Metal Discovery: Review + Photos of Bloodstock Open Air 2007

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WOLF

www.wolf.nu

Up next are second Swedish band of the day, Wolf. Formed in the mid-90s, and their self titled debut album released in 2000, Wolf unashamedly play up tempo traditional heavy metal with mild thrash leanings. On stage, they purport an almost anachronistic Spinal Tap-esque persona with a retro image that is befitting of their old school approach. Although their songs sound drastically antiquated, Wolf are somehow an enjoyable live act. However, two songs into their set and major technical problems ensue as it becomes apparent that power to the PA is lost. Fortunately, Wolf are a good humoured band, and during the 20 or so minutes they're unable to play, guitarist Johannes Losbäck and live/session bassist Anders Modd proceed to entertain the crowd with stripteases; beer guzzling; some awful drumming; and other random antics. The audience lap this up, as they do the many cans of lager that are thrown into the crowd. At one point, Losbäck even jumps off the stage and feeds beer directly to audience members, who show their appreciation for these impromptu shenanigans by frequently chanting "Wolf...Wolf...Wolf" to deafening volumes. Eventually, the band are able to continue their set, by which time they receive an even better crowd reaction than when they first appeared on stage. Overall, Wolf are undeniably old school cheese, though also very enjoyable.

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EXPLODER

www.myspace.com/explodingmetal

Just after 11am, and with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, opening the main stage on the second day of Bloodstock Open Air 2007 are Brummie band Exploder. The first band to open a Bloodstock main stage on 2 consecutive days in the festival's 7 year history (albeit playing AC/DC songs with Chris Slade on Thursday), their brand of up tempo cheesy retro-rock/metal is competently played, though fairly unoriginal. Frontman Dirty Von Donovan has a great stage presence with his highly energetic performance, though this seems largely lost on the smallish crowd gathered to watch their set in this early time slot. His vocals are far better than the previous day with his attempts to sing AC/DC numbers, and seems far more comfortable using the lower end of his voice. Set closer 'Lovetaker' begins promisingly with an interesting melody line and groove infused riffs, but then lapses into the 80s style cheesy rock that constitutes all of their songs. Overall, far from great, though a solid performance, entertaining, and okay for an opening band.

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FRIDAY 17th AUGUST - PART 1

SCAR SYMMETRY

www.scarsymmetry.com

Another late addition to Friday's lineup, Sweden's Scar Symmetry take to the stage just after 1pm. Today marks their first appearance in this country as they cancelled their planned UK live debut at ProgPower earlier this year in favour of touring the States with The Haunted, Dark Tranquillity and Into Eternity. Having caught their impressive set at ProgPower Europe in the Netherlands back in September 2006, they were a welcome inclusion to the festival, and are perhaps worthy of a higher billing today, though I guess the band are still largely unknown on these shores. However, with a larger crowd congregated in front of the main stage just prior to their set, perhaps I'm wrong in that assumption (or maybe more campers have just woken up!). Their music is perhaps best described as a fusion of traditional, death and progressive metal, and with ex-members of Theory in Practice and Carnal Forge, the level of virtuosity and songwriting is of the expected high standard, and fairly original too with a sound that is instantly recognisable as Scar Symmetry. The band appear on stage to the atmospheric keyboard-infused mid-section of 'The Kaleidoscopic God' to which they join in on their respective instruments. This serves as an effective stage entrance, and during the 40 or so minutes that follow, they play a balanced mix of material from both debut release 'Symmetric In Design' and stunning sophomore effort 'Pitch Black Progress'. In spite of being plagued with a sporadically bad mix/sound through the PA for the first half of their set, they are still both visually and audibly an astonishingly good live band. Guitarist Jonas Kjellgren and bassist Kenneth Seil exhibit a plethora of amusing facial expressions as they play, while Christian Älvestam switches between clean singing and death growls with impressive ease, two disparate vocal styles at which he excels. Penultimate song 'Retaliator' sounds particularly effective today with its almost hardcore-edged brutal prog-death passages contraposed seamlessly with melodic, more traditional metal sections. Finishing their set with 'The Illusionist', Scar Symmetry exit the stage to huge cheers from a now enthusiastic Bloodstock crowd. Back in the States in September this year for a month long tour with Katatonia, Swallow the Sun, and Insomnium, times are auspicious for this hard working band. Hopefully, they'll be back over to the UK soon. Very impressive.

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MEMFIS

www.memfis.net

Fifth on the main stage are Memfis, also from Sweden. Being completely unfamiliar with their music before today, I'm intrigued by their style of progressive metal with some interesting time signatures and original melodies. However, Mattias Engström's death vocals are some of the worst I've heard since the irrefutably bad Spanish/Mallorcan doom band Golgotha, and disappointingly attenuate the impact of their songs (which are actually quite good). Engström's occasional clean vocals are not much better and sound rather bland, which again detract from the music. While the band are largely inanimate in their performance, bass player Henrik Eriksson sustains some visual interest in Memfis with a lively stage presence, while Carl-Johan Lindblad's quasi-progressive, skilled drumming is impressive. Disappointing overall though.

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VOODOO SIX

www.voodoosix.com

Added to the bill only 2 weeks before the festival to replace Damage Control (who cancelled due to guitarist Robin George's 'accident' with his English Mastiff dog), London based quintet Voodoo Six are up next. Like Exploder, their songwriting is rooted firmly in rock/metal cheese of the 80s, though they are a more entertaining spectacle on stage, including guitarist Richie Faulkner's Zakk Wylde-esque poses as he plays impressive blues-metal inspired leads and solos. On the negative side, frontman Henry Rundell's vocals are hit and miss as he audibly stretches his voice beyond its limits to reach some of the high notes, and is tonally flat/sharp throughout most of Voodoo Six's performance. This is epitomised when he leads the crowd in an unfortunate rendition of 'Happy Birthday' mid-set, which he embarrassingly struggles to sing, and his voice breaks on the higher notes. I didn't quite catch who's birthday prompted Rundell's discordant outburst, but I imagine it's something he now regrets. With only a smallish crowd still gathered at the main stage, Voodoo Six perhaps manage to gratify some audience members by throwing out a large number of free t-shirts, though most seem unmoved by their performance, including myself.

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