BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2008

DATE:

VENUE:

Friday 15th August - Sunday 17th August 2008

Catton Hall in Derbyshire, UK

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

DIMMU BORGIR; ICED EARTH; SOILWORK; NAPALM DEATH; MOONSORROW; COMMUNIC; SWALLOW THE SUN; ELUVEITIE; RISE TO REMAIN; CLOUDSCAPE

SUNDAY

NIGHTWISH; AT THE GATES; OVERKILL; AS I LAY DYING; KATAKLYSM; MOB RULES; GRAND MAGUS; ALESTORM; CROWNING GLORY; HEAVEN'S BASEMENT

OPETH; HELLOWEEN; SOULFLY; PRIMAL FEAR; DESTRUCTION; AKERCOCKE; TYR; PRAYING MANTIS; EVILE; SAINT DEAMON

CLICK HERE FOR FRIDAY PART 2

DESTRUCTION

After Destruction's widely publicised disastrous tour of the UK in 2007 (speculated to be due to the incompetency and general selfishness of a band member from the now defunct Amenti), it is good to see them willing to return to these shores. I admit to never having been a fan of the German three-piece, though have always been aware of their status as one of the bigger names to emerge from the early 80s Teutonic thrash scene alongside the likes of Kreator, Accept, Sodom and Holy Moses. Just before Destruction are due on stage, Bloodstock punters descend upon the main stage in their masses, thus it appears the Germans are a popular choice on the bill. Opening with 'Curse The Gods' from 1986's 'Eternal Devastation', it is an ineffectual start for the thrash trio as Mike Sifringer's guitar is largely inaudible through the PA, prompting frontman Schmier to wander over to a Marshall stack, seemingly re-positioning a microphone by the bottom cabinet, swiftly followed by a crew member appearing on stage to make further adjustments. With the guitar sound now fully audible, Destruction work their way through a 40 minute thrash feast incorporating material from a long career spanning over 20 years, before climaxing with the popular 'The Butcher Strikes Back'. Clad in 80s style attire with studded leather jackets and guitar straps, the emphasis is very much on retro-fun in both music and image which, although somewhat anachronistic in 2008, works a treat.

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FRIDAY 15th AUGUST - PART 2

PRIMAL FEAR

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SOULFLY

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HELLOWEEN

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OPETH

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Introduced on stage as "friends of the festival", today marks German band Primal Fear's 4th Bloodstock appearance in the event's eight year history. I first encountered them at the inaugural indoor festival back in 2001, where I recall during their mid-afternoon slot, vocalist Ralf Scheepers got lost in the moment and asked the crowd if they were having a good 'night'. As they take to the stage around 5:15pm, the sun still shines brightly in the sky, so there would be no mistaking night for day this afternoon! With a sound largely derived from Judas Priest and Helloween, the German quintet lack innovation in their songwriting, although are faultless in what they do, both musically and performance-wise. After 40 minutes of power metal barrage, their set closes with 'Metal Is Forever', one of the most emphatically cheesy songs I have ever heard, although it is a statement that I guess most of those standing in the grounds of Catton Hall would choose to agree with. Today, as with their appearance at the first ever Bloodstock, I fail to be moved by Primal Fear's music, although I remain impressed by the professionalism of their highly polished live show. Hideously clichéd, although very entertaining. And I still can't look at Scheepers without remembering his 'rendezvous' with a young lady in a bar in Derby the night of Bloodstock 2001!

Formed in 1997 by legendary metal frontman Max Cavalera after his controversial departure from Sepultura the year before, Soulfly appear on stage to quite possibly the largest crowd of the day so far. I'd been a fan of Sepultura back in their 'Beneath The Remains'/'Arise' heyday right up to Cavalera's untimely exit after the magnificent 'Roots', whereupon I've remained unimpressed by the band's subsequent output. The same can be said about Soulfly - I've never been that taken with their music although, having never caught them live, and with the recently released new album, 'Conquer', garnering rave reviews from the media, I was pleased to see them on the festival bill to check out first-hand what Soulfly are all about. Launching into opener 'Blood Fire War Hate', opening track from their new release, the lively quartet grab Bloodstock's early evening audience by the scruff of the neck with their contemporary quasi-thrash/hardcore onslaught. Playing for around an hour, they also incorporate old Sepultura tunes in their set including a storming rendition of 'Beneath The Remains' that cleverly segues into the final two minutes of 'Dead Embryonic Cells' and then, a couple of tracks later, 'Refuse/Resist' from 1993's breakthrough 'Chaos A.D.' album. Cavalera even manages to engender an impressively large wall of death amidst other random crowd pandemonium and incessant crowd surfing. Guitarist Marc Rizzo, also currently playing in Max/Igor's Cavalera Conspiracy, tirelessly leaps around the stage, maintaining visual interest in the band as Cavalera growls his way through each track behind the microphone stand. Soulfly, an axiomatically welcome addition to the Bloodstock lineup judging by such positive crowd reactions, are a mightily impressive live act.

I have fond memories of Helloween from the late 80s. At the age of 15, I first sampled the delights of metal through Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' in 1988, and simultaneously, Helloween's two 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' albums. Having lost interest in the band post-'Master of the Rings', current vocalist Andy Deris' debut in 1994, and generally growing increasingly tired of power metal's inanity, cheesiness, and self-imitative generic restrictions over the years, I felt ambivalent upon first hearing the news that Helloween, the pioneers of power metal, had been added to the festival lineup. Standing in the photopit as the Germans emerge on stage, I feel initially shocked that my ambivalence is immediately replaced with unashamed merriment as they launch into the lengthy 'Halloween' from the first 'Keeper...' opus. Although now only featuring two members from the band's original inception, guitarist Michael Weikath and bassist Markus Grosskopf, Helloween prove their worth in 2008 and, tonight, work their way through a set predominantly comprised of older material from their widely regarded classic era - 'March of Time'; 'Dr. Stein'; 'Eagle Fly Free'; 'A Tale That Wasn't Right'.....and it's not just me caught in the moment of retro-power metal admiration - the huge audience present to witness Helloween's (admittedly awesome) performance are attired in t-shirts from metal's many different sub-genres, and their lively reactions are indicative of mass enjoyment for the Germans' music, power metal fan or not. There is a discernible energy and buzz of excitement in the air, as classic after classic is aired. So taken are the crowd with Helloween's performance that Deris even gets away with the pretentious gesture of donning a glossy top hat and tails for the pre-encore medley of 'Perfect Gentleman', 'Where The Rain Grows', 'Power', and 'Keeper of the Seven Keys'. Disappearing from the stage for a couple of minutes, the band return to delight fans with two final singalong classics - 'Future World' and 'I Want Out', with the audience en masse obliging at Deris' requests to sporadically voice the lyrics. Wildly entertaining showmanship at its best. Pure retro-metal class!

As the opening day of Bloodstock nears its conclusion, Swedish prog/death metallers Opeth take to the stage as headliners. Following the might of Helloween's all-out power metal assault and stupendously enthusiastic crowd reactions, I am torn between feeling that tonight, Opeth fall a little flat with their comparatively more subdued stage presence, although musically they are perhaps the perfect wind-down band for the festival's first day. I have adored the music of Opeth since the mid-late nineties, so it is not through lack of admiration that I find their set a little lack lustre - that said, musically, the Swedes are flawless. Opening with 'Demon of the Fall', they play much the same set as when I caught them live at the Birmingham Academy in April this year, albeit 'In My Time of Need' is here replaced with alternative 'Damnation' track 'To Rid The Disease'. The 'Deliverance' songs aired - 'Master's Apprentices' and the epically magnificent 'Wreath' - are sonically majestic in their live incarnations, particularly with the addition of Per Wiberg's keyboards subsequent to their recorded versions. Latest release 'Watershed' is represented with the sole track 'Heir Apparent', while it is gratifying once again to hear 'Serenity Painted Death' from 1999's 'Still Life'. Mikael Åkerfeldt obligatorily informs the crowd early in the set "we are Opeth from Sweden", words he has enounced every time I have seen the band from the 90s to the present day, and exercises his trademark onstage wit between each of the songs from the proclamation "there are many great things from Sweden: Volvo; Yngwie Malmsteen; Europe; Opeth; and sex!", to describing 'Heir Apparent' as a song about "licking nipples and making them erect!". He also declares at one point - "if you don't like the next song, you can fuck off and die" - words spoken with the calm, amicable tones of his voice, thus causing much amusement from the crowd. Encoring with the perennial fan favourite 'The Drapery Falls', although I find the band's performance tonight to be lacking in terms of stage dynamics, particularly following the highly-charged metal showmanship of Helloween, Opeth are indubitably flawless in their execution of every note played and sung. A grand closure to the first day of Bloodstock Open Air 2008.

Reviews & Photography by Mark Holmes