Opening proceedings on the Friday were BLITZKRIEG (2.8/5.0) in a last minute change in the stage schedule which saw the NWOBHM veterans switched with energetic Northern Irish rockers MILLION DOLLAR RELOAD (3.2/5.0). Next up were Finns INSOMNIUM (3.4/5.0) whose brand of melodic death metal got the crowd going nicely for the rest of the day.

Probably the hardest band to pronounce over the weekend were to grace the stage next, German metallers DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER (3.5/5.0), whilst thrashers MUNICIPAL WASTE (3.8/5.0) really stepped up the pace, with them attempting to pull off a world record attempt for most crowd surfers (I even noticed someone on an inflatable lilo) during a song. Needless to say, the Bloodstock crowd duly obliged and according to frontman Tony Foresta, they got the record. You’ll have to check the book this Christmas!

Anyways, after all that hectic pace, it was time to slow things down slightly with one of the most requested bands the fans have asked for over the years, of course we are talking about KATATONIA (4.2/5.0) and they delivered a excellent set despite only having a 45 minutes with the likes of ‘Evidence’ and ‘Ghost of The Sun’ going down extremely well.

Playing their first show on UK soil for 20 years and one of the major highlights of the festival, thrash legends SODOM (4.8/5.0) took to the stage for what was an awesome set, even though it was only 45 minutes, and the crowd thoroughly lapped every second of it up, with the pit going insane for the majority of the songs. Kicking off the set with ‘Napalm In The Morning’ , things just got better and better with the likes of ‘City of God’ and ‘Agent Orange’ causing a massive outbreak of headbanging, whilst ‘Blasphemer’ was tributed to the band’s late drummer, Witchhunter. Closing with ‘Remember The Fallen’ lets all hope its not another 20 years before SODOM are back on UK soil.

Managing to squeeze a trip to the Unsigned Stage between acts on the main stage to catch a glimpse of THE GREEN RIVER PROJECT (3.5/5.0) who seemed to go down very well with the people in attendance, and not before long it was time to head back to the Main Stage. What can you say about SAXON (4.6/5.0) that hasn’t already been said?! These guys don’t half put on a show and know how to get the crowd going. Playing a few from latest album ‘Into The Labyrinth’, in the form of opener ‘Battalions of Steel’, ‘Demon Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Live To Rock’, along with what was essentially a best of the rest set, which included the likes of ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, ‘Denim and Leather’, ‘And The Bands Played On’ and of course the ever present ‘Princess of The Night’. Their hour set was over all too soon, and when you consider what songs they had left out, they could have easily filled another hour and be worthy headliners. Still, they left the crowd wanting more, and the majority will probably be going to a show or two on their tour in November when SAXON are back in town with film stars ANVIL.

Tonight was to be an extremely busy night for two people in particular, Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson as they took to the stage for the 1st of their 2 sets tonight with the ever impressive ARCH ENEMY (4.4/5.0). Back after their successful performance 2 years ago at BOA 2007, but this time as a co-headliner, they played a blistering 75 minute set full of anthemic tracks since the ‘Wages of Sin’ album, with the likes of ‘Ravenous’ and ‘Dead Eyes See No Future’ going down an absolute storm, whilst crowd pleasers like ‘We Will Rise’, ‘My Apocalypse’ and ‘Nemesis’ were delivered with sheer precision and relentless brutality, whilst a few from the latest album ‘Rise of The Tyrants’ being thrown in for good measure, with the standout tracks being ‘Revolution Begins’ and ‘I Will Live Again’.

Rounding off Friday’s entertainment on the Main Stage were death metallers CARCASS (4.2/5.0) whose recent reformation last year saw them play for the first time on UK soil in 14 years at the Damnation Festival. Delivering a 75 minute set of their best stuff, with which the majority came from what is regarded as the band’s best album, ‘Heartwork’, they opened with ‘Corporal Jigsore Quandary’, and despite a few sound problems at times, they soldiered on and ended the day on a high. With a video slideshow of gory and disturbing images you would probably only expect from CARCASS going on behind them on the backdrop, this was not a gig for the faint hearted.

Original drummer Ken Owen made an appearance for a drum solo, which is a nice touch from the band, seen as he cannot do a full set anymore due to ill health. Obvious highlights of the set included the likes of ‘Buried Dreams’ and ‘No Love Lost’, whilst ‘Incarnated Solvent Abuse’ and ‘Reek of Putrefaction’ were amongst other standout tracks.

Starting Saturday off rather early were Bolton based rockers UNCLE ROTTER (3.6/5.0), who lets face it, are a bit of fun and a good live band to put on at a festival. They got the crowd going nicely with them joining in for ‘Fit Goth Chicks’. The other early acts included BATTLELORE (2.1/5.0) whose folk metal style songs are nowhere near as strong as fellow country mates TURISAS, whilst Swedish metal purists WOLF (3.9/5.0) picked things back up again to the crowds delight, and the energy continued with THE HAUNTED (3.8/5.0) who seems to be everyone’s new favourite band and are coming from the realms of the underground metal scene to the forefront gaining more and more attention, and delivering a decent 40 minute set you can understand why.

Swedish death metallers ENTOMBED (3.6/5.0) kept things flowing along nicely mid afternoon, and will be definitely worth another look on their upcoming UK tour supporting fellow country mates AMON AMARTH. CANDLEMASS (4.5/5.0) then thoroughly entertained the main stage attendees with their brand of doom metal, whilst on the Unsigned Stage, one of the UK’s best and young upcoming metal bands, SANCTORUM (4.4/5.0) were also kicking ass. With already two quality albums behind them, these guys delivered a tight set which comprised fully of tracks from latest opus ‘Ashes of Redemption’ with the standout track of the set being the awesome ‘Take It All’. If you get the chance to see these guys, do it. You won’t be disappointed.

Progressive black metallers ENSLAVED (3.7/5.0) kept things ticking over on the main stage before it was time for some good old thrash. German legends KREATOR (4.8/5.0) delivered a truly killer set which saw the biggest mosh pit of the weekend. They packed their short set with a best of the best opening with the title track from their latest album ‘Hordes of Chaos’, followed by a superb rendition of ‘Phobia’ which had shouting the word out when required. I’ve never seen such a frontman with such passion that gets the crowd going like Mille Petrozza and he had no problems doing so during their set. The pit went wild during the likes of ‘Pleasure To Kill’ and ‘Extreme Aggression’, before the usual closing duo of ‘Flag of Hate’ and ‘Tormentor’ came upon us bringing a close on a superb performance. When it comes to sheer intensity, brutality and ability to destroy an arena, there are none better than KREATOR.

Quite why APOCALYPTICA (2.2/5.0) were above KREATOR on the billing is quite bemusing to me as for me, their fad of cover songs and cello metal style has worn off. Sure, it was new and different when they first broke onto the scene, but even then I got bored very quickly after 20 minutes or so. The set was mainly filled by covers rather than their original material and while sections of the crowd may have been lapping it up and singing along to the classic METALLICA covers like ‘Wherever I May Roam’, ‘One’, ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ and ‘Enter Sandman’, they need to be more engaging and they need something new and fresh about them, perhaps a regular vocalist might help, but for me this really was a tedious performance.

Thank god it was one of the most anticipated bands of the weekend on next to bring things back on track. German power metallers BLIND GUARDIAN (4.9/5.0) appeared on stage to the familiar intro of ‘War of Wrath’ before kicking into a 75 minute set filled with classics from their back catalogue and the crowd singing along at every moment possible to the likes of ‘Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)’ and ‘Valhalla’. They delivered a truly wonderful and crowd pleasing set with as much as they could possibly squeeze into the time allotted, with a number of tracks like SAXON yesterday left out which could have easily filled another hour or so.

‘Fly’ was the only track on show from latest album ‘A Twist In The Myth’, whilst a new song written for the computer game Sacred 2: Fallen Angel was on show in the form of the aptly titled ‘Sacred’. Other set highlights including spellbinding renditions of ‘Another Holy War’, ‘Nightfall’, ‘Welcome To Dying’ and ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’. All too soon the closing tracks of ‘The Bard’s Song (In The Forest)’ and as usual ending on ‘Mirror Mirror’ left the crowd chanting their name and wanting more, which unfortunately did not come, but lets hope its not too long before we see these guys back in the UK with a new album.

CRADLE OF FILTH (3.5/5.0) are one of those bands some people love to hate because of their well known arrogance and controversy that seems to follow them wherever they go. No matter what you may think though, these guys don’t half put on a show, with Dani Filth’s banter at times being rather amusing. Opening with ‘Shat Out of Hell’, it was soon apparent that if you weren’t directly in front of the speakers, you would barely be able to hear Dani’s vocals let alone the music as well. ‘Gilded Cunt’ followed as did a couple for the old school fans in appearance tonight in the form of ‘Dusk And Her Embrace’ and ‘The Principle of Evil made Flesh’, whilst the new album ‘Godspeed on The Devil’s Thunder’ got a run out with the likes of the opening track along with ‘The 13th Caesar’ and ‘Honey And Sulphur’, both of which are superb tracks.

Unfortunately the mood dampened during ‘Under Huntress Moon’ as a few select idiots decided to spoil the party for everyone by throwing more damaging items (up until then it had been harmless empty bottles and cups) at the band, which is uncalled for even if you don’t like them, which resulted in guitarist Paul Allender getting hit in the spine with a cricket ball sized gobstopper, thus resulting in him requiring medical attention and not been able to perform the rest of the set which meant CRADLE ended their set after they finished the song. Quite why these people decided to stick around if they didn’t like a band is beyond me, if you don’t like them, there was plenty of other things to do. This ended the day which had been superb up until then in a bad way, and for anyone whose first time this was seeing CRADLE would have been extremely disappointed by the untimely ending of their set.

Arriving nice and early for some Hair of the Dog in the metal format, BEHOLDER (4.5/5.0) delivered an awesome 30 minute set with the likes of ‘Born Into Pain’ and ‘Never Take Us Down’ going down extremely well with the rather large crowd they had drawn to see them. SABATON (4.1/5.0), who are always a good festival band, delivered a very good set and they’ll be welcomed back to the UK with open arms when they return for a massive tour with DRAGONFORCE later in the year. Meanwhile rockers GIRLSCHOOL (3.1/5.0) and pagan black metal outfit EQUILIBRIUM (3.9/5.0) provided some mid afternoon entertainment, before the doom metal of ANATHEMA (4.2/5.0) provided one of the highlights of the day with an unexpected cover of IRON MAIDEN’s ‘Phantom of The Opera’ (mainly due to the fact that according to the band, they managed to draft one of only three drummers who could play the song in the UK, with Nick Barker filling in on drums for John Douglas) closed their set much to the crowds delight.

TURISAS (4.2/5.0) are one of the most popular bands in the UK let alone the rest of Europe, so getting them on the bill was an extremely good move by the organisers. Following their 2006 performance at the festival, they noted the fact that in a few short years, the festival has grown rapidly. This was an all out performance full of banter, drinking and singing despite the fact that they only managed to play 6 songs in their 45 minute set, the crowd didn’t care one iota as TURISAS rattled off the likes of ‘Holmgard And Beyond’, ‘One More’ and ‘Rasputin’ before closing their main set with ‘Battle Metal’, before returning where one, lucky or unlucky person whichever way you look at it got their hands on the drummers boots. Closing with an interesting choice of ‘Miklagard Overture’, this closed an excellent performance from the crowd pleasing Finns.

Portuguese black gothic metallers MOONSPELL (3.9/5.0) had the unenviable task of following TURISAS and whilst they don’t have the energy of the aforementioned band, they certainly have something else to them that engrosses you and pulls you in deeper and deeper enticed by the almost spiritualistic aura of their music which is interlaced with crunching and dark riffs, with ‘Vampiria’, ‘Alma Mater’ and ‘Full Moon Madness’ being classic examples as well as the standout tracks of their set.

AMON AMARTH (4.6/5.0) has become very popular on these shores in the last few years, which is extremely deserved for producing quality album after quality album. It was no surprise really that with only an hour set the material was rather focused with the majority coming from the last two albums. Opening with the title track from latest album ‘Twilight of The Thunder God’, followed swiftly by ‘Free Will Sacrifice’, the massive crowd began headbanging and fists pumping in the air or whatever came naturally to everyone, these Vikings were intent on taking you to Valhalla and back!

With only a couple of older tracks in the set for the older fans of the band in the form of ‘Victorious March’ and eventual set closer ‘Death In Fire’, it didn’t deter them from enjoying themselves and the new material like ‘Varyags of Miklagaard’ and ‘Live For The Kill’ (complete with backing tracks where APOCALYPTICA perform the cello section in the song) went down an absolute storm, whilst the rallying cries of songs like ‘Asator’ and ‘Cry of The Blackbirds’ show why AMON AMARTH are deservedly where they are, and you can bet that there will be a few sold out shows on their upcoming UK tour in October.

SATYRICON (4.3/5.0) have over the last couple of albums modernised their sound from their traditional black metal roots to a more commercialised yet still dark, atmospheric and heavier form of the genre. Frontman Satyr certainly knows how to use the stage as he patrolled it from side to side stopping at times to engage the crowd and his deep growling vocals were ever impressive through the likes of ‘Commando’ and ‘A New Enemy’, whilst Frost delivered a pummeling display on drums.

Other tracks like ‘The Wolfpack’ and ‘Now, Diabolical’ show how much class SATYRICON have got been able to deliver such quality with near enough perfection, while the anthemic style of ‘Black Crow On A Tombstone’ had the crowd duly obliging to sing along with them, whilst one of the best black metal songs ever written inevitably got a showing. We are of course talking about the sublime ‘Mother North’. While other highlights included ‘K.I.N.G.’ and ‘Den Siste’, anybody wondering why SATYRICON were so high on the bill were shown throughout their hour set why they belonged there.

From one extreme to the other as you couldn’t get a more different, but equally great band to close the festival with. EUROPE (4.7/5.0) caused a few heads to turn when their name was first mentioned with them playing Bloodstock, causing many to believe, myself included, it was an April Fools Joke by the organisers. When this appeared not to be the case, we all soon discovered that EUROPE are not a one trick pony, far from it, they actually have some really good, heavy, and catchy tracks in their back catalogue. Opening with the latest single and title track from upcoming album ‘Last Look At Eden’ got the party well and truly started and for the entire 90 minute set, the band and crowd were having an awesome time.

The set regulars were all here in force including ‘Seven Door Hotel’ and ‘Rock the Night’, with the band leaving out the likes of pop hits ‘Cherokee’ and ‘Carrie’ in a deliberate attempt to deliver a heavier set, customised for the Bloodstock audience. As inevitable as a sunset at dusk, the set ended with the obligatory, and lets face it, fucking fantastic, ‘The Final Countdown’. This was the song that everyone was waiting for. The keyboards kicked in and as the familiar sound of da da da da da dadadada and so on, the crowd lapped it up and with the added feature of a conga line going through the crowd where the pits had been for the majority of the weekend, the crowd didn’t want the party to stop.

This brought a close to what was a wonderfully organised and quality lineup from the Bloodstock organisers once again, and surely next years will be even better and bigger.

Festival Rating: 4.9/5.0

Best Bands: SODOM / SAXON / KREATOR / BLIND GUARDIAN / AMON AMARTH