ABYSSAL V - PENTAGONISM. In 2025 Southampton's premier metal festival returns to Papillon with wicked intentions. A fell magick awaits in the form of slow, weird and extreme metals, from near and far. Huge and stirring sounds beckon thee closer, to what was once a church... As ever, we run the gamut of slow, loud and weighty: Slomatics - Returning champions. Our 2022 headliners travel overseas once more, this time blessing Papillon with their presence. Expect thunderous baritone guitar wall and enthralling showmanship. Rock that reaches the limit. Mastiff - sludge, death, hardcore. Music for picking yourself up off the concrete after meeting it too fast. Hundred Year Old Man - Post-metal barnstormers. We were blown away by their set at ArcTanGent last year. By turns gnawing, austere and cathartic. Sugar Horse - Miserable, churning noise rock, now with 50% more Adam Curtis references! Fans of depressing documentaries will be thrilled. Uncoffined - Death-doom with a hint of Candlemass' theatrics, and a resolute focus on mortality. The long weight is almost over... Under - Paragons of queasy, lurching sludge metal with a distinctly bitter aftertaste. Best paired with a growing sense of despair. Avoid using heavy machinery. Vnder A Crvmbling Moon - Absolute crush and funereal pace guaranteed from this post-metal outfit, featuring members of The Grey who entranced us in 2023. Miserable atmospheres abound! Praetorian - Raging, hard rockin' sludge courtesy of Abyssal veteran Tom Clements of Orme and pals. Get in the pit - he'll be waiting for you. More TBA