Metal titans ICED EARTH and thrash icons SEPULTURA are the latest additions to BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2012, joining an already stellar line up that includes headline sets from ALICE COOPER and BEHEMOTH, as well as exclusive appearances from WATAIN, special guests DIMMU BORGIR, HATEBREED, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER & many more.

ICED EARTH were born in 1985, formed by Jon Schaffer – a determined, street-tough kid with the drive to create a band to make his heroes JUDAS PRIEST, KISS, and IRON MAIDEN proud. The band released its riff-heavy self-titled debut album in 1990 and never looked back. Nine studio albums – considered masterpieces of metal – cemented the band’s reputation for crafting exceptionally well-made music, the centerpiece of which being Schaffer‘s trademark rhythm guitar style and powerful, in-your-face lyrics that often combine themes of self reliance, a healthy distrust of authority, history, and science fiction.

He says:
“We are looking forward to returning to Bloodstock in 2012, our second time after 2008. The UK shows we played on our World Dystopia Tour last fall were some of the best on the tour and we cannot wait to bang our heads with the UK minions again!”

Over the years, Schaffer has surrounded himself with some of the finest musicians in the world – including famed vocalists Matt Barlow, Tim Owens, and now Stu Block – to help bring his musical visions to life. This summer Schaffer brings this vision to BLOODSTOCK once more, for their only UK show of 2012, and one of the highlights of the metal festival calendar.

SEPULTURA is one of the major names in metal history. From their humble beginnings 27 years ago, these Brazilians went on to create a legacy, influencing a whole generation of younger bands and becoming a true institution. Despite rough times due to significant line-up changes, nomadic relationships with record labels and various changes in the overall musical environment, SEPULTURA have never backed down, continuously following their path, always re-emerging stronger than ever before.

At their only UK show of 2012, SEPULTURA will remind the BLOODSTOCK crowd why they are South America’s biggest metal export, with a classic set featuring timeless anthems such as ‘Arise’, ‘Beneath The Remains’, ‘Troops Of Doom’, ‘Refuse/Resist’, ‘Territory’ and many many more.

With tickets selling faster than ever before, BLOODSTOCK 2012 is destined for a sell-out this year. Over 100 bands – the majority of which are exclusive appearances – and a ticket price of only £115 for four days of metal magic INCLUDING camping – BLOODSTOCK offers metalheads the most attractive ticket in the UK.

Although WHITE WIZZARD have some good tunes, I have often found their live shows somewhat lackluster. I wish I could say something different from that based on tonight’s performance, but unfortunately I can’t. They seemed to lack an on stage presence, and albeit, the stage isn’t the biggest in this venue, their use of it was non-existent to say the least and very static. The likes of ‘Over The Top’, ’40 Deuces’ and ‘Iron Goddess of Vengeance’ got a rousing reception from the fans, and they were performed very well, but they were just lacking that certain something that would make me go and see them on their own headline tour.

With the sublime new album, ‘Dystopia’ in tow and new vocalist Stu Block at the helm, ICED EARTH took to the stage and delivered an excellent set that absolutely flew by, and definitely left the crowd wanting more. There was no surprise that the new album featured heavily throughout the set, with the likes of opening number and title track ‘Dystopia’ getting things rolling nicely, whilst ‘V’ (complete with Guy Fawkes mask getting a showing courtesy of an audience member), ‘Dark City’, ‘Anthem’ and ‘Tragedy And Triumph’ all sounded fantastic live.

It was apparent very early on that you could tell what Jon Schaffer was on about when he mentioned that Stu had that look in his eye. His on stage presence is excellent, whether it being his antics, banter with the crowd, or conducting the fist pumps or singing, and you can’t help but keep your eyes on him. Stu has fitted straight into ICED EARTH with so much ease, and really delivered also on the Barlow and Ripper era material too in the form of ‘Stand Alone’, ‘Slave To The Dark’ and ‘Declaration Day’, which were on offer tonight.

One highlight of the set was seeing the duo of ‘Angels Holocaust’ and ‘When The Night Falls’ getting a dusting off and being played on this tour. These have definitely not aged with time and went down a storm with the crowd, whilst the extremely atmospheric and evil ‘Damien’ got a great reception too. It was the song that everyone in attendance was waiting to hear tonight, and as Stu introduced it with ‘Let’s take a trip to Hell’, the epic ‘Dante’s Inferno’ was upon us and was delivered in all its glory to note perfection by every member of the band, who were all on outstanding form tonight.

All that was left to cap of an awesome set was, as usual, the self titled ‘Iced Earth’ which sent the crowd into headbanging frenzy one last time for the night. It rounded off an awe-inspiring display from ICED EARTH, with everybody showing their appreciation with horns raised and applause aplenty. Overall, I can’t fault the set at all as it was great to hear some of the early material, especially ‘Dante’s Inferno’. This is one November 5th I’m sure everyone in attendance will remember!

Ratings:

Review By Adam Fredericks

Thursday

Arriving late on Thursday, the only band who caught the eye were the excellent BEHOLDER (4.6/5.0), who picked up where they left off at the Bloodstock festival last summer. Their meat and potato brand of British metal was lapped up by the early arrivals. Debut album ‘The Awakening’ was one of the finest releases of 2009, and live, the songs kicked just as much ass as they do through your hifi.

Friday

With TONY MARTIN’s HEADLESS CROSS absent without leave, the first major band to hit the main stage on Friday were Dutch symphonic metal masters EPICA (4.1/5.0). Vocalist Simone Simons leads the band with charisma, and a voice to rival any. The screams of Mark Jansen add a heavy twist to the sound, making EPICA a fiercer animal than the likes of NIGHTWISH, a band who could have done a lot worse than approach Simone Simons to be their new singer.

Managing to squeeze in a quick trip to the second stage where Reading based metallers MALEFICE (3.8/5.0) were tearing up the place, these guys have energy to burn and with a willing crowd at their mercy with mosh pits and headbanging literally everywhere you turned, they played an energetic set with the highlight being a dedication to the legendary Dimebag, with a cover of PANTERA’s ‘I’m Broken’.

After the bombastic nature of both EPICA’s and MALEFICE’s performance, the slow melancholic plod of KATATONIA (3.8/5.0) didn’t exactly keep spirits high, but for the crowd that had turned up to watch these doomers in action, they played a decent set, despite it being starved of older material, in favour of playing the more recent tracks like ‘My Twin’ and ‘Soil’s Song’, whilst the brilliant new album, ‘Night Is The New Day’ got a run out with the highlights being the imporessive duo of ‘Forsaker’ and ‘Liberation’. While they are not everyone’s cup of tea, this type of music in my opinion always tends to come across better in more intimate venues, where the die hard fans are in attendance.

Headline act DEVILDRIVER (4.5/5.0) have built up quite a reputation as a live band that every metal fan must see. On tonight’s evidence, it’s easy to see why. DEVILDRIVER’s full throttle brand of modern day thrash metal grabs you firmly by the throat, and doesn’t let you go – that is, ’till they leave the stage. The pummeling ‘End of the Line’ is a prime example of DEVILDRIVER’s power, with frontman Dez Fafara whipping the crowd into a mosh pit frenzy – certainly, not for the faint hearted.

Meanwhile, on the 2nd stage, CONQUEST OF STEEL (3.7/5.0) were doing their best MANOWAR impression. Holding swords to the wind, the British five piece ripped through an enjoyable set of classic heavy metal, which included a quick fire cover of DIO’s ‘Holy Diver’. This is a band who are never going to headline a show outside of a pub, and they’re never going to give a shit about that. This is a band that eat, breathe, and sleep metal, and being on stage for them is like a pig rolling round in a heap of muck. If you’re not into metal, leave the hall!

Left to clean up the scene of destruction on the main stage were FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH (4.4/5.0), a band who were quite a surprise choice so high up on the bill, given the relatively limited experience. However, with another ferocious performance, nobody gained a rest following the brutality of fellow American buddies DEVILDRIVER and FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH showed exactly why they are getting talked about so much.

Although not quite as intense as DEVILDRIVER, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is still bloody heavy, combining the formula of popular nu-metal, with the guitar playing of classic metal. The excellent ‘Salvation’ was a stand out, while a unique cover of ‘Bad Company’ (originally by, yes you guessed it, BAD COMPANY) went down very well with the crowd. With FFDP returning to play the Download Festival in June, their popularity is only going to rise further and therefore, expect to hear a lot more from these boys in the future.

Closing the Friday night proceedings on the main stage were Brummie grind legends NAPALM DEATH (4.0/5.0). A surprisingly large crowd remained for their post midnight performance, and such fanatics were treated to a typical Napalm performance of pure, uncompromising, noise! Laced with the humour of frontman Barney Greenway, the set included songs spanning the entire 29 year history of the band. Blink, and you’d have missed some of them!

With Prestatyn still bleeding from a night of such intense metal, it was back to the chalet to recharge the batteries for more of the same.

Saturday

The first band of note on Saturday were FURY UK (4.4/5.0), featuring guitar wizzkid Chris Appelton. After impressing on tour with MICHAEL SCHENKER just before Christmas, the band were welcome by a healthy crowd, who lapped up the rifftastic set. FURY UK’s music is very much metal at it’s purest, with the fantastic ‘Death By Lightning’ giving their set a bombastic climax, with Appelton at the forefront with enough tricks on the guitar to make Yngwie Malmsteen look ordinary.

Soon after FURY UK, a band by the name of THE SHINING (0.1/5.0) took to the stage, and proceeded to play one of the worst sets I have ever seen. I can’t even begin to call it music, because whatever the hell they were playing sounded like a bunch of crazy school kids let loose in a music shop.

American old school metalheads WHITE WIZZARD (4.5/5.0) were up next, and had to be one of the surpirse packages of the weekend. Their retro metal music reminds very much of ‘Number of the Beast’ era IRON MAIDEN, complete with dual guitars, wailing vocals, and that all important galloping bass. The awesome ‘Iron Goddess of Vengeance’ was one of the musical highlights of the whole weekend.

The evergreen PANIC CELL (4.0/5.0) were up next, delivering a typical solid set, for which they have been relied upon by many a festival organiser. This is a band who are happy to play anywhere, anytime, and always look like they’re enjoying their metal. Although they don’t quite have what it takes to take the next step to metal stardom, PANIC CELL are an enjoyable band, and in the world filled with bullshit like The X Factor, it’s great to see a band who’re still willing to knuckle down, and earn musical respect the hard way.

With only one more band to go on Stage Two, it was over to the main stage to see Scot rockers ATTICA RAGE (4.0/5.0) rip through a few of their choice cuts. Vocalist Jonny Parr limited vocal range means that ATTICA RAGE’s music never goes over the top, and their stripped down, yet spirited blend of classic metal works very well in the live environment. An ambitious cover of IRON MAIDEN’s ‘Fear of the Dark‘ was unsurprinsgly the most popular moment of their set, but lets hope the crowd remember ATTICA RAGE for more than that!

Next on stage were British doom stalwarts ORANGE GOBLIN (4.3/5.0), complete with new look frontman Ben Ward, now free of the extremely long hair he was waving around at HAMMERFEST I a year ago. Ward’s look might have changed, but his sound, and that of his band, is exactly the same, and why would you want it any other way? The likes of ‘Blue Snow’, and set closer ‘Scorpionica’ are doom metal classics, and no band could give them songs the sludge groove that ORANGE GOBLIN do. As last year, ORANGE GOBLIN were terrific, and remain one of the great forbidden fruits of the metal underground.

It was now time for all metal purists to leave the room. The reggae infused music played by SKINDRED will always divide metal fans. For me, whereas I certainly wouldn’t enjoy playing a SKINDRED CD in my car, I do always enjoy their live shows. Excitable frontman Benji Webbe is a real pleasure to watch, and somehow, he manages to get the crowd to put in as much energy to a SKINDRED show as he does himself. Pontins was absolutely bouncing for the whole show, and I have to admit that by the end of it, I may be a converted disciple.

Having been spotted on site as early as Friday afternoon, ICED EARTH (4.8/5.0) must have been chomping at the bit to get on stage for their Saturday night headline slot. The sound for ICED EARTH was crystal clear, and this helped enhance what was an immaculate performance, choreographed to perfection.

An hour set is never going to be long enough for a band of ICED EARTH’s stature, but they did use the time to good effect, with minimal breaks between songs. The highlight of the show was a rare performance of the majestic ‘Watching Over Me’ – a song with emotional feeling, unrivalled by any other metal song. Signature track ‘Iced Earth’ closed what was a fantastic performance by the band of the weekend. Guitarist and band leader Jon Schaffer promised the band would be back for their first ‘proper’ UK tour in the near future. That will be simply unmissable!

Following the ICED EARTH opus, the stage was ambushed by thrash crossover titans SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, lead by charismatic frontman Mike Muir. With ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’, SUICIDAL made a ferocious entry into the arena, and the intensity of their show never fizzled out.

Over on the 2nd stage, Swedish Black metal band DARK FUNERAL (3.6/5.0) were doing the best to try to scare the couple of hundred fans who considered them more appealing than SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. The music of DARK FUNERAL is about as typical as black metal gets, with hyper speed distorted melodies, constant blast beatdrums, and completely intellible vocals. Frontman Emperos Magus Caligula is dressed up like something out of He-Man (I’m thinking skeletor), although he’s one huge geezer, so I’ll leave the piss taking at that.

Given the late night closing slot on the main stage were power metal band SABATON (4.1/5.0), following up on their well received performance at the Bloodstock festival last summer, as well as several UK dates with genre trail blazers DRAGONFORCE. With the crowd obviously well stocked on caffeine, SABATON’s Swedish blend of power metal once again went down very well with the UK metalheads. An excellent band to bring down the curtain on another excellent weekend in Prestatyn.

With plenty of summer festivals on the horizon, December may seem a million miles away at the moment. However, tickets are selling like hot cakes for the next Prestatyn show down, HARD ROCK HELL IV. If you fancy a beer soaked weekend of metal madness, don’t hesitate to buy a ticket. Prestatyn might not be the be all and end all, but it sure knows how to put on one hell of a metal party!

Festival Rating : 4.8/5.0

Photography by Alexander Shaw

(Hammerfest II Friday)

(Hammerfest II Saturday)