http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/30/reviews/4597/ http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/30/reviews/4597/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:46:51 +0000 Adam http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/?p=4597 An already healthy sized crowd was waiting in anticipation for German experimental outfit THE OCEAN to hit the stage, and when they did, the fans seemed to lap up every single moment of their hour set. What did impress me was their extremely energetic performance and stage presence, with both guitarists, Robin Staps and Jonathan Nido, really giving it their all, while bassist Louis Jucker adventured into the crowd too.

Unfortunately, their set was ruined by terrible sound, and on plenty of occasions, there was major feedback issues coming from the guitars and vocals, that was extremely unpleasant on the ears, whilst when vocalist Loic Rossetti was joined on stage by an ex member for a dual vocal, it was hard to differentiate the two, when they sang together, and everything seemed to get lost into oblivion. I hope to catch these guys again sometime, when the sound will be better, because from I could make out, their music was intriguing and a bit different, and worth another look to say the very least.

TEXTURES took to the stage, and the atmosphere was there right from the word go, with instrumental ‘Surreal State of Enlightenment’ really helping to build it up, before they kicked into ‘Regenesis’ and ‘Storm Warning’ which was eaten up by the crowd, as everybody including the band headbanged in sync, all throughout the gig.

The sound was miles better for TEXTURES, and a killer display of ‘Stream of Consciousness’ got the real first action in the pit for the set. One thing I did remember about this venue, only after it happened was the situation of the strobe lights here is lower than most venues and more directly in your face, meaning any major usage of these can really deter the enjoyment of the show. Fortunately, it was used only when necessary and in relevant parts of the material too.

New vocalist Daniel de Jongh, taking over from Eric Kalsbeek last year, delivered a very good performance, and even made the earlier material his own, as well as delivering on the new tracks on show tonight from latest album ‘Dualism’ in the form of ‘Sanguine Draws The Oath’ and ‘Consonant Hemispheres’, with a real highlight being ‘Singularity’, performed in the encore. Some crowd participation was included in the form of the impressive ‘Awake’ where plenty of fans sang their hearts out, before a blistering rendition of ‘Swandive’ closed the set, and got the crowd going once more.

The way TEXTURES mix experimental and more aggressive elements with melody is superb, with them reminding me of a cross between MESHUGGAH and SOILWORK. The gradual build up style of ‘Messengers’ opened the encore, before the aforementioned ‘Singularity’ got an airing. An awe inspiring performance of ‘Laments of An Icarus’ closed the proceedings, as the band received rapturous applause and horns from the crowd, and deservedly so. Their hour set flew by, and although not really having heard much of their music before, they have left a definite impression on me after this show, one I will follow up and listen to more of their material.

Ratings:

TEXTURES: 4.2/5.0

THE OCEAN: 2.3/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

]]> http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/30/reviews/4597/feed/ 0

http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/28/reviews/4592/ http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/28/reviews/4592/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:43:43 +0000 Adam http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/?p=4592 One of the most popular and well known bands to come out of the Black Metal scene, coupled with the fact that they were playing one of their classic albums in its entirety, it came as no surprise to see the masses of fans already queuing up outside upon arrival, some adorning corpse paint that is so well associated with the genre.

Labeled ‘An Evening With Dimmu Borgir’, all throughout the tour, the fans were treated to two sets, one of them chosen by the fans themselves with the choice of which one of three classic DIMMU BORGIR albums would be played. The sublime ‘Enthrone Darkness Triumphant’ was the victor of the poll, and although it may be 14 years old, every track from it sounded as crisp, clean and fresh as the day it was recorded, showing that good material never sounds dated!

Picking stand out tracks from the first set is nigh on impossible with whole of it being a real highlight, but hearing a couple of my absolute favourites from ‘Enthrone Darkness Triumphant’ in the form of opening number ‘Mourning Palace’ and the awesome melodic tinged ‘In Death’s Embrace’ always puts a smile on my face, while blistering renditions of ‘Relinquishment of Spirit And Flesh’ and the equally destructive ‘Tormentor of Christian Souls’ kept the crowd fist pumping and headbanging.

Slower and more harmonious numbers like ‘Entrance’ and ‘A Succubus In Rapture’ were also well received with the latter being dedicated to all the ladies in attendance, before ‘Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde’, which I have trouble pronouncing let alone spelling, closed the first set. The sound was superb throughout both sets and really enhanced the atmosphere in the venue, with Shagrath‘s vocals sounding as impressive as ever, along with the synths, guitars and drums all being near enough at the exact right levels in the mix for what was a pleasure on the auditory senses to all concerned.

Opening the next set with a drum solo from Daray, DIMMU BORGIR returned to the stage, complete with change of clothing reminiscent of the ones from the ‘Gateways’ video, and kicked straight into the scintillating ‘Vredesbyrd’, before we got the first real apparent use of backing tracks in the form of ex-bassist Vortex‘s clean vocals on ‘Kings of The Carnival Creation’.

With latest album ‘Abrahadabra’ being out now for over a year, this was the first chance I got to check out some of the new material live, and on offer was the likes of ‘Ritualist’ and ‘Gateways’, both of which transferred well into the live arena, but the self titled ‘Dimmu Borgir’ particularly stood out and had an epic feel to it, especially as the crowd shouted Dimmu Borgir! when conducted to do so by Shagrath.

A crushing rendition of ‘Puritania’ sent the crowd into a headbanging frenzy once more, before the encore closed off proceedings for the night with killer displays of ‘The Serpentine Offering’ and ‘Progenies of The Great Apocalypse’ giving the fans one last chance soak up the atmosphere. As DIMMU BORGIR left the stage, an outro tape of ‘Perfection Or Vanity’ was played, which really topped of a night that everyone in attendance is going to recall for some time to come. An evening definitely well spent with one of the finest black metal bands in the genre, DIMMU BORGIR!

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Photography By Alex Shaw (Dimmu Borgir photo gallery)

http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/15/reviews/4570/ http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/15/reviews/4570/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:11:58 +0000 Adam http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/?p=4570 An hour after the doors had opened, American metalcore outfit STRAIGHT LINE STITCH hit the stage to perform their 30 minute slot. The sound wasn’t great throughout their set, with the vocals being the most obvious downfall. Too low in the mix, you could hardly hear vocalist Alexis Brown most of the time with her growls, and even the segments that were clean vocals were inaudible at times.

Having said that, I did take notice of a few numbers which stood out musically, with the catchy style of ‘What You Do To Me’ and the ferocious ‘Conversion’ impressing in particular, whilst Brown‘s break neck speed headbanging during the latter could have smashed a brick wall if needed.

Having toured the UK a number of times over each of the past few years, the fans came out in force yet again for one of the best professional and live bands around in the metal scene. And it’s no wonder really. LACUNA COIL, now on their Darkness Rising tour, for me have always been one of those bands that are better to see live than on record. Don’t get me wrong, I can listen to them on record easily, but when you see them live, they are a different beast altogether.

The darker and more gothic elements and riffs become a lot more prominent, and create a really sublime atmosphere, with opening numbers ‘Our Truth’ and ‘To The Edge’ being prime examples of how this transforms from record to live. The vocal problems that plagued STRAIGHT LINE STITCH‘s performance didn’t transfer to the headliners and the dual vocals of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro sounded excellent, with the only minor gripe with the sound being that the bass was a bit too high and overpowered the guitars at times throughout the first half of the set.

The majority of the set was made up from their last two efforts, ‘Shallow Life’ and ‘Karmacode’, with the likes of ‘Fragile’, ‘Fragments of Faith’, ‘I Won’t Tell You’ and a great rendition of the melancholic ‘Wide Awake’, while it was great to hear classics in the form of ‘Heaven’s A Lie’, ‘Daylight Dancer’ and ‘Swamped’. With a new album out early next year, entitled ‘Dark Adrenaline’, it was nice to hear a taste of what is to come from it. ‘Kill The Light’ and ‘Trip The Darkness’ were on offer tonight and sounded extremely good. They had those familiar LACUNA COIL traits stamped all over them and if the rest of the album is in a similar vein, it will be one to look forward to.

Their cover of DEPECHE MODE‘s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ closed the main set, which was the cue for some audience participation on the chorus, and to say they were loud is probably an understatement. LACUNA COIL came back on as the intro to ‘Survive’ played and delivered a killer version of it, whilst the rest of the encore was made up of the aforementioned ‘Trip The Darkness’ before the superb ‘Spellbound’ closed proceedings for the evening. LACUNA COIL could have easily delivered an extra 15 minutes on top of the 75 we got tonight. They certainly have the material to warrant it, but I don’t think that was on anyone’s mind as they headed for the exit. LACUNA COIL are always going to be one of my favourite live bands, and I bet we won’t have to wait too long for another chance to see them in the new year, especially with a new album just around the corner too.

Ratings:

LACUNA COIL: 4.1/5.0

STRAIGHT LINE STITCH: 3.5/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Photography By Alex Shaw (click here for Lacuna Coil gallery)

]]> http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/15/reviews/4570/feed/ 0

http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/11/reviews/4564/ http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/11/reviews/4564/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:05:23 +0000 Adam http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/?p=4564 It’s always hard to tell how a support band will be received beforehand, especially when they and the headline act vary in style. Fortunately, there were more than a few hardened black metal fans in attendance tonight, me included, and CHTHONIC put on a great display, showing their powerful, brutal and oriental atmospheric style of black metal.

The set was primarily made up of superb new album ‘Takasago Army’ and the previous album, ‘Mirror of Retribution’, and was lapped up by the crowd, duly obliging with fist pumping, throwing the devil horns and headbanging all thrown in for good measure. The 40 minute set flew by, and new material like ‘Broken Jade’, ‘Southern Cross’, ‘Oceanquake’ and ‘Takao’ sounded excellent live as they created an excellent atmosphere with their powerful and destructive nature.

One thing you can always expect from a TURISAS show is to have a bloody good time, and it was no surprise that the party was in full flow as soon as they hit the stage. With the crowd constantly shouting ‘Battle Metal’ not only before they came on, but near enough after each song had reached it conclusion, you could tell the fans were right up for it tonight.

With new album, ‘Stand Up And Fight’, and a new image too, yes, the furry outfits are all but gone apart from a bit here and there, in favour of a denim and leather approach, but don’t worry, the new image doesn’t stretch as far as the war paint, that is still fully intact, with a few members of the audience also deciding to adorn themselves with the customary red and black too!

Opening number, ‘The March of The Varangian Guard’, was the first of a handful of material played tonight from the new album, and really got the ball rolling before pints were raised aloft for a cracking rendition of ‘One More’, which got both the festivities and singing in good stead for the rest of the show. As usual, frontman Mathias ‘Warlord’ Nygard had requested some local ale, although the closest he got was from Kent. Still, he appreciated it more than the foreign lager he was served on other the UK dates so far according to him.

The energetic set kept on going with the likes of ‘To Holmgard And Beyond’, and the upbeat ‘Sahti-Waari’. The new material was going down an absolute storm with the likes of ‘The Great Escape’, ‘Take The Day!’ and eventual set closer ‘Stand Up And Fight’ particularly impressing live.

As TURISAS came back for the encore, everybody’s favourite cover really set the place alight. ‘Rasputin’ was greeted by the ever hungry hordes, with everyone shouting Ra-Ra-Rasputin and literally blowing the roof of the venue. The time had come for those fans who were requesting this from the start of the show. A rousing rendition of ‘Battle Metal’ closed the proceedings, and brought a close to a fun filled folk metal gig. TURISAS are really masters of their craft when it comes to catchy tunes that you can’t help but dance, headbang and throw the horns to. Until next time you crazy folksters!

Ratings:

TURISAS: 4.6/5.0

CHTHONIC: 4.2/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Photography By Alex Shaw (Turisas gallery click here)

]]> http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/11/11/reviews/4564/feed/ 1

http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/08/17/reviews/4497/ http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/08/17/reviews/4497/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:06:18 +0000 Adam http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/?p=4497 Bloodstock Open Air is the one UK true metal festival that is always looked forward to each year by the true heavy metal fans. The festival has been supporting the metal scene for a decade now, and is for the fans by the fans. The annual pilgrimage to the now sacred grounds of Catton Hall is made by nearly 12,000 metalheads for a weekend filled programme of Metal, Rock, Alcohol and other entertainment, not necessarily always in that order. The best thing of all? There’s not an emo or Liam Gallagher wannabe in sight!

Friday

Opening up proceedings for the weekend on the RONNIE JAMES DIO stage were metalcore outfit THE DEFILED who got the crowd nicely warmed up for the day’s events with an aggressive and energetic set. Following shortly afterwards were Swedish metallers WOLF who were returning to the festival after playing it in 2009, and their short set of Maiden worshipping classic metal was as warmly received as ever.

Bay Area thrash veterans FORBIDDEN were next to grace the stage and delivered an excellent set that headbangers got their teeth stuck into, with the likes of ‘Through Eyes of Glass’ and ‘Chalice of Blood’ going down a treat, before Finnish rockers POISONBLACK produced an upbeat set, even with frontman and guitarist Ville Laihiala having to sit through the entire set due to a leg injury.

Swiss doomsters TRIPTYKON took to the stage with a set made up of half of Tom G. Warrior‘s former band, CELTIC FROST and the other half being new material. Even though it was daylight, the heavy slow riffs created a superb atmosphere. ‘Procreation of The Wicked’ opened the set before the sublime ‘Goetia’ followed, which was a real highlight of the 40 minute set.

Swiss thrashers CORONER were playing their first UK show since their recent reunion. The 45 minute set was solid if not spectacular, with the main attraction being some superb lead guitar work from Tommy Vetterli with double tapping aplenty. However, the lack of individuality of CORONER‘s material was evidence enough as to why the band never rose above the thrash metal underground.

Legendary German thrashers KREATOR delivered a killer set, even with a minor hiccup when the PA cut out for a few seconds during ‘Warcurse’. The only surprise omission from the set was ‘Extreme Aggression’, but a real highlight was the inclusion of ‘Endless Pain’ in the set, whilst superb renditions of ‘Voices of The Dead’, ‘Enemy of God’, ‘Reconquering The Throne’ and ‘Violent Revolution’ were all welcomed by the crowd, before the ferocious set came to an end with usual closing duo of ‘Flag of Hate’ and ‘Tormentor’.

Returning after playing last years Bloodstock, and thanks to no missing equipment this time, DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT played a decent set, and while I may have not enjoyed every song in the set, perhaps because it is a bit too experimental for my tastes, you can’t deny that Devin is a excellent frontman who keeps the crowd entertained throughout with his various moments and actions on stage. ‘Bad Devil’ and eventual set closer ‘Vampira’ were highlights of the set, but I guess to fully enjoy the show, more time spent listening to the material would aid the factor.

Friday’s headliners were 80′s L.A. rock legends W.A.S.P. who played an energetic set from start to finish with Blackie Lawless as usual moving all over the stage. All the classics were on show tonight with the likes of ‘On Your Knees’, ‘L.O.V.E. Machine’ and ‘Wild Child’ all sounding superb. Newer song’s in the form of ‘Crazy’ and ‘Babylon’s Burning’ also went down a storm with the crowd, while a real highlight of the set was the medley of ‘Hellion’, ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’ and ‘Scream Until You Like It’ all being seamlessly joined together. As is the norm, ‘Blind In Texas’ was the last song of the night and brought a close to a top day of rock and metal entertainment.

Saturday

Some extreme speed metal was first to play on the RJD stage on Saturday. SKELETONWITCH delivered a destroying set which went at full pelt right until the last note, with ‘Beyond The Permafrost’ and ‘Reduced To The Failure of Prayer’ really sounding excellent live. German heavy metal stalwarts GRAVE DIGGER were the second band on, and probably proved they should have been a bit higher on the bill with their excellent performance, with classics like ‘Rebellion’ and ‘The Dark of The Sun’ getting a rousing reception. ‘Heavy Metal Breakdown’ brought a close to a short but thoroughly enjoyable set from the ever solid German outfit.

TAROT were taking to the stage fronted by Marco Hietala, of NIGHTWISH fame, to play their brand of symphonic power metal, which the crowd ate right up. Meanwhile, over on the New Blood Stage, up and coming Norwegian Black Metallers UBERAN were getting the audience warmed up for tonight’s headliner. UBERAN must be the first band I have seen where all four of their members take turns singing in each song. From what I heard, they had some good material up their sleeves and duly got the crowd headbanging. This will be one to look out for in the future for any fans of classic Norwegian black metal.

Another band returning to Bloodstock after a few years were Finnish folk metallers FINNTROLL who wasted no time in getting the party started and the crowd just lapped up their entire set, with there being plenty of jigs amongst other sorts of dancing within the audience. IHSAHN, of EMPEROR fame, took to the stage to produce a high quality set of symphonic black metal, with all the material being from his solo project, which probably left a few fans disappointed that there wasn’t any EMPEROR songs in the set. Still, tracks like ‘Scarab’ and ‘Frozen Lakes on Mars’ were outstanding and really created an atmosphere.

Finnish power folk metallers WINTERSUN produced a speedfest filled set, which flew by nearly as fast as they played. With rousing renditions of ‘Battle Against Time’ and ‘The Way of The Fire’ particularly standing out, ‘Starchild’ wrapped up their 45 minute set that left everyone wanting more.

THERION‘s Saturday evening performance was certainly the most interesting set of the weekend. It’s a mystery how the band afford to tour, given that they had four lead singers, none of which play an instrument. The dual male and dual female attack made for some brilliantly layered vocals and the sort of sounds you only usually hear on a backing tape. ‘To Mega Therion’ was the standout song of what was an impressive set.

Finally playing their first ever UK show were Italian power metal pomps RHAPSODY OF FIRE. This is a band who would have been laughed off the stage in the UK only a few years ago, but the Bloodstock festival has suddenly made swords and sorcery power metal much more acceptable in the UK. Live, the band sounded much less overblown than on record, and instrumentally, they were absolutely superb. The huge crowd waved blow up swords in unison as the likes of ‘Holy Thunderforce’ and ‘Dawn of Victory’ blasted out over the Derbyshire countryside battleground.

After the reception that tonights headliner got last year when they were announced, this was probably one of the most anticipated performances of the weekend. Back in UK for the first time in 9 years, Black Metal Gods IMMORTAL took to the stage opening up with ‘All Shall Fall’ coupled with some pyros. Although the sound was not the best for the first few songs, it didn’t matter one iota to anybody it seemed, even me, and shortly afterwards, the sound greatly improved, and IMMORTAL delivered a killer set of crushing black metal at it’s finest.

All the classics were here, ‘Damned In Black’, ‘One By One’ and ‘Grim And Frostbitten Kingdoms’ to name a few, while blistering renditions of ‘In My Kingdom Cold’ and ‘Solarfall’ really stood out, as did the main set closer, ‘Withstand The Fall of Time’. The epic ‘Beyond The North Waves’ opened the encore with even more pyros, this time a waterfall effect before more of the sprinkler style pyros that they opened up with. ‘The Sun No Longer Rises’ brought IMMORTAL‘s superb set to an end, with everybody showing appreciation by raising the horns. Lets just hope it’s not so long again before IMMORTAL grace these shores.

Sunday

Recently reunited NWOBHM band, HELL kicked things off before a double dose of black metal in the daylight hit the RJD stage. Norway’s 1349 pummelled their way through a 40 minute set with ‘I Am Abomination’ and ‘Sculptor of Flesh’ being notable mentions. PRIMORDIAL frontman Alan Averill unfortunately only lasted two songs before his voice strangely disappeared, and the band continued with the rest of the set without vocals.

Meanwhile, over on the Sophie Lancaster Stage, everybody’s favourite parody metal band, EVIL SCARECROW were duly entertaining the masses as a packed tent were treated to an outstanding performance. ‘Blacken The Everything’ sounded superb and their awesome cover version of EUROPE‘s ‘The Final Countdown’ went down perfectly, whilst a world record attempt during ‘Robotron’ got everybody doing their own perfect robot square.

Back over on the RJD stage, Brummie grindcore legends NAPALM DEATH blitzed their way through a 45 minute set of pure noise. Contained in the set were regulars such as ‘When All Is Said And Done’, ‘Scum’ and ‘Suffer The Children’, while we were treated to a couple of cover songs too in the form of CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER‘s ‘Lowlife’ and DEAD KENNEDYS‘ ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’.

Swedish metal warriors HAMMERFALL were up next, and enjoyed the best sound of the weekend. Opening number ‘Infected’ sounded crystal clear. The crowd loved the opportunity to sing a long to the likes of ‘Let The Hammer Fall’ and ‘Hearts on Fire’. Unfortunately, HAMMERFALL have numerous great songs which went unplayed, and it would have been nice to see them higher up the bill with a set longer than 45 minutes. Still, we have more of HAMMERFALL in the UK as they tour with SAXON in December.

The second band to perform this weekend from the Bay Area in San Francisco were thrash titans EXODUS. Throughout the entire set, you could hardly hear frontman Rob Dukes, as either his vocals were too low in the mix or not coming out of the PA as between songs, it sounded like the vocals were only coming from the monitors on stage. Despite this, they cracked on and Gary Holt was on stellar form as he crushed the likes of ‘Blacklist’, ‘Bonded By Blood’ and ‘Toxic Waltz’.

Recently reunited (again) and pioneers of the Gothenburg sound, AT THE GATES were back at Bloodstock after last playing in 2008, and delivered a truly stunning set, with almost the entire ‘Slaughter of The Soul’ album being played. Tracks like ‘Terminal Spirit Disease’ and ‘Under A Serpent Sun’ sounded as fresh as ever, with other highlights being ‘The Burning Darkness’ and the encore duo of ‘Blinded By Fear’ and ‘Kingdom Gone’. AT THE GATES have no plans to tour extensively or write any new material, so you better catch them while you can.

A quick trip to the Jagermeister Stage was on the cards to see LAST IN LINE, a group of musicians fronted by Simon Hall (BEHOLDER) who played an acoustic set to honour the late great RONNIE JAMES DIO and his music. They played a mix of different RJD material from his time in BLACK SABBATH, to RAINBOW, to his solo stuff as DIO. With quite a sizeable crowd gathering, they medleyed the songs together and made the set a real highlight of the weekend, with the likes of ‘Heaven And Hell’, ‘Temple of The King’ and of course ‘Holy Diver’ all getting a showing before ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Children’ rounded things off.

Just like last year, another death metal band had the honour of playing before the Sunday headliner, and this year it was the turn of Florida’s own MORBID ANGEL. While their new album ‘Illud Divinum Insanus’ may have gotten some mixed reviews, the new material sounded fantastic live with ‘I Am Morbid’, ‘Existo Vulgore’ and ‘Nevermore’ all impressing, while classics like ‘Immortal Rites’, ‘Maze of Torment’ and ‘Chapel of Ghouls’ were as destructive as ever. My only gripe about the set was maybe it could have been a bit louder and more in your face as death metal should be, but that didn’t take the shine of an otherwise crushing performance.

Despite their uncomplicated approach to gigs, there’s just something about MOTORHEAD which makes it impossible to get bored of seeing them live. Perhaps it’s the ever grasping awe of just how cool Lemmy is, or perhaps it’s just the great rock n’ roll songs which MOTORHEAD have produced over the years which does the trick.

MOTORHEAD‘s performance tonight was typically on the ball, and all the classics were pumped out, thus ensuring that the Bloodstock crowd enjoyed one final headbang to round off the weekend in style.

Once again, Bloodstock has proved what a great festival it is, and managed to get some great bands that the true metal fans of the UK want to see, whilst also getting big bands for the headliners, whilst also giving the chance to some excellent up and comers in the metal and rock genre. Not a truer word is spoken when they say, ‘For the fans, By the fans’. See you all next year at Catton Hall for what will be another cracker of a weekend.

Best Bands: IMMORTAL, KREATOR, MORBID ANGEL, AT THE GATES, IHSAHN, W.A.S.P., MOTORHEAD

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks & James Allman

]]> http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/08/17/reviews/4497/feed/ 0

http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/04/05/reviews/4437/ http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/04/05/reviews/4437/#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:17:41 +0000 Adam http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/?p=4437 Upon arriving in Manchester, you could sense a feeling of excitement around the already packed venue as Finnish maestros CHILDREN OF BODOM returned to the UK after their headline performance at Bloodstock last year, bringing along with them Viking death metal warlords AMON AMARTH for the party.

AMON AMARTH have been a huge success since they hit the metal mainstream in the UK a few albums ago, and it has been great to see them develop and evolve their sound, as well as earn the credit they deserve over the last 12 years or so since I first discovered them.

With new album, ‘Surtur Rising’, being released the Monday before the gig, the fans had a few days to familiarise themselves with some new material before their set tonight. Three new tracks were on offer tonight and set opener ‘War of The Gods’ is one of the best opening songs to an album and a live set I have heard in some time, whilst the impressive ‘Destroyer of The Universe’ also sounded excellent in the live arena.

Unfortunately, with only a 45 minute set to play with, a lot of material was going to be omitted, and classics such as ‘Death In Fire’ and ‘Cry of The Blackbirds’ were the ones to miss out. The majority of the set was made up from their last opus, ‘Twilight of The Thunder God’. The title track of that album along with ‘Varyags of Miklagaard’ and ‘Live For The Kill’ were set highlights as the fans literally couldn’t get enough.

Their set flew by, and before you knew it, Olavi was playing the intro riffs to ‘The Pursuit of Vikings’, a song that has become the final entry in their set for the many tours I have been to see them on in the past, which brought a close to decent set, with only a couple of minor drawbacks for me. One was there seemed to be slightly too much reverb on Johan‘s mic, and another is a personal opinion really. I really love the old material, and it would have been nice to hear just one early track, but I guess when in a support slot, it’s hard to please everybody. Let’s just hope a headline tour is around the corner where this is more likely to happen.

Having lost count of the number of times I have seen CHILDREN OF BODOM, I have always walked away from every single one of their sets having been entertained by both their music and by their antics on stage, and tonight was no different. Let’s face it, it must be awesome being in a band who no matter what, can deliver a killer set whilst also having a good laugh on stage.

The chants of ‘Bodom, Bodom’ swept around the venue and soon enough, the fan’s idols took to the stage opening up with ‘Not My Funeral’, one of a number of tracks played tonight from new album ‘Relentless Reckless Forever’. Credit must be given to the sound techs as it was clear from the off that the guitars were too low in the mix, with them being easily overpowered by the bass. This was fixed pretty much half way through the opening song, and the rest of the set was spot on sound wise, as this would have deterred the set’s enjoyment given the technicality of BODOM‘s music.

As with any new album tour, there was plenty of new material to show off, and the likes of ‘Shovel Knockout’, ‘Roundtrip To Hell And Back’ and ‘Was It Worth It?’ all sounded superb live as the crowd lapped up every second of shredding genius from Alexi. With songs from all but one album being given an outing in the set tonight, set regulars in the form of ‘Needled 24/7′, ‘Hate Me!’, ‘Angels Don’t Kill’ and ‘Downfall’ all played their part to make up a great set, despite the apparent omissions of classics such as ‘Silent Night, Bodom Night’ and ‘Everytime I Die’, whilst a real set highlight was a blistering rendition of the self titled ‘Children of Bodom’ getting a rare outing, as well as the fist pounding ‘In Your Face’.

Janne usually messes about with some cheesy tune intros on his keyboards at some point during the set, and tonight’s treat was a bit of BON JOVI. The set was rounded off nicely with the headbanging anthemic jewel that is ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’, with everybody joining in to sing the chorus which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. CHILDREN OF BODOM are one of best live bands out there, and are still going strong based on tonight’s exceptionally tight performance, which every single member of the Manchester Hate Crew enjoyed. So, until we welcome those crazy Finns back to our shores, Silent Night, Bodom Night!

Ratings:

AMON AMARTH: 4.1/5.0

CHILDREN OF BODOM: 4.8/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Photography By Alex Shaw (Children of Bodom Photos)

]]> http://www.baconmusic.co.uk/2011/04/05/reviews/4437/feed/ 0

Friday

Opening up proceedings on the main stage were NWOBHM veterans DIAMOND HEAD, who played a crowd pleasing set, topped off with a powerful rendition of the awesome ‘Am I Evil?’. DIAMOND HEAD aren’t just a one trick pony though, they have some other very good songs in their locker as proven in the excellent ‘In The Heat of The Night’ and ‘Helpless’. The most encouraging thing about the set though was the excellent sound, which gave an indication that the crowd were in for one hell of a weekend of rock and metal.

Fresh from their main stage appearance at the Download Festival, aging AOR band FM were next to hit the stage. Given that FM were probably the least heavy band on the main stage all weekend, they went down exceptionally well. IRON MAIDEN fans would have been familiar with ‘That Girl’ as it was covered by the Irons as a b-side in the 1980′s. FM have plenty of other good tunes though, ‘Bad Luck’ was brilliant and their rocked up cover of ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’ rounded off the set nicely.

Meanwhile, over on the second stage, Swedish speed metallers ENFORCER were quite literally pulsating their way through an relentless set which was delivered with power and precision, with plenty of high pitched screams throughout by frontman Olof Wikstrand. Also well worth a trip to the second stage were the UK’s premier parody metal outfit, EVIL SCARECROW who made full use of their 40 minute slot, packing it with set regulars like ‘Vampyre Trousers’, complete with the four note solo, ‘War And Seek’ and ‘Blacken The Everything’. An excellent rendition of ‘Thundercats’ followed before it was time to convert the audience into robots with ‘Robotron’, with the crowd taking part to make their own perfect robot squares – Peter Crouch eat your heart out! It was all over too soon, with the final song being one of the best cover versions I have ever heard, as EUROPE‘s ‘The Final Countdown’ brought a close to what was one of the most entertaining sets of the weekend.

Having UFO and MSG on the same bill at a festival will always lead to the obvious comparisons of the two. Tonight it was UFO‘s turn to prove themselves, and they did so with a solid, if not spectacular set. The likes of ‘Doctor, Doctor’ and ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ were standouts of the set, with guitarist Vinnie Moore particularly impressive, whilst aging frontman Phil Mogg still plods on doing an adequate job of the vocals.

Next up on the main stage were Aussie rockers AIRBOURNE, who seemed more than happy to show their faces on stage despite their Cricket team’s current turmoil. Perhaps they thought they were safe being on Welsh ground? As always with AIRBOURNE, the crowd were treated to an energetic display of balls to the wall rock and roll. No review of this band will ever ignore the fact that they are a complete rip off of AC/DC, but the fact is, nobody cares! They’re simply a great live rock band, and that’s all that matters. Over on the 2nd stage, Swedish sleaze rockers HARDCORE SUPERSTAR were strutting their stuff, and although they ended their set with the blistering ‘We Don’t Celebrate Sundays’, the rest of the set was a disappointment, as many of their best songs were absent.

Given the unenviable task of following AIRBOURNE on the main stage, SKID ROW charged through a great set, full of classics with a couple of newer tracks thrown in for good measure, and while I didn’t see the incident when guitarist Scotti Hill fell off the stage, which forced the rest of the band to continue with only one guitarist at the end of the set, SKID ROW soldiered on and still delivered a top notch performance with the crowd singing at every opportune moment. While you can never compare Johnny Solinger to Sebastian Bach vocally, you can’t argue that he’s done an excellent job coming into the band, and always does a good job of getting the crowd involved.

Songs like ‘Big Guns’, ’18 And Life’ and ‘Monkey Business’ sounded as timeless as ever, and there was an exclusive showing of ‘I Remember You’ on electric guitar, mainly due to the fact that the acoustic equipment didn’t make it, but the crowd lapped it up nevertheless. Rachel Bolan did his obligatory vocals for the RAMONES song ‘Psychotherapy’, whilst ‘Sweet Little Sister’ got a showing before a blistering rendition of ‘Slave To The Grind’ closed the main set, leaving probably the song everybody knew for the encore. Sure enough, ‘Youth Gone Wild’ closed the set with everybody jumping and singing along to close an awesome performance and an awesome night of rock and metal.

Saturday

Opening the Queen Victoria pub stage on Saturday were promising Midlands based outfit HEADRUSH, whose set was primarily made up of new material from their latest EP. The songs sounded more straight up metal than some of their previous material, with title track of the EP ‘Guns And Glory’ standing out as the highlight of the set. The newer material seems to suit vocalist Andy Law‘s vocal style much better, whilst in guitarist Dan Smith they seem to have unearthed a real gem. Over on the 2nd stage, recently re-united NWOBHM band MARSEILLE opened things up, and despite a few sore heads in the crowd, the set went down pretty well, and the quality of the material left me surprised that MARSEILLE were not more widely known.

Speaking of sore heads, Hollywood hair metallers PRETTY BOY FLOYD were a little worse for wear having driven in for the show after a late night drinking session with some bikers in Grimsby. Still, Steve ‘Sex’ Summers and his counterparts put on a typically entertaining show, with the charismatic frontman still half-cut from the night before, and often topping himself up with a bottle of vodka always close at hand. The brilliant sing along anthems of ’48 Hours’ and ‘Saturday Night’ soon got everyone awake and alive. The room was packed by the time the set was wrapped up with a fantastic cover of BEASTIE BOYS ‘Fight For Your Right To Party’.

Next up were ENUFF Z’NUFF, an excellent band who have soldiered on for years as an underground act, producing some very good albums on their journey. Today’s set was very much a best of, with the raspy vocals of frontman Donnie Vie very much giving the band their signature sound. While ‘Fly High Michelle’ and ‘Love Train’ were excellent, the highlight of the set was a terrific cover of THE BEATLES classic ‘Come Together’.

Gracing the stage next were Traci Gun‘s incarnation of LA GUNS, which features the magnificent vocals of Jizzy Pearl, who is more famous for fronting his own band, LOVE / HATE. Today’s set even included a couple of LOVE / HATE numbers, mixed in amongst the LA GUNS classics. ‘Electric Gypsy’ worked well as a set opener, while ‘The Ballad of Jayne’ was also a highlight and a real moment to wave the cigarette lighters. ‘Sex Action’ was the final song, and gave the crowd a grant chance to sing a long.

Next, the Prestatyn crowd were all expecting glam horror metallers LIZZY BORDEN. However, it was soon apparent they were not as a female vocalist soon arrived on the stage, and as far as I know, she wasn’t named Lizzy! The band on were actually ELYSION. Given that female fronted gothic bands are becoming near enough ten a penny nowadays, you really need something to stand yourself out from the rest in this very competitive genre. While musically the band were sound, the lack of a standout vocalist failed to set things alight for me and the set passed by without really being able to turn my head. Although a very apt vocalist, she unfortunately lacks that little something that the likes of Charlotte Wessels (DELAIN) and Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION) have. What really destroyed the set though was the butchered version of GUNS N’ ROSES ‘You Could Be Mine’.

LIZZY BORDEN were the only major band not to make the festival in the end. Apparently, the band arrived, but didn’t have the appropriate paper work to be allowed to play the gig. As it’s so rare for LIZZY BORDEN to come to the UK, this was a major disappointment. Hopefully, the band will be added to HAMMERFEST to give them a chance to finally rock Prestatyn.

After the enjoyable ATTICA RAGE had opening things up, the main stage was handed over to former IRON MAIDEN frontman PAUL DI’ANNO. Di’Anno looks nothing like the slim jim that fronted the mighty Maiden back in the very early 80′s. All the hair has gone, and plenty of fat has arrived. I had read somewhere that Di’Anno was meant to play the first two Maiden albums in their entirety. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but there was still plenty of vintage Maiden in the set, with the rarely heard ‘Charlotte the Harlot’ and ‘Strange World’ particularly enjoyable. Di’Anno‘s vocals are more rough and ready than they have ever been, but fortunately his band are pretty good players, as proven with a romping blast through ‘Phantom of the Opera’.

German heavy metal legends HELLOWEEN were next on the main stage, having swapped their late night slot with BLAZE BAYLEY to allow them more time to make their next gig. As you would expect from the German perfectionists, the sound was spot on, as was the performance. The new material from latest album ’7 Sinners’ sounded impressive, particularly the catchy and anthemic ‘Are You Metal?’. The set also included plenty of numbers from HELLOWEEN‘s early days, with the thunderous ‘Ride The Sky’ harking right back to the bands beginning.

The only downside to HELLOWEEN‘s set was the fact that there was a drum solo. As good a drum solo as it was, given the fact that HELLOWEEN had only a limited time slot, the fans would have much preferred to hear another song, with plenty of great songs such as ‘Power’ not making the set. Still, the final pairing of feel good rockers ‘Future World’ and ‘Dr.Stein’ will have put the crowd in good spirit, as HELLOWEEN signed off from their first ever gig on Welsh soil in style.

Since the departure of chief band leader Timo Tolkki, Finnish power metal act STRATOVARIUS have been completely re-juventated, with 2009′s ‘Polaris’ being their best album for years. Despite pulling a disappointingly low crowd on the 2nd stage, Strato delivered a killer set featuring some of the best power metal songs ever released. Drummer Alex Landenburg did an excellent job of filling in for drummer Jörg Michael who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer (Baconmusic sends their best wishes to him!). Inevitably, ‘Black Diamond’ was the final song of the set, and was greeted by some ferocious head banging.

It was now time on the main stage for part two of the UFO / MSG saga. The MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP has had a bit of a resurgence just recently, and the main reason behind this is the fact that Michael Schenker seems to have finally cleaned himself up. He’s looking fitter and healthier now than he has done for years, and as a result, his guitar playing is very close to his scintillating best. With original MSG frontman Gary Barden back in the picture, the band are once again a force to be reckoned with.

Tonight’s set was tightly delivered, with Schenker very impressive, with his storming solo on ‘Rock Bottom’ being one of the highlights of the whole weekend. Along with ‘Lights Out’, these were the only UFO songs in the setlist, neither of which were performed the evening before by UFO themselves. Perhaps that was by chance, or perhaps a little agreement was made between the two parties. The biggest surprises of Schenker‘s setlist though was the absence of the classic ‘Armed and Ready’ – maybe time ran out for that one. So who was better UFO or MSG? Well, they were both good, and it’s a close call, but I’d have to say that the genius of Schenker just edged it.

Having seen UK metal legends SAXON a number of times over the years, I can’t remember a gig that I didn’t enjoy. Given only 80 minutes to work with, they managed to cram it with classics both old and new. Opening with the literally thunderous ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, the crowd were soon into headbanging mode and by the time ‘Dogs of War’ and ‘To Hell And Back Again’ were played, the party was in full swing. With tracks like ‘Motorcycle Man’, ‘And The Bands Played On’ and ‘Strong Arm of The Law’ still sounding as fresh as the day they were recorded, they along with newer tracks ‘Live To Rock’ and ‘Demon Sweeney Todd’ went down a storm, while it was great to hear ‘The Eagle Has Landed’, even if the eagle didn’t make it to Prestatyn.

At the request of a fan in attendance, the addition of ‘Dallas 1PM’ was a welcome one to the set, before that famous Paul Quinn riff for ‘Princess of The Night’ brought the main set to a close, before the bells rang out for the superb ‘Battalions of Steel’ to start the encore off with a bang…and what better way to close the show than with two of the most popular SAXON songs ever. ‘Wheels of Steel’ and ‘Denim And Leather’ closed proceedings and ended another great performance by them. With a new album currently being recorded, and dates announced for the new year, it won’t be a long wait until we can get our next fix of SAXON.

With the crowd thinned out to a few hardcore metal heads, another former Maiden vocalist BLAZE BAYLEY took to the stage. Blaze played a ferocious set, chiefly made up of material from excellent new album ‘Promise and Terror’, which contains songs which touch the boundaries of speed metal at times. Given the band didn’t hit the stage until 1AM, the performance was very tight, and Blaze‘s vocals were as solid as ever. Blaze‘s set, and the festival with it, was brought to a resounding close with the frantic finale of the Maiden classic ‘Futureal’. This great metal song was a fitting way to round off such a wonderful festival.

HARD ROCK HELL IV for me was the festival of 2010. Without having to waste their budget on mega-acts, the HARD ROCK HELL organisers do a great job of pulling together a line up of excellent bands, most of whom fit into roughly the same genre. Also, the weather doesn’t matter, and you get a good view of pretty much every band. I only wish that there were more festivals like this. Roll on 2011 and HARD ROCK HELL V – oh, and don’t forget the Roman themed HAMMERFEST in March! Bring it on!

Festival Rating: 5.0/5.0

Photography by Alexander Shaw

HRH IV Friday

HRH IV Saturday

Friday

After impressive performances from SNAKEBITE and BLACK SPIDERS opened up proceedings, the stage was handed over to the self proclaimed ‘new metal leader’. MANOWAR have never been modest, and clearly original guitarist ROSS THE BOSS hasn’t lost any of the same bullish attitude. Set opener ‘Blood of Knives’ was the best of ROSS THE BOSS‘ material, which is (yes you guessed it) in exactly the same vein as MANOWAR. Former MANOWAR drummer Scott Columbus guested on a couple of numbers, while both drummers played together for the climax of ‘Hail and Kill’. This is going to be the closest you will ever get to having MANOWAR play in the UK, so true metalheads of England certainly enjoyed the short but very, very metal set.

Next up were German metal stalwarts RAGE, who played an excellent set. Their old classic ‘Don’t Fear The Winter’ was a surprising exclusion, but still, the set was made up of some great metal tunes. The highlight being the excellent part one of ‘Empty Hollow’. As stated on stage by frontman Pete ‘Peavy’ Wagner, RAGE were the first metal band to play with an orchestra, and although the Bloodstock crowd had to make do with orchestral backing tapes, the song was still thoroughly enjoyable.

Finnish Folk come Battle Metallers ENSIFERUM kept spirits high as they powered through a romping 45 minute set. Bands like ENSIFERUM are great for festivals as they portray a great party atmosphere and get the crowd dancing, and songs like ‘Into Battle’ and ‘Stone Cold Metal’ certainly did that.

After BEHEMOTH‘s eleventh hour withdrawal, British doom metal veterans CATHEDRAL were more than happy to fill the slot. Apparently, frontman Lee Dorrain was asked to do the gig via telephone as he was decorating at home. As reliable as ever, CATHEDRAL delivered a solid set, wrapped up nicely with a pair of metal classics, ‘Ride’ and ‘Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)’.

Norwegian Black Metallers GORGOROTH took to the stage with founding member Infernus back at the helm, and it looked like he was enjoying himself, well as much as a serious black metaller can be. With this being the first time I have seen them with Pest back on vocals, I can say that I definitely think Pest is the better live vocalist and more engrossing frontman than Gaahl ever was, and numbers like ‘Destroyer’ and ‘Revelation of Doom’ were delivered superbly.

Bloodstock’s main stage this year was strangely short of power metal bands, with Finland’s SONATA ARCTICA flying the flag for that particular metal sub-genre. Still, they did themselves proud with a technically proficient performance, of which the highlight was the majestic ‘Full Moon’. Fortunately, the excitable nature of keyboardist Henrik Klingeberg makes up for the often lethargic, laid back approach from frontman Tony Kakko.

The penultimate act on the RJD stage for Friday was a rare UK outing for Swedish experimental metal outfit MESHUGGAH who blew the crowd away with their technicality and expert time changes. The crowd were loving every moment of the set with the likes of ‘Rational Gaze’ and ‘Combustion’ particularly standing out despite the entire set being a real highlight of the weekend. ‘Straws Pulled At Random’ brought their set to a close, a set which flew by and left the crowd definitely wanting more. Let’s just hope it isn’t too long before they’re back in the UK.

Having never been a major fan of OPETH, it was very hard work really to even enjoy their set, as for me, they are too slow, and do drag things on a bit. They aren’t the sort of band designed to headline festivals when everyone’s had a drink and in good spirits. Despite having some appealing moments in their material, they are too few and far between for my liking. However, they have a huge fan base in the UK and for the fans in attendance tonight they really seemed to enjoy every moment they were on stage.

Tracks like ‘Windowpane’ and ‘The Lotus Eater’ were delivered to excellent precision and the audience lapped them up, with probably the only highlight being the tribute to DIO with a brief cover of RAINBOW‘s ‘Catch The Rainbow’ (the 2nd time the song was covered today, after ROSS THE BOSS had also done a brief rendition). Despite the fact I didn’t really enjoy OPETH, it closed a thoroughly great first day with more to look forward to over the next 48 hours.

Saturday

The ball was setting rolling on Saturday morning with a double dose of UK thrash. First we had the pleasure of young guns EVILE who were fantastic, and the sound was absolutely spot on, with the thunderous thrash sounding as in your face as it would in a small club. Songs like ‘We Who Are About To Die’ and ‘Enter The Grave’ sounded sublime and helped get the crowd going given the extremely early afternoon stage slot.

Next, we had the pleasure of slightly older thrashers ONSLAUGHT who also delivered a excellent set with the likes of ‘Killing Peace’ and ‘Seeds of Hate’ particularly standing out from their last album, whilst earlier material like ‘Metal Forces’ and ‘Power From Hell’ sounding as killer as the day they were recorded. The crowd welcomed the announcement that the band were heading off the next day to start recording their new album, and if ‘Killing Peace’ is anything to go by, the new record will definitely be one to look out for in the near future.

After headlining the then smaller Bloodstock Open Air festival in 2006, EDGUY were perhaps a little under whelmed at having a slot so early in the day this time. With tongue firmly in cheek, frontman Tobias Sammet continually called the gig a ‘breakfast’ show. Fortunately though, the band were on form, and EDGUY played a great set, which was one of the highlights of the festival.

When it comes to a groovier style of death metal, none do it better than Florida’s own OBITUARY. Having seen them earlier in the year, I couldn’t wait to see them again, and aside from a small technical hitch where it seemed that John Tardy couldn’t hear himself through the monitors, they delivered a brutal set with the likes of ‘Chopped In Half’ and ‘Slowly We Rot’ standing out from an impressive performance.

Next up, making their long overdue Bloodstock debut were AMORPHIS. With hair long enough to out do Rapunzel, frontman Tommy Joutsen does a brilliant job of the vocals, which ranged from the deepest of grunts, through to tough clean melodies. ‘House of Sleep’ was the outstanding moment of a decent set.

After the hype that I had heard about DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, I was eagerly awaiting his set. Things didn’t get off to the best of starts though when all his equipment had got held up at customs, and they had to borrow all the gear for his set. Also, due to technical problems, they were about ten minutes late too, but despite this Devin kept the crowd upbeat with a bit of crowd interaction which was quite funny.

Finally they sorted out everything and the music started and after the very in your face of opener ‘Addicted!’, which I enjoyed, the rest of the set didn’t really do anything to keep me interested as the progressive nature and experimental shifts bored me a little, and the fact there was a lot of sampling used didn’t really do the trick either. Still, the crowd seemed to appreciate what was on offer so in one way the set was a success.

Managing to squeeze in a trip to the Sophie Lancaster stage where Brummie death metal outfit BENEDICTION were taking to the stage, it was an impressive turnout as the tent was rammed full of fans waiting for them, and they were rightfully treated to a brutal assault as the metal assault ripped through a 40 minute set of superb material with the likes of ‘Burying The Hatchet’, ‘Nothing On The Inside’ and ‘The Dreams You Dread’ impressing.

After pulling out of last year’s Bloodstock, FEAR FACTORY descended on Catton Hall to tear it up with their brand of hyperblasting industrial metal. As co-headliners tonight, they had a decent set length which was constructed of material both old and new. The pulverising ‘Mechanize’ opened the set, shortly followed by classics ‘Shock’ and ‘Edgecrusher’, which were delivered to the technical perfection you have come to expect from the band.

New material like ‘Powershifter’ and ‘Fear Campaign’ sounded excellent live and were well received by the crowd alongside classics such as ‘Linchpin’, ‘Martyr’ and ‘Zero Signal’, before the set was brought to an end by the fantastic ‘Replica’, and with FEAR FACTORY due to return to our shores soon for another tour, it will be anxious waiting for those dates to be announced for many in attendance.

CHILDREN OF BODOM were back at Bloodstock, five years after they headlined the very first open air edition in 2005, and with a couple of albums under their belts since then, and undoubtedly a host of new fans, this was a cracking performance from the technically gifted Finns. In Alexi Laiho, BODOM have one of the best shredders in the business, and he’s also a comical frontman at times, although the usual ‘Janne Fucked Up’ routine is getting a bit old now.

Their set was a bit of a surprise in the fact they hardly played anything from the last two albums favouring to play more off ‘Follow The Reaper’ and ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ instead, which was perfectly fine with me as I consider those two along with ‘Hatebreeder’ to be their best work. Songs like ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ and ‘Needled 24/7′ went down an absolute storm with the crowd, whilst it was nice to hear ‘Kissing The Shadows’ get a rare airing.

‘Hate Me!’, which has to be one of the best anthemic tunes BODOM has written rounded off the main set in style before a bit of a mess around with VAN HALEN‘s ‘Jump’ started off the encore. Closing with the duo off ‘Hatebreeder’, ‘Silent Night, Bodom Night’, as well as a blistering rendition of ‘Downfall’, BODOM brought to a close another brilliant day of steaming hot metal.

Sunday

For those early risers (or those who had yet to go to sleep), up and coming thrashers BONDED BY BLOOD, who along with the other early acts of death metallers SUFFOCATION and female fronted thrashers HOLY MOSES got the day off to a great start with their own brands of metal respectively.

Sticking with the female vocals, it was the metal queen DORO who was next up. Playing through classics of her own, as well as her original band WARLOCK, DORO gave an energetic performance which was enough to match the energy levels of her much younger band members. The anthemic ‘All We Are’ closed the set with a fist-pumping climax.

Another favourite festival band graced the main stage next as folk metallers KORPIKLAANI delivered a fun and upbeat set, which the crowd duly danced in whatever form they felt like. Folk Metal has really taken off over the past few years and bands like KORPIKLAANI have become a real hit at festivals both in the UK and Europe, with them drawing a huge crowd for their early afternoon slot.

There was time in between bands on the main stage for a quick trip to the New Blood Stage where the hugely talented thrash act that are MUTANT were pummelling their way through a 30 minute set which probably saw one of the best mosh pits, or should I say blackhole pits that stage had probably seen throughout the weekend, and with tracks like ‘The Rauncher’ and ‘Psychosurgery’, these guys are certainly a band to look out for in the future.

American/Antarctic gore obessed GWAR were next up on the main stage, and with the stage suitably wrapped up in cling film ready for the set to start, GWAR didn’t disappoint. If you have never been to a GWAR show then where the hell have you been?! A GWAR show is something everyone needs to witness before they die as it’s just hilarious. They are basically a ten times more extreme version of LORDI, with costumes and props galore as the likes of Hitler, a cop and the Nazi pope all were ‘massacred’ on stage and shot fake blood and whatever else into the crowd, and you could certainly tell which nutters had been down the front come the end of their set.

GOJIRA started off a triple assault on the RJD stage of death metal, and the French outfit got things off to a great start with their battery on the eardrums. These guys are one of the heaviest and fastest bands out there in the genre and credit to them, they actually can deliver the goods too in the live circuit. Numbers like ‘Flying Whales’ and set closer ‘Vacuity’ showcased their technical abilities and drummer Mario Duplantier has to be one of the best around at the moment.

For Mikael Akerfeldt and Martin Axenrot, it was their second set of the weekend as death metal supergroup BLOODBATH played their first ever UK gig. Having seen multiple BLOODBATH T-shirts throughout the day, it was apparent that everyone pretty much wanted to catch their set, which was one of the highlights of the whole weekend, and with it being recorded too, we can only hope for a DVD release of the show, which included excellent renditions of ‘Ways To The Grave’, ‘Cancer of The Soul’, ‘Like Fire’ and eventual set closer ‘Eaten’.

When you mention the term legends in the death metal genre, you don’t have to look much further than CANNIBAL CORPSE. With only an hour set, it was inevitable some material would be have to be cut from their usual set, and unfortunately the likes of ‘Fucked With A Knife’ and ‘Pit of Zombies’ were some of the few to be omitted. However, the likes of usual set numbers ‘I Cum Blood’ and ‘Make Them Suffer’ went down a treat as the crowd tried to keep pace with Corpsegrinder‘s insanely fast headbanging. Mosh pits galore were on the menu as CANNIBAL brutalised their way through the rest of the set before the usual set closers over the past few years of ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ and ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’ brought to a close the death metal course of the day.

To the delight of the crowd, one of the headliners for next years Bloodstock was announced via a trailer to the screen next to stage, and when it was announced that Norwegian Black Metallers IMMORTAL would be making their first return to the UK after nine years, the crowd erupted with delight and horns duly raised to the air.

…and so after three full days, with the toilets smelling the worst, and the festival area looking like a garbage tip – the time had come for Bloodstock 2010 to be signed off, and it was American glam metal legends TWISTED SISTER who were given that job. The band, including frontman Dee Snider, no longer wear the extreme outfits and make-up for which they are associated, but in 2010 that really doesn’t matter. What does matter is the music, and with everyone on a high from three days of metal, the likes of ‘I Wanna Rock’ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ went down an absolute storm.

With a brilliant cover of ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’, the band played a great tribute to Ronnie James Dio, after which, the Bloodstock main stage will now always be known. ‘S.M.F.’ finally brought an end to a magnificent set, and TWISTED SISTER had played an absolute blinder to finish off Bloodstock 2010 in style. Here’s to ten more years of Bloodstock!

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks & James Allman