Not long ago, it was a running joke that Download, the biggest rock and metal festival in the UK, kept overlooking new blood and digging up the same 80s giants. But recent editions have finally started emphasising first-time headliners and making at least minor strides in representation. This year, four-decade veterans Guns N’ Roses return, while Limp Bizkit make their headlining debut and Linkin Park, now co-fronted by Emily Armstrong, become the first band with a female singer to top the bill. It only took 23 years.
On Friday, Swiss deathcore upstarts Paleface Swiss dominate the second stage early. Frontman Marc Zellweger is furious that the festival will only let him have one free hot meal, and he unloads his anger over a torrent of hellacious breakdowns. German party-starters Electric Callboy command one of the weekend’s biggest crowds on the main stage before before hip-hop legends – and noted nu-metal inspirations – Cypress Hill slide seamlessly from classic to classic. Limp Bizkit dedicate their performance to late bassist Sam Rivers and friend Dougie Miller, and turn their set into karaoke night, putting every lyric on the video screen behind them. Take out the samples of Soft Cell and Spandau Ballet shoehorned in between their nu-metal ragers and the show would be considerably shorter, but that does nothing to upset the heaving crowd. Tens of thousands – many sporting Fred Durst’s signature red cap – gleefully bounce, yell and mosh.
On Saturday morning, British-Iranian trio Lowen bewitch the fourth stage with their Middle Eastern prog metal. Frontwoman Nina Saeidi invokes Iranian tradition using her piercing vocals, not to mention her ritualistic dress. British sludge-metallers Conjurer play material from their latest album, Unself, about singer/guitarist Dani Nightingale’s experiences as a neurodivergent non-binary person. Let Us Live, which roars for the protection of the trans community, is a sledgehammer-heavy highlight.
Trivium are reliably explosive on the main stage, tearing through 20 years of melodic yet ferocious hits in just over an hour, but the energy doesn’t spill over for Guns N’ Roses. Time has robbed Axl Rose’s voice of its rasp, and he barely interacts with his thin audience. There’s no between-song chat – he doesn’t even offer as much as a song title – whereas his bandmates’ playing is spotless but lifeless. Midway through what’s been promoted as a 200-minute set by GnR, Blood Incantation offer a reprieve on the fourth stage, their death-metal/kosmische mashup rocketing the tent to the outer reaches. Those who return for the headliners witness them finish 40 minutes earlier than planned.
Sunday morning begins with screeching guitar feedback from rising UK avant-rockers Unpeople, who can lay claim to the loudest performance of the weekend. Led by Wolfgang Van Halen (son of guitar great Eddie), Mammoth deliver an understated show that owes more to Foo Fighters and Alter Bridge than his dad’s 70s flair. Indian metal band Bloodywood are the best main-stage act of the weekend, their tight jams loaded with motivational messaging and vibrant folk, but US rock band Letlive steal the whole festival from the third stage. Singer Jason Aalon Butler leads an incendiary, interactive rally, then rips the drum riser apart and climbs the scaffolding. It feels righteous and dangerous in all the ways rock should.
Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington is still missed nine years after his death, but his band refuse to wallow in grief. Their performances of One Step Closer, Crawling and In the End reaffirm their status as generation-defining songs, uniting Donington in singalong, and Armstrong and co-vocalist Mike Shinoda are all smiles throughout. Faint blasts the audience home on one last wave of 2000s angst, ending a comparatively diverse Download in triumphant form.