An Ulverston man is set to join the line up of an international heavy metal festival.

Matt Davidson, 32, will be taking to the stage alongside two of his bands at Symbolic Open Air – a festival held in the Czech Republic.

Mr Davidson said: "I've been playing music for about 20 years, initially starting to play guitar at the age of 12 after getting into metal through the nu metal craze in the late Nineties and early 2000s.

"From there, I progressed from traditional metal through grunge and thrash before becoming enthralled in death metal in my late teens, playing in several bands at university.

"I'm completely self-taught in guitar, bass, drums and composition, with grade eight certificates in both guitar and bass.

Barrow-based band Repulsive Vision sees Matt on guitars and backing vocals, while Gary Young is on drums, Mark Kirby is on bass, and Daryl Boyce provides the lead vocals.

The band was formed in 2010, starting life as a solo project before Matt brought in other musicians.

He said: "After several lineup changes, we recorded and released our debut album Look Past The Gore and See The Art in 2017 on Danish record label Mighty Music.

"We returned to the studio again in 2020 to record and release our sophomore effort Necrovictology. Until the departure of our previous vocalist in late 2020 we've maintained a relatively strong unit since 2015, but our recent collaboration with Scordatura vocalist Daryl has lead to a strengthening of our personal and musical chemistry within the band in preparation for the evolution of our new material and live show."

Matt is also part of Wombbath, a band formed in Sweden in 1990.

He describes them as a 'legendary underground band in their scene' after their well received 1992 EP Several Shapes, and cult classic album Internal Caustic Torments in 1993.

Matt said: "After filling in as a one-off guest guitarist for Wombbath at a festival in Cardiff in 2018, I was asked to help them out for a few European gigs when their bass player left the band.

"Following these shows, the band offered me the permanent slot and since then, I've recorded two albums with them and played several shows over the continent."

Excited to take to the stage, Matt said: "It's always a massive opportunity to be offered the chance to perform at gigs of this magnitude but after such a terrible two years, it's something we're so appreciative of.

"We've spent a lot of the lockdown period unable to even practice but we've managed to work behind the scenes on our new record and we've booked a few more shows on the continent that are yet to be announced.

"Not only this, but we are overwhelmed to be performing alongside heroes of ours including legendary doom metal pioneers Candlemass.

"We are massively grateful to the promoters and booker for having faith in us."

Symbolic Open Air will take place from June 29 to July 7, 2022.