Sat 26 Sep 2026, Papillon, Southampton
The sixth Abyssal Festival is a HEX dredged from trenches. A testament to geological timekeeping crafted by mere humans, whose frail bodies cannot withstand the crushing pressures of The Deep. Missives from beyonds inconceivable, fantasies of deeds impossible, invocations of beings indescribable. Ten bands will ascend Papillon's stage to weave grotesque tales, to summon begotten thoughts and feelings, to animate our bodies like headbanging thralls - we bend to their power. Slow and heavy and filthy hanging over us, like a hundred swords of Damocles. Death by a thousand watts. DOOM OVER SOUTHAMPTON. Psychlona - Drive fast, fuzz loud, riff hard, blast off. Properly earwormy stoner rock with stompin' grooves, opening kaleidoscopic wormholes to hallucinogenic deserts and SPACE (via Bradford). Five the Hierophant - Wyrd bunch of magickians wearing robes, playing eerie instruments and generally occulting about. Pulsations of doom, jazz and sound art - a heady brew. Witchsorrow - Our returning champs fly the flag for Old School Doom: tales of woe, Sabbathian riffs, denim and leather. You cant stop rock n roll. Moloch - Sludge aghast at the world. Discomfort is their prerogative: the new album seethes and writhes, berates and bruises. Grim Harvest - Gnashing confluences of sludge, grindcore, death and black metal. Only slow sometimes.
