Goremaggedon 2025 – The Star and Garter, Manchester; 22nd March 2024.

Within music there is always the weird and the wonderful and today was definitely one of those occasion. We at All About The Rock headed off to Goremageddon 2025 for some fulfilled grindcore induced adventures and let me tell you this there were some experiences throughout the evening but overall, the night was fucking amazing.

Goremageddon 2025 was hosted by Rancid Offal Promotions at Star and Garter located on Fairfield Street, Manchester. Star and Garter is a venue that has been going since what seems to be like the dawn of time. Playing host to many different acts Star and Garter goes from strength to strength in supporting the music scene and playing a superb host with it’s rustic charm to acts from around the world.

On the line up for Goremageddon 2025 act’s included Pivorapist, Public Execution, Accelerant, Vast Slug, Priest Crippler and Lymphoedema and Japanese grindcore legendary band Viscera Infest (UK exclusive debut).

Starting off the evening was Irish one-man project Lymphoedema, known for their amalgamation of Gorenoise, goregrind and what can only be described as a bubble maker machine on acid, the crowd was certainly warmed up after this act. If you are into the more experimental and extreme music, I would highly check out Lymphoedema as this would definitely be your cup of tea. It was abrasive and chaotic, what’s not to love about this vibe?

Following on Priest Crippler took to the stage, it was announced at the start of their set that unfortunately their vocalist was unable to attend the show due to illness but the stage was welcoming to anyone who wished to participate and get involved. With guest vocalists Ed (Vast Slug) and Lewis Rimmer (Pivorapist) setting the tone for the first tracks it wasn’t soon before more people got involved. They brought a sheer amount of energy to the stage alongside a demeanor which showed they were there to enjoy the music they were doing alongside putting on a good show.

Next on this chaotic line up were Vast Slug hailing from Norwich, United Kingdom. With an impressive light performance and opening with a classic cover of “Vengabus” their set showed a different side to what can be done within a metal show. Visually the aesthetic of the show was on point and stood out for me in terms of what can be done in such a small venue when you turn the house lights off basically bring a rave-esque vibe to a metal show. Thoroughly enjoyed this set and would love to catch these guys again, would recommend getting yourself along to one of their shows if you find them playing near you at any point.

What was to happen next could possibly be then nightmare fuel of some and I’ll be honest even at times left me questioning my life choices… with a mixed crowd reaction but generally receptive Accelerant took to the stage with harsh, heavy electronic vibes. I’ll be honest, I was a bit confused at this set personally I’ve seen videos on youtube that have highlighted this sort of music and I’ve often found myself looking at it like “Why?”. I mean, as said above there were mixed reactions to this set – some absolutely fucking loving it and others simply stood with their hands over their ears but as they say there is a fine line between love and hate it was hard to distinguish which people were leaning towards. Upon finishing his set, David Creamer and mention of neurodiversity said his farewells and was greeted by the response from the crowd “Music made by retards for retards” (all said with love, I’m sure but that’s a valid point).

 

After gaining some hearing back in my ears and my tinnitus being slightly set off (having to use one ear plug only due to my cats deciding they were good chew toys didn’t help throughout the evening), Public Execution took to the stage. Taking the roots of grindcore and fusing them with elements from hardcore and punk gave a very unique sound. There was for sure some intense enthusiasm from the crowd during this set with some clear strong connections with the audience.

It’s a shame to say at this point, the night was almost over… the evening had been relentless the bands bringing their A-games to the stage and enough distortion to make your nan think she was back in world war 2. The explosive intensity of the night continues and the venue gets warmer and warmer, I swear by this point there is visual sweat dripping from the walls which leads me to question the ceiling fans in the venue and sit and think “have I actually ever seen them be used?”.

Two more bands left for the evening… Pivorapist, taking to the stage to represent Manchester. With the only band on the line up tonight that managed by the end of the show to get half of the audience frantically jumping on stage with them, their performance was pure disordered chaos. With unrelenting drum blasts and good dashes of humor between tracks their performances the performance was sure a compelling event.

Closing the evening as headlining act and the band that people were clearly in sheer anticipation for were Viscera Infest hailing from Japan and having traveled across the world to perform tonight in Manchester, with this show being their exclusive UK debut and let me say when it kicked off… It went HARD. Star and Garter is not a big venue by any means, a small sweaty venue with a cap of around 150-200 at most but seeing the first quarter of the room erupt into a circle pit, people were flying, sweat was flying. At one point and I feel so sorry for the poor lass, but one lady hit the deck and in true gig fashion was quickly picked up to be dragged into the pit and thrown around like a rag doll again on a positive she looked like she was having the time of her life, so no harm no foul in this situation.

Paying tribute throughout their set to Gokkun, a long time friend of Viscera Infest and he was meant to be playing bass for the show on this evening until his tragic passing earlier in the year, I felt this such a heart warming thing to do and having a picture of him present on stage felt a wholesome way to tribute someone who played a big part in Viscera Infest’s music. Seeing cockroach mosh in full swing throughout the set and a joint effort from the crowd in the final song of the evening was an interesting one. It’s something I’ve never heard of never mind witnessed but definitely was a spectacle to see the people lay on their backs flailing around to some grindcore. It was an honor to be able to see them on their first UK debut tour as honestly, I doubt if they’d been on this tour I would have had the opportunity to catch them which would have been a shame due to their performance was phenomenal.

Taking everything into account, I’d honestly say Goremageddon 2025 was a massive fucking success and even go as far as to say it surpassed 2024’s event. It had everything you would want from an evening of grind with some amazing crowd energy that never dropped. With the show being a sold out event it once again, proves Manchester is thriving within the music scene and it’s shows like this that show how fucking good we have it. No matter what sort of music you are into be it indie, pop or death metal there is always something going on that can tick the right boxes.

Well fucking done to everyone who was involved with the running and the bands featured tonight, it was sweaty as fuck and warmer than wanking friction burn but it was a magnificent display of the extremer side of metal. The last couple of gigs makes me question what is it with inflatables and getting twatted by a big set of inflated balls lately.

Upcoming next from the same promoters of this event (Rancid Offal Promotions) is the much-awaited Offal Fest 3 on 25th July 2025. With a Friday pre-show warm up featuring Foetal Juice, 357 Homicide, Exhumation, Rumination (Formerly Dawn of Chaos), Hacked Up and Nasty Git leading into a full brutality assault over Saturday and Sunday with New York Brutal Death Metal legends Skinless headlining Saturday and heavy hitting Brutal Death Metal Defeated Sanity closing the weekend on the Sunday. With tickets starting as low as £16.50 (Preshow ONLY) to £84.80 for the 3 day bundle experience. This event will be over at Manchester Rebellion and tickets can be purchased >> HERE <<.

FOR ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE BANDS THAT PLAYED GOREMAGGEDON 2025, PLEASE VISIT THE LINKS BELOW:

Lymphoedema | Pivorapist | Public Execution | Accelerant |  Vast Slug | Priest Crippler | Viscera Infest
Rancid Offal Promotions