Diaries of Doom

Music festival season in the UK begins by the time May comes around, and keeps going all the way through the summer. Kicking off a spell of alldayers, weekenders and more for 2026, the first weekend of May saw Slaughterhouse Festival come to Birmingham for its fourth edition. It showcased all sorts of talent in heavy music coming out of the Midlands and beyond, on three stages for the first time. The Castle & Falcon may be a bit out the way from the city centre, but has hosted some of the best Birmingham gigs you'll find over the years, and today's no different. While I'm here, I'd like to thank Rory for asking me to cover the event, for adding Diaries of Doom to the festival poster (that's a first!) and also inviting Slump to headline the unplugged stage for what was our first acoustic performance. My first band of the day are Osiris , who give everything they've got for half an hour on the second stage. Showing off a varied range of influences, Osiris cov...

Desertfest London is a bit like Christmas for British people of a certain musical persuasion. It comes once a year, and you spend most of it drunk with the family. Instead of music about decking the halls or reindeer, though, you're more likely to catch someone singing ‘N.I.B.’ or claiming to be Iron Man after hours at The Black Heart. And instead of a traditional roast dinner, you've got virtually the entire world's cuisine within a stone's throw in the Camden markets. I first went in 2017 for the day to see Sleep, then started doing the full weekend every year from 2022 onwards. By now, it's booked into the calendar as soon as the dates are announced. This year will be my second time covering the event for Diaries of Doom and my third time as an artist (more on that later), which I'm very grateful for. If you see something on the merch table that catches your eye, consider doing without the next couple of beers and grabbing it there and then. It's one of t...