APF Fest 2025 @ Rebellion, Manchester

19th March 202619th March 2026 Matthew Williams APF Fest, APF Records, Battalions, Goblinsmoker, Manchester, Rebellion, Swamp Coffin, Trippy Wicked, Urzah, Voidlurker, Wall

On my 51st birthday, I hot-footed it up to one of my favourite venues in Manchester, Rebellion, for the APF Records Festival. It promised to be a day full of down-turned doomy goodness, and with seven bands playing, there was plenty to keep the audience entertained.

Of course, my thanks go to Andrew Field for organising this on my birthday, but for the brainchild behind APF Fest, it was a way to showcase bands and for some, the first time they’d played in Manchester in quite some time. With The Shaman in tow taking lots of pictures, I was looking forward to this.

Of the seven bands, there were four I’d seen previously, Voidlurker, Battalions, Wall and Goblinsmoker, and three I hadn’t, Swamp Coffin and Trippy Wicked, with the third one, Urzah, who kicked off the festival at 4pm. The four-piece from Bristol brought their own brand of post-sludge wonderment for us to watch. Starting with two powerful songs – on the setlist as IS1 and IS2 – which had a lovely, deep bass sound, with strong vocals and tempo switches galore.

Urzah @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

Moving into tracks from The Scorching Gaze, I, Empyrean is a gem of a song, and, finally, heads are moving in the crowd. With singer Ed Fairman positioned stage left, as I looked, he commented that it was a ‘pleasure to be playing with all our fellow APF bands’ before they played the crushing Of Decay. They finish off their brief set with what was written down as Entwined which sounded darker and more progressive. The brooding noise got heavier in sections and wraps up an excellent first set of the day.

Next up were Voidlurker from Birmingham, whom I’d seen last year at the North West Doom Fest. The three-piece, bathed in green lights, start slowly with vocalist Brad Thomas screaming, full of evil intent, ‘We are Voidlurker’. Playing their latest single, the glorious Green Ghost, the slow and heavy really kicks in before Thomas‘ guitar strap snaps, not that it deterred him one bit.

Voidlurker @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

Strap now fixed, they powered through a few more songs full of menacing overtones, guttural screams and an impressive rhythm section mixing tempos to great effect. When an audience member points out Thomas’ mic lead has popped out, he proceeds undeterred into my favourite track, Jeffrey Doomer. Its chilling riff creates a tension before finishing with Bitchcraft And Misery, which is another slab of hellish doom, as Thomas closes their set by creating a proper resonating racket with his FX unit.

Having had a brief chat earlier with Battalions vocalist Phil Wilkinson about the joys of driving across the M62, I was looking forward to seeing them again after witnessing them at Smoke on Trent back in April. The four-piece from Hull introduced themselves and encouraged us to ‘have a fucking party’ as they opened with Moonburn. With people moving in the pit, their mix of heavy grooves and sublime bass lines gets the set chugging along nicely with Coughing Nails, Paper Crown and the rifftastic Deadbeat Dad Beat Dad.

Battalions @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

‘It’s an honour to have this sort of crowd watching us at 6pm, thanks’as they carry on with Parasite and the ass-shaking Cities Of Ruin. They have a great mix of styles, like Skin Job has a monstrous intro that ramps up further midway, and there’s the wah pedal intro and sludge riffs on Light A Fire. Their set flows well but ‘with time being precious’, we are treated to an old favourite, Betrayal And Delusion and the slow, heaviness of Diagnosis Fucked as they continue to impress me and everyone inside the venue.

After supporting Gnome on the UK tour in May, I managed to have a quick chat with twins Elliott and Ryan Cole, I mentioned about Wall coming to Manchester, and ta da, here they were up next. With lots of feedback reverberating around the venue, they begin with Wrath Of The Serpent that’s followed up with Sonic Mass and The Tusk. What impresses me most about the duo is that they make one hell of a racket with their slick tempos, slow, doomy sections, and Elliott‘s manic drumming.

Wall @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

They cover Karma to Burn’s Nineteen and the ride cymbal being tapped at the top is crystal clear as Ryan gets closer to the drums, to create a more intense sound. There’s a bit more of a psych feel during Legion, but we get a cowbell, and we all enjoy one of those, don’t we!!! They have the ‘70s doom metal splendour on Speedfreak, and as Ryanteases that he might finally talk just before Avalanche, he ends by saying that he’s ‘a bit pissed’before the final track Obsidian, with its spooky, eerie guitar tone pleases all inside.

Now it was time for the band I probably wanted to see the most. Described as nihilistic sludge metal, Swamp Coffin have been on my ‘must see’ list for quite some time, and the Rotherham trio walk onstage as the word ‘bastards’ rings out. They start with the brutal Know You’re Worthless and heads are banging everywhere. The tempo changes are great, and it leads into Chapter And Hearse, another evil, sinister song, as the drummer ushers in a slow moment, before they turn it back up to their usual bruising selves.

‘Manchester, it’s been three years since we played here, this is a fast one’ as guitarist/vocalist Jon Rhodes asks for a young fan to do a stage dive as they play This Was Always Going To End In War. A pit begins and the heaviness seeps through our bodies as the young lad jumps off into the crowd. ‘This one is dedicated to Daily Mail readers who paint roundabouts’,announces Rhodes as the crushing power of Knuckledragger emerges.

Swamp Coffin @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

We are all asked to put our fingers in the air and shout ‘no one’s gonna fucking save you’ for the heavy as fuck finale As Cold As Blood,with its rumbling bass and their now infamous ‘world’s slowest wall of death’. Let’s hope they don’t leave it another three years for their next visit.

Another new band for me was Trippy Wicked. With a, shall we say, slightly inebriated Pete Holland on vocal and guitar, they start with a new song, which he informs us that ‘Brad on drums will start us off’. It’s a great kick-off and sets the tone for the rest of the set. They rip along at pace, and we soon arrive at a song ‘all about weed, oohh, you’ve gone green’as Holland refers to the stage lighting and Three Leaves, which has some superb riffs throughout.

‘This next one is a rock n roll song, but we’ve slowed it down and made it sleazy as hell’as he introduces Clothes On The Floor, informing us that he wrote it ‘15 years ago when I was young and horny’ and its corker with the rhythm section adding so much to the track. They go with a Seasick Steve cover next, Things Go Up and dedicate it to a friend who died last year. It’s a heavy blues riff that crawls across the room, and you can see the crowd are really digging it. More harmonies beckon with I Want Another Drink,and they end with a ‘big old sing song’ called Going Home, which is silky and smooth, whilst being heavy and melodic.

Trippy Wicked @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

Having seen Goblinsmoker last year at Riffolution Fest, I knew what to expect, and with four taps of the drumsticks and a guttural roar, they stomp straight into Time To Ride. It’s almost like they are summoning all the evil demons at once as Adam Kennedy drops phlegm like vocal bombs on the crowd. He uses his wah pedal to great effect on Smoked In Darkness, and the bass is threatening to bring the foundations of Rebellion down.

They use the lighting to enhance their sinister, evil ways as the tempos get moodier and darker with each passing moment. They are at their best when they go slow and heavy, Kennedy thanks us all for being here as ‘without you guys this shit wouldn’t be possible.’ The brutally bleak Shamanic Rites kicks in, and it’s an absolute banger of a song from their latest album.

Goblinsmoker @ APF Fest 2025 – Photo by Lee Edwards

With the backing track murmuring away, their distinctive, unwieldy tone turns to Burn Him, and it’s a hefty piece. A pit opens when they play The King’s Eternal Throne as the sludgy, substantial noise just gets better. It’s more fearsome and sinister stuff from the Durham trio, and after thanking all the bands, the bar staff and everyone for coming, they finish with the epic tale of The Toad King, which is a behemoth of a dirty, nasty number with riffs exploding all over the place and brings APF Fest 2025 to a glorious ending.

In summary… well, what a fantastic day out. Seven bands, all joining forces in Manchester under the leadership of one person. All that’s left to say is, ‘Andrew, what’s the plan for my 52nd birthday next year please?’ Cheers.