain dropped revealing a vast set, they’re more majestic, more metal, the living art they always intended to be. Vessel glides serenely through this window into another world, cracking the set open with a roaring ‘Look To Windward’ that transforms into ‘The Offering’, each guitar drop is just enough to consume us. ‘Caramel’ emerges from the smoke with delicacy and bass you can feel through your whole body, until ‘The Summoning’ is extended out to be its own story in a wall of scarlet fuzz.
Vessel might be the figure we know and revere, but this show proves how he earned his moniker. He’s now only one small part of a much larger vision that’s coming to fruition after years of foundation. The ninety minutes of their set passes in seconds, as much of a dream as seeing Vessel clad in flames on huge screens during ‘Granite’, and we’re left stunned by what Sleep Token have become. They’ve always denied being a metal band, but after tonight’s cliff-like guitar and the hold they have on the fans, it’s impossible to completely agree with them. However, they’ve become so much more than that, with a set that is unlikely to be topped any time soon.
