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

After dumping our stuff, it was time to start getting to the business of headbanging and watching some quality rock and metal over the next two days. WAYLANDER (3.6/5.0) opened up the second stage with their brand of folk metal that seems to have become so popular in the last few years on these shores. Songs like ‘King of The Fairies’ and ‘A Hero’s Lament’ stood out as the highlights of the short but sweet 30 minute set.

After getting a great reception and putting on a great performance earlier this year at Bloodstock, German Industrial death metallers DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER (4.2/5.0) put on another outstanding performance as the crowd went wild every time the keyboardist and gimp Dr Pest went walkabouts on the stage whirling a kind of whip a fair few times. These guys don’t half make you laugh and always seems to have a good time on stage, but with songs like ‘Adrenalin’, ‘Riders On The Storm’ and ‘We Will Never Die’ all appearing in the set, can be classified as a very good songwriters too.

More folk metal ensued, and Finns KORPIKLAANI (3.9/5.0) took to the stage greeted with delight from the crowd, and played a 45 minute set full of catchy songs and very hard to resist foot tapping beats. There’s no doubt that these guys are a great festival band and they always seem to have a great time on stage and that definitely rubs off on the crowd too. I had never heard of the next band before they were announced for the festival. Mind you, considering Holland seems to be a hotspot with loads of female fronted gothic metal coming out of there in recent years with the success of the likes of WITHIN TEMPTATION and EPICA, it’s no surprise.

DELAIN (4.0/5.0) played a decent 40 minute set which drew quite a crowd, and the songs on show were solid and strong and what you would expect from a band classified in the genre. Frontwoman, Charlotte Wessels, as well as being very attractive also has a very good voice, which is a mix between the angelic vocals of Sharon Den Adel and a more classical approach of Tarja Turunen, which suits the genre and music they play perfectly. These will be definitely worth checking out again in the future, and with a new album released earlier this year, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later before they grace our shores again.

Making the way to the main stage for the first time of the night, I caught the end of GUN’s set, who had drawn a decent sized crowd despite only really having one notable song, ‘Word Up’ which was the set closer, whilst ‘Steal Your Fire’ also went down pretty well. Up next were hair metallers RATT (4.0/5.0) who despite having to cut their set, really got the crowd going with classics in the form of ‘Wanted Man’, ‘Lack of Communication’, ‘Back For More’ and ‘Lay It Down’ whilst a couple of tracks of the ‘Ratt’ EP got a showing in the form of ‘Sweet Cheater’ and ‘You Think You’re Tough’ which were both lapped up by the crowd, and when ‘Round And Round’ was played, the set was all over a little too soon for some, but RATT certainly got the party started.

I was a little worried when I heard that TERRORVISION (4.3/5.0) were playing in such a high slot, as I always associated them as more Indie style of band. I’m glad I was wrong as I ended really enjoying their hour set, and so did the crowd, and frontman Tony Wright never seemed to stop bouncing and moving all over the stage. The likes of ‘Alice What’s The Matter’, ‘Middleman’, ‘What Makes You Tick’ and ‘If I Was You’ all went down a storm, whilst the more famous tracks of ‘Tequila’ and ‘Oblivion’ got the crowd jumping and shouting the lyrics as they lapped up every second of their set. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by TERRORVISION, and glad I had an open mind when watching them.

It was a quick trip to the second stage where power metallers EDEN’S CURSE (3.7/5.0) were taking to the stage, who were in fine form and the trait like high pitch vocals that we have grown accustomed to from vocalist Michael Eden, before it was back to the main stage to catch psychedelic cosmic rockers MONSTER MAGNET (3.3/5.0). While they have some quality tracks, I don’t believe they were really headline material and it would have been better if the organisers had swapped the slots around with TERRORVISION who, in my opinion, were a better act.

Still, that didn’t seem to deter the crowd from soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying themselves. Frontman Dave Wyndorf may as well not have bothered with the guitar as he hardly seemed to touch it for any memorable period of time, as it spent most of the time around his back or hung on his neck. Highlights of their set included ‘Dopes To Infinity’, ‘Crop Circle’ and ‘Radiation Day’.

Closing the main stage for the Friday was Finnish power metallers SONATA ARCTICA (4.1/5.0), who has the unenviable task of keeping the crowd going into the early hours. Even though the crowd had dispersed a little since the last band, there was still a decent turnout as they rattled through classics like ‘FullMoon’ and songs from their new album, ‘The Days of Grays’, with highlights being ‘Flag In The Ground’ and ‘Juliet’, which sounded excellent live.

It was off to the second stage for the last couple of bands for the day. Unfortunately, an incident occurred during TRIBAL LAW‘s set which brought a premature end to the evening’s entertainment. During the last song of their set, the vocalist slipped and hit his head on the stage, and while a first aider and paramedics leapt to the aid of the singer, it meant that FOUR WHEEL DRIVE didn’t get to play in their assigned slot, however they were put on the third stage on the Saturday. We just hope the vocalist from TRIBAL LAW is ok and the injury is not too serious.

After the previous night’s drama, it was time to start the Saturday off with some tongue in cheek sleaze. TIGERTAILZ (3.8/5.0), who played this festival last year in the early hours of the morning, were invited back this year with a more friendly time slot, and a large crowd had gathered to see their brand of glam metal, which the band obviously revelled in. The obvious highlight of the set was ‘Love Bomb Baby’, while a surprising cover of ‘Ace of Spades’ went down a treat.

THE QUIREBOYS (4.7/5.0) really got the afternoon started with their quality rock n’ roll tunes, and despite having a few technical problems with the microphones early on, they soldiered on to deliver a superb performance, with classic tracks like ’7 O’Clock’, ‘This Is Rock N’ Roll’ and ‘Mona Lisa Smiled’ all going down extremely well with the crowd. The closing duo of ‘There She Goes Again’ and ‘Sex Party’ rounded off a brilliant hour set, showing exactly why THE QUIREBOYS are one of the best around.

British metallers WITCHFYNDE (2.8/5.0) were next to grace the second stage, and unfortunately they didn’t have anything special or memorable about them which made me think these guys are good, or I will have to listen out for these again. It was then time for the main stage to open with hard rock act MARYA ROXX (3.5/5.0) whose energetic performance got the best out of the rather small crowd who had gathered to watch her. I was particularly impressed with guitarist Paul Crook, who was absolutely superb during the set, even if the act is basically a better version of LAUREN HARRIS.

Back on the second stage, British metallers ANGEL WITCH (4.0/5.0) were taking to stage where they played an enjoyable hour set where the majority were made up from their self title opus. Standout tracks from their set were ‘Sweet Danger’, ‘Confused’, and ‘White Witch’ and as their set closed with ‘Angel Witch’, the crowd dispersed in one direction. To the main stage, where probably the most eagerly awaited band of the weekend was up next.

W.A.S.P. (4.9/5.0) were undoubtedly the band of the weekend as they delivered a top notch performance from start to finish and there hour set left a lot of the crowd wanting more, me being one of them. Opening up the awesome ‘On Your Knees’, Blackie Lawless never stopped moving all around the stage during the entire set. Other classics filled out the set which included superb renditions of ‘The Idol’, ‘L.O.V.E. Machine’ and ‘Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)’.

The only new song on show in the set was ‘Crazy’ which had sections which sounded unerringly like they were taken from ‘Wildchild’ (which was also in the set). Well, if they are going to rip off stuff, at least it’s their own! A familiar duo of ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ and ‘Blind In Texas’ brought a close to an excellent set which the crowd loved from start to finish, and you could tell the band also loved playing in front of a packed crowd.

American progressive metallers QUEENSRYCHE (4.8/5.0) headlined the main stage in what was an exclusive UK appearance of 2009. They decided to play a selection of songs from three of their albums, ‘Empire’, ‘Rage For Order’ and new opus, ‘American Soldier’. Unfortunately, this meant that classics like ‘Queen of The Reich’ and ‘I Don’t Believe In Love’ were not going to be played, but a surprise omission from the set was the lack of ‘Jet City Woman’.

The crowd had dispersed a little, but still a healthy sized crowd saw a wonderful performance from the talented musicians. My only gripe would be that Geoff Tate’s vocals were a little too low at times, but this didn’t really detract from the enjoyment, with plenty of quality songs in the set with the likes of ‘Neue Regel’, ‘I Dream In Infrared’ and ‘Walk In The Shadows’ all standing out in the ‘Rage For Order’ section of the set.

The new material on show tonight in the form of ‘Man Down!’, ‘Sliver’ and ‘If I Were King’ all went down a storm with the crowd and sounded brilliant in the live arena, while the ‘Empire’ section of the set produced some cracking renditions of ‘Best I Can’, ‘Another Rainy Night (Without You)’ and ‘Silent Lucidity’ before the awesome ‘Empire’ finished things off with a high as QUEENSRHYCE pulled off another brilliant performance despite some technical difficulties and surprise omissions.

A very quick walk to the second stage was necessary as the main stage was running behind schedule and UK thrashers ONSLAUGHT (3.8/5.0) were finishing off their set to a crowd that seemed to being loving every second of some quality thrash metal. ‘Seeds of Hate’, ‘Burn’ and ‘Power From Hell’ were the standout tracks of what I heard.

It was that time of the day and during what has become known as the graveyard shift, it was time for the first of three extreme metal bands of the weekend as GOATWHORE (3.9/5.0) took to second stage. They had plenty of technical difficulties, more so than any other band on that stage over the weekend, and because of this they had to cut their set short. Still, the faithful crowd who had turned up to witness them seemed very happy nevertheless and tracks like ‘Shadow of A Rising Knife’ and ‘Carving Out The Eyes of God’ went down fantastically well with the headbangers in attendance.

SKELETONWITCH (4.4/5.0) have a very thrashy sound to them and along with the last band on this stage, are considered part of the thrash revival movement. Vocalist Chance Garnett reminds me somewhat of Cam Pipes, but seems to have a more varied range than Pipes, which is great as he really can deliver the goods. Tracks like ‘Upon Wings of Black’, ‘Beyond The Permafrost’ and ‘Vengeance Will Be Mine’ are absolutely cracking tracks and are awesome live too, and while hardly anybody was in attendance to watch these guys, the ones that did headbanged to every single note. Set closer ‘Within My Blood’ wrapped up a great set, and I for one will be checking these guys out again in the future.

Closing the second stage for the weekend were American thrashers TOXIC HOLOCAUST (4.4/5.0) whose 45 minute set went down a treat with the night owls and as they headbanged their way through tracks like ‘March From Hell’, ‘In The Name of Science’, and ‘Endless Armageddon’, which were guaranteed to give you neck ache the following morning. Seen as the main stage was running late, I decided to check out SPIT LIKE THIS (3.7/5.0) whose punky shock rock kind of style seemed to be keeping the party going until the end, and wrapped up a wonderful weekend of headbanging and partying.

The organisers of HARD ROCK HELL yet again have put on another awesome festival full of great bands, who delivered great sets, a great atmosphere and a great party all weekend. Only in the UK could a festival be held at a Holiday Camp, in the middle of winter and be a huge success. So until HARD ROCK HELL IV, and until next December, Hi De Hi Campers!

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Photography By Alexander Shaw

(Friday’s photo Gallery)

(Saturday’s photo Gallery)

The event began on Friday afternoon, with a number of unsigned bands playing the small third stage, inside Pontin’s Queen Victoria club. Later, the main stage action was kicked into gear by the ultra-heavy TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED who played a destructive set, sure to ram home the point that the metal circus had arrived in town. One band who just had to play at a festival called HAMMERFEST, were Swedish true metal warriors HAMMERFALL. Attracting a sizeable crowd, HAMMERFALL ripped through a number of fist-raising anthems, and as long as you’d hit the alcohol early enough, the set was a thoroughly enjoyable dose of vintage heavy metal.

The highlight of the evening was a terrific performance by Yorkshires kings of doom, PARADISE LOST. Despite wrestling with a few sound gremlins, the dark metal legends delivered a memorable set, full of classic songs from their long career, including a blistering ‘The Enemy’, and a haunting rendition of ‘Gothic’. For me, PARADISE LOST are by far a better live band than Friday night headliners OPETH, who played their usual dry, static set, enough to make anybody ready for their bed. My cradle certainly didn’t need rocking after this…

The first band to really attract the punters on Saturday were Scottish pirate mad men ALESTORM, who still seem to be riding the crest of a wave that has fast seen them become on the most popular new metal bands in Europe. ‘Wenches and Mead’ and ‘Over The Seas’ were as enjoyable as ever, but having seen ALESTORM at so many festivals over the last year, it was nice to hear some new material, with a few songs played off new album ‘Black Sails at Midnight’, which is due out next month.

After Welshmen SKINDRED had managed to instigate the biggest mosh pit of the weekend, thrash legends SEPULTURA hit the main stage, with only 2 original members now flying the Brazilian flag. After a lukewarm response to the new material that opened the set, I headed over to the second stage where Irish retro speed-thrashers GAMA BOMB were laying siege to everything in their path. For me, this was the most enjoyable set of the weekend, and young guitarist Domo Dixon played an absolute blinder.

It was now time for headliners SAXON, who were stopping at Prestatyn on a major European tour to support impressive new album ‘Into the Labyrinth’. SAXON have enjoyed a new lease of life of late, and it’s no wonder that their popularity seems to keep increasing with such fantastic live performances. Of course, the classics of ‘Denim and Leather’ and ’747 Strangers in the Night’ were enjoyed by all, but great new tracks like ‘Hell Cat’ and bombastic set opener ‘Battalions of Steel’, kept the quality levels at a very high plateau.

After a great show by SAXON, old school doom metal wizards CATHEDRAL were left to pick up the pieces. With the time fast approaching 2am, the awesome ‘Ride’ was played, with it’s awesome riff right out of the Tony Iommi guitar book. ‘Ride’ is one of the greatest headbanger songs of all time was the last song of the weekend for me, and I certainly had a sore neck as I wandered back to the chalet.

HAMMERFEST was another thoroughly enjoyable weekend. The atmosphere on the Pontins site was fantastic with hordes of metal fans hell bent on having a good time. As mentioned right at the start, you just can’t beat these festivals for value for money, and the best thing of all, you don’t have to crawl through a field at the end of the night to find your soaked, squatty little tent. Roll on December for HARD ROCK HELL III – it’s going to be another cracker!

Festival Rating: 4.8/5.0

Photography by Alexander Shaw

(Friday’s photos)

(Saturday’s photos)