Bloodstock // Feature
14 - 16 August 2009
Catton Hall, Derby, UK
Appearing in a rather different format in 2001 Bloodstock has evolved to be one of the UK’s premier festivals. Born out of a desire to build a festival that hadn’t been seen since the days of Monsters of Rock, Vince Brotheridge and Paul Gregory came together to bring us Bloodstock. They met through a mutual friend and it soon became apparent that although their backgrounds were very different their taste in music was much the same. After many meetings they formed Amust4music, the umbrella for all things Bloodstock related.
The first headlining band confirmed to play the 2001 edition of the show was Saxon. This came about as Paul had met Biff Byford and the band back in 1984. He had been commissioned to do their artwork and stage designs for the album Crusader. Paul has since painted ten albums for the band to date and has become firm friends with the band. Saxon were very supportive of the festival and were happy to headline the first one day show alongside the likes of Primal Fear, Glenn Hughes and Blaze.
Following on from the successful indoor event in 2001 Vince and Paul went straight into organising the next festival even though they’d made a considerable financial loss (which they expected in the early days). The festival audience rose from a rather impressive 700 to over 1500 in year two, something that was no doubt influenced by the success of the previous year and bands such as Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray heading up the lineup.
Later on the same year Vince and Paul headed off on tour with Saxon, which saw them cross paths with Nightwish for the very first time at Wacken Open Air. Vince was blown away by the band and immediately thought of having them headline the show in 2003. This brought the band to the UK for their very first show here and in a leap of faith the Bloodstock team decided to bring the fans two days of metal rather than the established one day. Saxon agreed to come back to headline the Friday evening alongside Blaze, Power Quest and 5th Man Down with Nightwish headlining the Saturday alongside Dragonforce, Paradise Lost, Edguy, Masterplan and Mercury Rain.
2004 saw the festival continue with a more classic theme for the Friday evening with Gamma Ray headlining the evening, supported by Threshold, Sinergy, Illuminatus and Infobia. Children of Bodom headlined the more diverse Saturday lineup alongside Sonata Arctica, Primal Fear, Evergrey and more.
As the Derby Assembly Rooms only allowed for a maximum attendance of 2 500 fansl, Vince and Paul decided to branch out and this was the beginning of Bloodstock Open Air as we know it. This would allow for numbers to increase to 10 000. Wacken Open Air stepped in to support the guys on their quest to provide the UK with such an outdoor festival and offered them advice on how to build on their already formidable Indoor festival. Sebastian Bach headlined the Friday night with Children of Bodom coming back and headlining the Saturday after such a great response the year before.
2005’s Indoor festival had the largest number of bands over the two days and saw the likes of HammerFall headlining the Friday alongside bands such as StormWarrior, Metalium and Reckless Tide filling in slots throughout the day. Within Temptation headlined the Saturday night following on from the diverse lineup of Amon Amarth, After Forever, Bob Catley, Raven, Iron Savior, SuidAkrA, Season's End and Rise to Addiction. The Darwin Stage also saw bands such as Cathedral, Soliloquy and more.
2006’s Bloodstock Open Air built on the success of the previous year and saw bands such as Stratovarius, Edguy, Rage, Bal-Sagoth, Atheist, Metal Church, Nocturnal Rites, Turisas and Ensiferum playing alongside each other. The crowd size had increased and the festival proved to be very popular amongst bands and fans alike.
Sadly 2006 saw the final (for now) Indoor festival take place and brought us the likes of My Dying Bride, Primal Fear, Brainstorm, Machine Men and many more. Fans were obviously upset by the departure of this, now, institution in UK metal but Bloodstock Open Air has always promised to be something special in any fan’s calendar.
2007 turned out to be a record breaking year for the Open Air festival with an extra day added and the biggest lineup in the festival’s history being secured. Testament headlined the Thursday night, with Lacuna Coil headlining Friday and In Flames the Saturday.
The website saw a major overhaul and promotion played an important factor. A new feature was added to the site, with unsigned bands being able to upload their videos allowing thousands of people to view them and vote for a 'winner'. The prize would enable the ‘winner’ to open the main stage on the Thursday evening. The winning band, Sight of Emptiness, flew out from Costa Rica and opened proceedings for BOA 2007.
Promotion in stores and in magazines / websites proved to be very important and having the wettest summer in over 50 years didn’t put off over 5 000 metal fans who braved the weather and went on to make last year’s outdoor festival the most successful yet.
2008 proved to be no exception with bands including: Nightwish, Týr, Opeth, Helloween, Soilwork, Swallow the Sun, Iced Earth, Dimmu Borgir and many more.
2009 looks set to be another great year. See below for current confirmed line up.
Written using information from Bloodstock.
Keep checking the official site for more information.
2009 - running order and stage times to be announced:
Carcass
Arch Enemy
Saxon
Amon Amarth
Satyricon
Apocalyptica
Enslaved
Candlemass
Municipal Waste
The Haunted
Katatonia
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Gwar
Turisas
Battlelore
Moonspell
Sabaton
Million Dollar Reload
Beholder
Pythia
Previous bands by year
2008
Alestorm, Akercocke, As I Lay Dying, At the Gates, Cloudscape, Communic, Crowning Glory, Destruction. Dimmu Borgir, Eluveitie, Evile, Evil Scarecrow, Grand Magus, Heaven's Basement, Helloween, Iced Earth, Katklysm, Mob Rules, Moonsorrow, Napalm Death, Nightwish, Opeth, Overkill, Praying Mantis, Primal Fear, Rise to Remain, Saint Deamon, Soilwork, Soulfly, Swallow the Sun, Týr
2007
Arch Enemy, Benediction, Beyond All Reason, Dark Tranquility, Dream Evil, Epica, Exploder, Finntroll, Firewind, Freedom Call, Head On, In Flames, Kiuas, Korpiklaani, Lacuna Coil, Legion of the Damned, Memfis, Nevermore, Rise to Addiction, Sabbat, Scar Symmetry, Sight of Emptiness, Testament, Voodo Six, Wolf
2006 (BOA)
Ashtar, Atheist, Bal-Sagoth, Beyond All Reason, Callenish Circle, Deadeye, Deadweight, Edguy, Ensiferum, Evile, Headless Cross, Kingsize Blues, Kyrbgrinder, Metal Church, Nephwrack, Nocturnal Rites, Pitiful Reign, Pyramaze, Rage, Season's End, Sicfelt, Solice, Stratovarius, Turisas
2006 (Indoor)
Agankast,
Awaken,
Axel Rudi Pell,
Beyond Afterlife,
Brainstorm,
Captive Audio,
Deadfall,
Deathstars,
Died Smiling,
Eden,
Enemy Uknown,
Illuminatus,
Iziah,
Machine Men,
Mael Mordha,
Majesty,
Marshall Law,
My Dying Bride,
Omnium Gatherum,
Onslaught,
Primal Fear,
Savage Circus,
Spellblast,
Steel Tormentor,
Sworn Amongst,
To-Mera,
Tourettes Syndrome
2005 (BOA)
Breed77, Children of Bodom, Edguy, Evergrey, Fourwaykill, Gotthard, Humanity, Masterplan, Mostly Autumn, Panic Cell, Paradise Lost, Sebastian Bach
2005 (Indoor)
After Forever, Amon Amarth, Balance of Silence, Bob Catley, Cathedral, Conquest of Steel, Deliverance, Dreadnought, HammerFall, Iron Savior, Jesus Fix, Metalium, MFKTZ, Osmium, Projekt, Reckless Tide, Rise to Addiction, Season’s End, Soliliquy, StormWarrior, SuidAkrA, Warchild, Within Temptation, Zillah
2004
Balance of Power, Children of Bodom, Cruachan, Edenbridge, Evergrey, Fourwaykill, Gamma Ray, Gutworm, Humanity, Illuminatus, Infobia, Intense, Invey, Liquid Sky, Nowhere Near the Garden, Panic Cell, Primal Fear, Rezin 69, Season’s End, Seven Years Dead, Sinergy, Sonata Arctica, Super Massive Object, The Prophecy, Threshold
2003
5th Man Down, Bates Motel, Biomechanical, Blaze, Bumsnogger, Cruel Humanity, Dragonforce, Edguy, Fourwaykill, Illuminatus, Invey, Masterplan, Mercury Rain, Nightwish, Ninedenine, Paradise Lost, Power Quest, Saracen, Saxon, Waylander
2002
Bal-Sagoth, Balance of Power, Biomechanical, Blind Guardian, Diamond Head, Elvenking, Enemymaker, Freedom Call, Gamma Ray, Infobia, Primordial, Return to the Sabbat, Threshold, Twelvepointhead
2001
Area 54, Blaze, Bloodstream, Consumed, Dirty Deeds, Evoke, Freebase, Glenn Hughes, Occupational Hazzard, Orange Goblin, Primal Fear, Return to the Sabbat, Saxon, Shadows Keep, Skyclad, Underule
2008 (BOA)
2006 (BOA)
2006
2005 (BOA)
2005
2004
2008 - BOA
The first time I ever attended Bloodstock was back in 2003 where the headliner was a relatively unknown female fronted band from Finland called Nightwish so it’s perhaps fitting that the first Bloodstock I attend for MusicXtra is headlined by the now altogether well known Nightwish.
Obviously in the past five years both the festival and the headlining band have undergone many changes, not least the demise of the Indoor Bloodstock festival at Derby’s Assembly Rooms in favour of the much larger outdoor festival that BOA has become.
Arriving at Catton Hall on Thursday evening the site looks unfamiliar even to those who have been to several Bloodstock Open Air’s in the past, things have been rearranged to maximise space and no longer do you traipse through the main arena to get to the campsite. After finding friends, soaking in some of the campsite atmosphere and putting my tent up (in the dark!) I’d missed ‘bonus’ Lava Stage bands Conquest of Steel and Marshall Law so decided to wander off with friends to check out stalls and maybe get some food too before heading back to ‘our’ campsite and having a few more drinks before finally going to bed. Now, I know this all seems trivial but this is the first time BOA has (officially) allowed people in the day before the festival properly starts and this really helped the party atmosphere get going early (something that’s almost as important as the bands themselves) not to mention not having to worry about the possibility of missing your favourite band if you’re held up on the way there – as I nearly did in 2006 when I arrived only half an hour before Atheist played!
FRIDAY
So, onto Friday then and the main business of some actual band reviews. After a cup of tea and a bacon roll from one of the stalls in the campsite I walked down to the main arena to catch Saint Deamon kicking things off with more of a damp squib than a bang really. Admittedly I’d never previously heard anything by the band and was entirely unfamiliar with their material but in all honesty they’re exactly the kind of keyboard heavy ‘power’ metal where the only time you ever hear a guitar is during the ‘epic’ solo that completely grates on me and I ended up wandering off to get another drink after just a few songs.
Evile however are a different kettle of fish entirely. Now I will admit that I’m thoroughly sick of seeing their logo on seemingly every tour poster known to man at the moment and I don’t think they’re as good as many will have you believe but today, on this stage, their brand of generic thrash is great fun to blow the hangover cobwebs off to and gets more than a few heads (including my own) nodding along to them.
Next up was yet another change of pace with NWOBHM stalwarts Praying Mantis who, though playing initially to just a handful of people at the front of the stage, gave a very entertaining performance of proper old school heavy metal with the highlight of their set for me being the classic Panic in the Streets and the fact that during the course of their set the number of people stage-front steadily increased was heartening to see.
It’s at this point that I had my first band clash of the festival but since I saw Týr at this year’s Paganfest I decided to venture over to the Scuzz stage tent to see Hospital of Death who, if not the most serious of bands, are certainly one of the most entertaining. Dressed in various hospital get up and playing a mix of thrash and power metal with a sense of humour all too often missing in the often po-faced metal scene these days the band won over a sizeable crowd inside the tent with the highlight of their set definitely being the cover of Lion’s theme tune to Transformers!
Next up, back on the main stage, was everyone’s favourite gentleman Satanists Akercocke. Initially the band struggle with a quite dreadful sound that leaves first song Becoming the Adversary as more of a formless noise than an actual song but whether it’s because the sound actually did improve or just because I know the songs very well and could ‘fill in the gaps’ as it were things did seem to clear up throughout the set. The band aren’t quite as visually intimidating as they once were since the departures of Peter Theobalds and, in particular, Paul Scanlan but musically they’re as tight as they ever were – and Jason Mendonca is still as menacing a frontman as ever. I’m still not entirely convinced Akercocke’s mix of Suffocation worship and latter day Emperor-isms are suited (pardon the pun) to outdoor stages and I’ve certainly seen them deliver better sets but battling against poor sound they win through with the sheer power of their performance.
Speaking of poor sound Destruction opened with an extended kick-drum intro with bassist/vocalist Schmier angrily gesturing at the sound man before striding over to an amp head, looking at it intently and then appearing to switch it ON! I certainly wouldn’t have fancied switching places with whoever was responsible for that little mistake later! That matter sorted out though and the band dive into the opening pair of Curse the Gods and Nailed to the Cross which gets the sizeable crowd moving straight from the off. Throughout the set both Schmier and guitarist Mike make full use of the stage and seem to constantly be moving with Schmier making use of several mics dotted around the front of the stage to sing through. With a set full of classics like Mad Butcher and Eternal Ban and relatively new songs like The Butcher Strikes Back (dedicated to the new breed of metal fans) and a commanding stage presence the band get a huge reaction from the crowd – including quite probably the biggest moshpit ever seen at a Bloodstock event. Destruction’s albums can occasionally be a bit hit and miss but in the live arena very few bands can touch them and Destruction’s first UK festival show is nothing short of a triumph.
Following Destruction on the main stage was Germany’s Primal Fear , a band with Bloodstock heritage having playing the Indoor festival twice in 2004 and 2006. In all honesty though I only like one Primal Fear song, Metal is Forever, and that purely for the comedy value... everything else sounds like a poor attempt to re-write Judas Priest’s Painkiller to me I’m afraid. My own musical preferences notwithstanding though the band give a tight, professional performance and vocalist Ralf Scheepers is a charismatic frontman who has their fans eating out of the palm of his hand. I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to see Primal Fear again but they were entertaining enough with the aforementioned Metal is Forever proving as anthemic as ever and their own fans lapped up their performance so who am I to argue with that.
After Primal Fear finished up I made another visit to the Scuzz stage to see Sorcerers Spell who had convinced me go and see them after meeting them in the campsite the previous night and though musically they’re a little “happy happy power metal” for me they certainly played well and had a lot of stage presence. Their song Jagermeister Metal was a lot of fun too and they were certainly a worthy distraction from Soulfly who I caught demolishing the Sepultura classic Refuse / Resist as I left the Scuzz tent whereupon I decided to go back to the campsite for a sit down, a chat and some more booze before having any more of my teenage memories ruined by Max Cavalera and Co.
I returned to the main arena to see Helloween in the “Special Guest” slot. Now, much like I did with Primal Fear I should admit up front that I’m no great fan of Helloween but I do actually like some of their songs and, as luck would have it, they started with my favourite – the thirteen minute epic Halloween which you’d think would have me hooked from the start but alas, no, as I was becoming bored less than half way through the first song and by the time they started with the pointless drum solo I was becoming restless and having watched more than half of their set I decided to venture back to the campsite to avoid drowning in yet more cheese. I’m sorry to their fans, some of who I know have been dying for them to play a UK festival for years but I couldn’t take any more than forty minutes of them.
There was a lot of debate on the Bloodstock forums before the festival as to whether it should have been Helloween or Opeth headlining the first day but the sheer number of people in the arena to see the Swedish band proved that the organisers had made the correct decision as they drew by far the largest crowd of the day.
I’ve seen Opeth several times before and I do find them to be very hit and miss live, if they grab you then they’ll take you to a whole different plane and simply blow you away but if they don’t then you’ll find your attention wandering very quickly. Whether I just wasn’t in the right mood for them I don’t know but unfortunately tonight was one of those where they left me cold and despite packing their set with classics like Serenity Painted Death and Master’s Apprentices (which features what must surely be the best riff Morbid Angel never wrote) alongside songs from their latest album and a typically flawless musical performance linked by affable frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt’s jokey stage banter I just couldn’t get into them tonight.
That isn’t where things end at a festival though of course, after the band finished up I wandered over with some friends to the back of the arena where the “Monster Energy” tent lurked with a DJ playing songs and indulged in some silly dancing to the likes of Turisas and Finntroll before heading back to the campsite for more silly drunken banter with friends before finally collapsing into my tent at some time or other in the morning.
SATURDAY
Onto Saturday than and after another cup of tea and the first beers of the day at the campsite it was time to walk down to the main arena to see first band of the day Evil:Scarecrow who won an unsigned bands competition to open the main stage today. In all honesty their novelty take on black metal is a bit crap but their Cradle of Filth pisstake "The Forest Whispers My Name... Brian! Brian!” is quite amusing and it was quite funny to see a sizeable number of people robot dancing to their final song Robototron and though they’re not a band I’d pay to go and see they’re a decent way to ease yourself into the day at a festival.
Next up were Cloudscape whose lightweight prog meanderings didn’t really interest me and the fact that they didn’t have a live keyboardist or a female backing singer meaning that they had to rely on backing tapes for those parts of their set left their whole performance feeling a tad flat.
The first band I was genuinely interested in today was the much talked about (in doom circles at least) Witchsorrow on the Scuzz stage. This was my first chance to see them and I have to say I was impressed. They have quite classic doom sound but mix it with some of the darkness of black metal, an influence confirmed by them closing their set with a doomed up cover of Mayhem’s Freezing Moon – well, after getting a replacement amp after the original one died during the first chord prompting the classic heckle of “it’s too evil!” from someone in the crowd. Their own songs came across very well and I’d certainly be interested in hearing some recorded versions, definitely a band that warrants further investigation for any doom fans.
Back out on the main stage highly rated folk metallers Eluveitie took to the stage. Their approach to folk metal is heavier than many of their contemporaries with them sounding like a folkier At the Gates which is quite refreshing to hear. The band’s performance was as energetic and enjoyable as on their recent jaunt around the UK on the Paganfest with Your Gaulish War being a particular crowd favourite.
After Eluveitie’s energy I did wonder how Finnish doom / death act Swallow the Sun would fare, particularly without the benefit of darkness to aid their mood but I needn’t have worried because the sheer majesty of their songs grabbed me from the off in exactly the way Opeth had failed to do the previous night with Out of this Gloomy Light being one of the highlights of the whole festival for me. If the band can project such a mood in daylight with a mere forty minute set then I can only wonder what they can do indoors without being hampered by daylight, hopefully they’ll grace our shores with a full tour sooner rather than later.
After Swallow the Sun’s melancholia I headed back to the Scuzz stage for more refreshments before watching Keltic Jihad, a band who I’ve heard a lot about but never managed to catch live before. Their brand of female fronted extreme metal could loosely be compared to the likes of To-Mera or even Erik Rutan’s Alas project but Keltic Jihad are much heavier than either of those bands with their three guitar line-up leading to some very interesting counterpoints throughout the set. Vocalist Holly has a powerful voice (well, she has to so she can be heard over the rest of the band) but also has an endearing stage presence, often promising to give the crowd “prizes” (throwing out CDs) for singing along, headbanging etc. Definitely a band I’ll be making an effort to check out further.
I had initially planned to watch the end of Moonsorrow’s set after Keltic Jihad but after taking the time to catch up with friends I’d not seen for a while (well, festivals aren’t just about the music after all) they’d already finished their set so the next band I caught was Napalm Death out on the mainstage. Faring considerably better with the sound than Akercocke had the previous day the Brummie legends warp-speed blasts and slowed down Celtic Frost-esque breakdowns go down a treat. Newer songs fit in the set alongside classics like Suffer the Children and Siege of Power neatly and we’re treated to a ‘medley’ of sorts from the Scum album including the blink and you’ll miss it You Suffer, Life?, The Kill and said album’s title track itself and we’re also treated to the rarely heard It’s A M.A.N.S. World. Barney’s “dad at a wedding” dancing is as entertaining as ever and the band play brilliantly so this goes down as not just one of my favourite sets from this Bloodstock but one of my favourite ever Bloodstock performances.
Following the sheer power of Napalm Death is a difficult task for anyone and I had my doubts whether Soilwork could do it, particularly given my distaste for their last few albums. Imagine my surprise then when I found myself enjoying their set. Despite the band completely ignoring their first two albums and only giving cursory nods to A Predator’s Portrait and Natural Born Chaos with Bastard Chain (the oldest song played tonight) and As We Speak getting airings respectively, the natural charisma of the band as a whole and vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid in particular carries them over very well – even if Strid’s faux-American accent did become very grating at times. For a band that’s had so many line-up changes recently it was a very impressive set indeed, just a pity their set was so heavily balanced towards their newer material as I’m sure the likes of Possessing the Angels and Follow the Hollow would’ve gone down a storm.
By the time Iced Earth hit the stage I was feeling the effects of a long festival day so, despite seeing them with returning vocalist Matt Barlow being one of the main attractions for me this year, I chose to sit and listen to them from a little further back rather than being stagefront. Possibly because of Matt’s return the setlist was filled with classics like Dark Saga, Violate, Pure Evil and, of course, Iced Earth with no new songs aired and only two songs from the “Ripper era” being aired. I, along with many others, feel that Matt was always Iced Earth’s biggest asset with his ability to inject emotion into songs placing them a cut above many more typical power metal bands – the stunning rendition of Melancholy (Holy Martyr) aired tonight only confirming that belief. As tired as I was by this point it was great to hear Matt back at his rightful place with Iced Earth and the only pity really was that the band only got to play for an hour.
Tonight’s headliners Dimmu Borgir have long outgrown the black metal scene that spawned them, indeed many black metal purists will argue long and loud about whether they’re actually black metal at all. Semantics aside however it was clear a huge amount of people were here to see the band since the crowd to see them stretched past the sound stage. Tonight Dimmu have probably the best sound I’ve ever heard them have, the several times I’ve seen them in the past actually hearing their guitars has been a rarity but tonight the guitars are right up front for once. Sadly though the performance as a whole is somewhat uninspiring, the band seem to be going through the motions a bit and the much vaunted pyro that we were promised isn’t particularly special – and often seems to be set off randomly without being timed to any particular part of the music. The band simply aren’t aggressive or atmospheric enough to have the threatening aura that Akercocke had and nor do they hit the heights of grandeur and pantomime pomposity to entertain on sheer showmanship alone and tonight’s performance seems to fall frustratingly between both stools. Not a bad performance by any means but certainly one that fails to catch fire in the way I hoped it would.
So, for the second night in a row it was left to the DJ at the Monster Energy to finish my night off, this time with a dose of classics from the likes of Carcass, Judas Priest and Anthrax before stumbling my way back to the campsite and hitting the hay.
SUNDAY
All too quickly the final day of what had already been a highly enjoyable Bloodstock 2008 was upon us.
After the previous night’s exertions I missed Heaven's Basement entirely and made it into the arena as Crowning Glory were starting up who played a decent enough set of classic heavy metal. Not too sure about the vocals which seemed a bit strained for my liking but it was a good, solid performance to start the day off with anyway.
This final day actually had the weakest main stage line-up of the three for me so I was planning to spend quite a lot of time in the Scuzz tent and my first visit of the day came when Alestorm drew a huge crowd around the main stage but I decided to go and see former Anathema singer Darren White’s current band Serotonal instead.
I’d never actually heard any of Serotonal’s music before today but they turned out to be one of the more interesting bands for me mixing some almost ambient parts with some big groovy riffs that Orange Goblin would be proud of. Darren is a natural frontman and played to the regrettably sparse crowd as though he was playing to a field full of thousands – and my mate “Metal” Mick and I even got a mention when Darren noticed us leaning against the crowd barrier, dedicating several songs to us as “the Scousers down the front who bothered to come to see us” and one for “all the guys in here with cool beards”. After never having heard them before Serotonal turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival for me and I’ll definitely be checking out their recorded work.
After Serotonal I went for more food and drink before watching Grand Magus deliver a set of stoner / doom tinged heavy metal. I’ve seen Grand Magus several times before but this was my first time seeing them in the open air on a big stage and the band proved that they’re just as good in this situation as their ‘natural home’ in grotty clubs. The powerful riffs and JBs gritty but melodic voice are just perfect for this kind of mid-afternoon slot with Like the Oar Strikes the Water (dedicated to the victorious UK Olympic rowing team) and Kingslayer being set highlights for me.
Having never previously heard anything by them I had hoped that the name of next band Mob Rules would be some clue as to their musical direction and was hoping for some Dio-era Black Sabbath-esque grooves. Sadly though they’re actually a fairly lightweight ‘melodic metal’ band which was a bit of a letdown after Grand Magus’ superb set of dirty old school metal. They weren’t inherently bad though and they are a lot more riff oriented than a lot of similar bands, perhaps I would’ve enjoyed them more if I’d been more familiar with their material.
Next up for me was another trip back to the Scuzz stage to see Ravens Creed who are something of an underground metal supergroup featuring former Sabbat bassplayer Fraser Craske, guitarist Steve Watson who has been in the likes of Cerebral Fix and Iron Monkey and fronted by Orange Goblin man Ben Ward. Playing a furious set of blackened thrash songs that bring to mind the likes of early Venom albums and Possessed the band show their many years of live experience and fairly lay waste to one of the most energetic crowds in the tent all weekend.
Speaking of energy, the next band in the tent was Ted Maul whose Chris Morris approved mixture of death metal and drum & bass is the musical equivalent of Attention Deficit Disorder that really shouldn’t work but somehow does. Alternating between smacking you around the head with riffs the mighty Suffocation themselves would be proud of and grooves that have even a jelly limbed idiot like myself contemplating trying to dance all played with the kind of energy that would give the Energizer bunny a run for his money makes this one of the sets of the weekend for me.
Back out on the main stage I hung around to see one of the most controversial bookings of this year, As I Lay Dying, whose announcement practically caused the Bloodstock forums to melt down at one point. I have to admit I’m no fan of them either but I don’t think they deserve the hatred sent their way either. Having said that though, I only lasted ten minutes of their set before becoming tired with their empty bluster which I half expected to see some fat, spandex clad wrestler make an entrance to before heading back to my tent once again for a sit down to recharge my batteries a bit.
Unfortunately I lost track of time and managed to miss Overkill but made sure I was in the arena to see my main reason for coming this year At The Gates. I was just getting into At the Gates when they split shortly after the landmark Slaughter of the Soul album and I never got to see them first time around – so thirteen years down the line to say I was excited to finally see the band would be the understatement of the century!
Even given my high expectations the band played a blinder with a setlist largely made up of Slaughter of the Soul songs with the likes of Terminal Spirit Disease, Kingdom Gone and a personal favourite of mine Raped by the Light of Christ filling out the set. The band play this like a headline show (and indeed I think they actually ended up playing longer than the headline act) with the band being as tight as you’d expect a band containing the Bjorler twins and drummer Adrian Erlandsson to be with vocalist Tomas Lindberg, unmistakable venomous rasp still present and correct, dominating the front of the stage.
With thirteen years of wanting to see this band there was a huge possibility of me ending up being disappointed but I think they actually managed to exceed even my sky high expectation, truly a fantastic set and what a coup for Bloodstock to have gotten a UK exclusive show from such a legendary band.
After such a brilliant set there was a large possibility of headliners Nightwish being somewhat overshadowed. Nightwish’s approach to metal is altogether more theatrical than At The Gates though and I think the fact that the two bands are so very different helped them out. Starting with Bye Bye Beautiful (a message to anyone thinking of shouting for Tarja perhaps?) and Dark Chest Of Wonders the band are on form straight away. New vocalist Anette may not have quite as powerful a voice as her illustrious predecessor and she occasionally struggles with some of the more operatic older material, most noticeably on The Siren but she has bags more personality than Tarja ever had – shown particularly well when singing the now well known “Fishmaster” lyrics to crowd favourite Wishmaster and it’s her personality that carries her through on the occasions that she does miss the odd note. The fact that Nightwish are no longer so dominated by the singer’s voice also has one more benefit – that being that the rest of the band can come into their own which makes this, if anything, a more rounded performance than their first Bloodstock appearance all those years ago. The stage set was impressive, the pyro was considerably better than Dimmu Borgir’s had been and the band’s performance as a whole was as entertainingly over the top as you’d hope for from a Nightwish set, all in all it was a fine end to a very enjoyable weekend.
No Monster Energy tent shenanigans for me tonight as I was, perhaps ironically, somewhat lacking in energy by the time Nightwish finished so all that was left to do was finish off my remaining scrumpy back at my tent before spending the last night under canvas.
All in all the biggest Bloodstock ever was a great success. It felt like a big event more than ever before and there was a great, varied mixture of bands. Sure there were problems, the bar was overpriced, the food wasn’t great and while I didn’t mind the “funfair” rides they really shouldn’t have been allowed to play music while the bands were playing but overall it was an excellent weekend of metal with a fun, friendly atmosphere. Same time next year then?
Review by Neil Woodfin
2006 (Indoor)
FRIDAY
This is just one of many reviews of the experience that is Bloodstock. I’ll say it now, and get it out of the way - it wasn’t as busy as Bloodstock 2005. There were probably less bands that I wanted to see this year, but that doesn’t make it a poor line-up. There were some great bands performing, with My Dying Bride putting on a tremendous, doom laden set to close the event and show that they are indeed in a different class to every other band that played.
But anyway, Awaken started the show rolling on Friday in the Darwin Suite. This was my first experience of Awaken, so it was all new to me. The opening set of a festival can always be tricky, as people are still coming in from outside, or browsing the merchandise or bars to kick off their own day. Awaken rose to the challenge and produced a half hour of lively, headbanging music that everyone who listened enjoyed. The band seemed to enjoy it too, so that was a good start to the festival.
From there I went off to listen to Marshall Law briefly in the main hall, and gave short listens to Captive Audio and Majesty before leaving the venue to get some food. One of my main criticisms of Bloodstock is that the on-site catering tends to be over priced and under quality, and if you want a decent meal you need to leave the venue which means, inevitably, you miss some bands.
Axel Rudi Pell was up next on the main stage, but was frankly, boring after a couple of songs. The final act in the Darwin Suite was To-Mera who, after a false start and some grumpiness from the stage manager, put on a very impressive set of their unique blend of musical influences. This band are amazingly good at what they do, although I do understand that they may not be to everyone’s liking. They are still well worth a listen.
Friday night seems to be Power Metal night on the main stage, and if you like that, then you would have enjoyed Primal Fear .
The PM bands on the main stage on Friday seemed to have one thing in common, which was that after three or four songs, their songs all started to sound the same. My view is that many of them were tedious in any set longer than fifteen minutes, and some of them I couldn’t listen to for as long as that. Again, having said that, lots of people enjoyed what these bands were putting out, so that can’t be bad.
SATURDAY
Saturday kicked off with The Boy Will Drown, who I thought were just dreadful. Having said that, they looked very young, so fair play to them for getting the gig, and I do wish them well.
Illuminatus over on the main stage put on a good show. They’ve been around a while, so they have that little element of stagecraft to make their performance interesting.
Then we gave Isiah back in the Darwin Suite some time, but while their guitar work was decent, the extreme vocals were not to my taste. Spellblast over at the main stage failed to retain any interest, so we didn’t hang around there long either.
Meanwhile, back in the Darwin room, the celtic doom phenomenon that is Mael Mordha took to the stage in battle dress of blue paint and painted on wounds, and what a show they gave. They attracted a fair size of crowd too, and were my band of the festival so far. This was their first time playing outside Ireland, and I can only hope it won’t be their last.
Hunger pangs were hitting hard now, so, it was off to find some edible food.
The plan was to get back in time to see Machine Men, but between one thing and another, only the last song was experienced, and it didn’t seem like much of a loss. Tourettes Syndrome had been moved to the Darwin Suite from the main stage, and frankly, could have been moved to another festival.
It’s at this point that important decisions need to be made. Do you a) hang around the main stage for the rest of the night to get a good spot for the headline band or b) try to see some of the bands in the other room, knowing that you’re likely to end up near the back for the headline band. My choice was a), so it was into the Main Hall to catch the end of Brainstorm from the seated area. I must confess I was so enthralled by this band that I nodded off and missed the last three or four songs from their set.
Once they finished it was a case of heading for the barriers in time for Onslaught to begin their own high energy, entertaining show. I can’t say I’m a big fan of thrash, and in fact, I hated most of what Onslaught did, but they put on a good show for their fans, encouraging pit antics and getting the crowd moving. Which is, I guess what many people came for.
Next up was Deathstars. Again, I didn’t know much about them and when the drummer stalked onstage amidst all the smoke, in full upper body white makeup and his shades on I really did wonder what we were getting. The rest of the band duly appeared all ‘goffed’ up and started making some fairly decent noise. When their front man pranced on in a truly OTT camp style I got the joke and started to enjoy what they were doing. This was a really entertaining performance as they put on a parody of gothic style solid metal that got most people bouncing. There was a little bad mannered behaviour from some parts of the audience, but the band just ignored that. Even when the singer lost the zipper on his trousers, he just carried on, inviting some female audience members onto the stage to help him sort it. He got no takers for that task.
Deathstars were entertaining in their forty minute slot, although one criticism is that there was too much smoke, obscuring the band and their posing on stage. Don’t let their appearance put you off, they make look like a teenage goth pop band, but they play good music, and were worthy of their billing here.
And then, there was My Dying Bride. This was my first time seeing them. They have a very simple show, with just the guitarists to either side, and Aaron standing and twitching, occasionally falling over in the centre of the stage.
They played a stonking thirteen song, ninety minute set that had this reviewer mesmerised. Aaron really seems to feel the pain as he grinds out his lyrics, and looking into his eyes through Cry of Mankind (yes, I was that close to the stage) was like looking out across a frozen artic landscape with the katabatic winds howling down from the North Pole, they were so chilling and devastated. Having said that, we were treated to a rare smile, right before Dreadful Hours. Or maybe it was a grimace.
The sound of My Dying Bride is totally unique, with thundering guitars, filled out with occasional keys, and Aaron’s painful liturgy expressing all the deep despair that all people feel at some time. The new songs offered to the audience were received gratefully.
It is a bit disappointing that the numbers that had been around earlier for Onslaught, and even Deathstars seemed to have dwindled a little, but in all honesty, anyone that missed the show will have missed the point.
A truly great set, and, for this reviewer, the band of the festival, and a strong candidate for my gig of the year, was undoubtedly, My Dying Bride.
Bloodstock displays a wide range of the sub-genres of metal. When you go, expect to hate some bands, expect to love others, and the rest will give varying degrees of boredom. For me, half a dozen bands that I enjoyed made it a worthwhile weekend, and as for the rest well, other people enjoyed them, so that’s OK by me.
Review by Alan Thomson
Feature Menu
Tickets are now onsale here.
3 day festival and camping ticket = £85
3 day festival and camping ticket (child) = £35
Camper van parking = £20
Car parking = £7
See below for general information which can be found here:
Opening Times
Shuttle Bus Service
Age Restrictions
ATM Machines
Alcohol
Food and Drink
Camping
Toilet Facilities
Showers
Litter
What Not to Bring
What to Bring
Health & Safety
Securing Your Personal Items
Signing Tent
Disabled Facilities
Useful Information
Information About Catton Hall
Information regarding the location and travel directions to the venue can be found here.
Catton Hall is located at the centre of a triangle of towns, Lichfield, Burton no Trent and Tamworth. Each town is approximately 6 - 8 miles from the BOA venue so if you prefer not to camp at the festival site you can always stay in a hotel or B&B.
Where to Stay
Camping is available onsite. Alternatively you can find information regarding accommodation at the following sites:
Taxi Information
Lichfield
Dial A Cab - 01543 255 155
City Cars (Midlands) Ltd - 01543 254 999
Burton on Trent
Seven Eleven Cars - 01283 711 800
New Street Taxis - 01283 515 544
Station Taxis - 01283 532 000
Tamworth
Bennett's Taxis - 01827 544 44
Tamworth Taxis - 01287 555 95
Merchandise
You can purchase official Bloodstock merchandise at this location.
Official Bloodstock site