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

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CLOUDSCAPE

Due on stage just before 11am after unsigned competition winners, Evil Scarecrow, the second day of Bloodstock suffers a delayed start, and Cloudscape take to the stage around twenty minutes late. I'd seen the Swedes live at 2 different festival appearances previous to today (ProgPower Europe 2005 and ProgPower UK 2007), and while found their music enjoyable to a degree, had dismissed them on both occasions as discernibly average. Would it be third time lucky? As they begin to play, guitars are far too loud in the mix, and frontman Mike Andersson's vocals are completely inaudible for a minute or so, which echoes similar sound problems they encountered last time I saw them. Fortunately, these early glitches are resolved during the first song, and Cloudscape receive a good sound and well balanced mix through the PA for the remainder of their set. On an ominously cloudy day that threatens bad weather from the offset, the second track aired, 'And Then The Rain...', fortunately proves untrue (at least for the time being), as a fairly large Bloodstock crowd seem very taken with the Swedes' music. 'Will We Remain's' keyboard intro, played on a backing track, gives way to heavy quasi-prog guitar riffs as bassist Haynes Pherson and guitarist Patrik Svärd headbang in unison, with many in the audience reciprocating and partake in their first real movement of the day. Andersson has an astonishingly wide ranging and powerful voice, which he exercises today through a note perfect delivery, and his highly energetic performance is admirable in this early time slot. Introducing a track as 'Darkest Legacy' from their new album, 'Global Drama', the crowd are informed this is officially released on Monday, although are able to purchase it today at the merchandise stall - with a performance as good as this, several copies will no doubt be sold throughout the day. Overall, my third experience of Cloudscape is a very positive one and, for the first time, find their blend of traditional metal and prog-edged compositions to be infectiously engaging. On a side note, I would also like to comment on what nice, unegotistical people they are, as my criticisms of their music/performance in a not very favourable review of their ProgPower UK set were taken by the band at that time in the constructive manner in which they were intended. A conversation backstage with their frontman later in the day reveals that they take on board all comments made, positive or negative, which is a refreshingly unpretentious attitude. For those who have yet to encounter Cloudscape, then I urge you to do so now - a hugely talented band who, today, have proved themselves worthy of greater success with an array of flawlessly performed, skilfully crafted, metal compositions.

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SATURDAY 16th AUGUST - PART 1

RISE TO REMAIN

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ELUVEITIE

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SWALLOW THE SUN

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COMMUNIC

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By the time London based metallers Rise To Remain (formerly Halide until recently) appear on stage, the crowd has significantly diminished in size, perhaps party explicated by the many negative postings and comments they'd already received on the Bloodstock website's forum. With vocalist Austin Dickinson in their lineup, son of Bruce, I can't help but wonder whether this has anything to do with their billing above Cloudscape, particularly as Rise To Remain have yet to release their debut album. However, I seem to recall the band denying such speculation on the forum, and were booked on their own merits. Fresh from an appearance at this year's mainstream, rock-oriented Download festival, Dickinson perhaps wins over a few people by stating on stage that Rise To Remain are happier to be playing the more metal-centric Bloodstock. Dismissed by many through a derogatory use of the metalcore label, Rise To Remain are actually an impressive live act, deploying their high level of musicianship and technical ability in the guise of well composed music that incorporates a number of metal's subgenres including thrash, traditional, progressive, death and mathcore. The band's two guitarists engage in wild displays of shredding while Dickinson delivers an incisively biting growled vocal performance that eschews the air raid siren stylistics of his father. With unbounded energy, they leap around the stage, playing their instruments with dynamic enthusiasm which almost engenders a near-Spinal Tap moment when Dickinson unintentionally wraps the mic lead around his feet and nearly falls over! It is always a shame when people dismiss a band en masse before they've even witnessed at least one live show as today at Bloodstock, Rise To Remain answer their critics with a musically accomplished and lively performance. My only minor criticism is that, apart from the frontman's Sabbat t-shirt, their image is far from that of a metal band (does a band have to look 'metal' these days?), although what many would interpret as an image deficit is compensated for with their irrefutable metal intensity. Impressive.

With the rain still holding off, the sun makes a rare appearance on this second day of Bloodstock, as members of Swiss melo-death/folk metallers Eluveitie emerge on stage individually to soundcheck each of their instruments, accompanied by huge cheers from the now much larger audience. They are then introduced as "you've heard them individually, now it's time to hear them together!", as the whole band then appear. Having been incredibly impressed with their set at Paganfest in London earlier this year, I was looking forward for a second opportunity to see Eluveitie live, and curious as to how they would fare after the recent departure (in June) of brothers Rafi and Sevan Kirder. My immediate reaction is that the band are better for it, as the Kirder siblings perhaps dominated a little too much with their prominent stage presence and striking appearance, and there's enough enthusiasm with Eluveitie's other members to sustain visual interest in their performance (I still find the sight of Anna Murphy headbanging while playing her custom-made hurdy-gurdy an alluring sight!). The Kirders' replacements - Päde Kistler on bagpipes and a variety of other instruments, and bassist Kay Brem - are more understated in their respective performances, although very competent musicians, and considering the short period of time they've been in the band (just 2 months), do a remarkably good job. Frontman Chrigel Glanzmann is more communicatively effective today, interacting well with the large festival audience, teaching the crowd to enunciate a Celtic song title, before revealing the translation to be "pretty girl, buy me a beer"! Receiving one of the best crowd reactions of the weekend so far, it is evident that Eluveitie's stint of the Paganfest tour has garnered them a lot of new fans and, I'm sure, even more after today's remarkably entertaining performance. Their blend of early Gothenburg melodic death metal à la Dark Tranquillity and folk music is a fairly unique fusion, and a refreshing change within the scene at a time when folk metal has started to become self-imitative. Scheduled to play for forty minutes, Eluveitie's set unfortunately only lasts for around half an hour, I guess to make up time for the earlier delay. Exiting the stage to ubiquitous crowd chants of "we want more", the Swiss musicians have been nothing short of stunning. Pure carnivalesque entertainment, and judging by the overtly positive audience reactions, a sentiment shared by the majority present.

Formed back in 2000, Finnish melodic death/doom band Swallow The Sun are up next as, thankfully, the sun still shines down on the grounds of Catton Hall. Playing mainly down/mid-tempo metal occasionally interposed with more up tempo passages, I was intrigued as to how their music would transpose to the big festival stage, particularly following the intensity of Eluveitie's folk metal vigour. Appearing on stage to the effectively used intro music of 'Falling', the theme from 'Twin Peaks', Swallow The Sun have a great sound through the PA from the offset, and their melodically rich and melancholically sublime compositions bring a sonic grandiosity to Catton Hall that fills the air with an epic splendour. Such down tempo music can often fall flat in the context of a large festival, although the contraposition between Swallow The Sun's music and Eluveitie's actually works in the band's favour. Good festivals should always be about diversity in music, and Swallow The Sun offer something a little different to the day's proceedings. Aleksi Munter's keyboards accompany the guitars of Juha Raivio and Markus Jämsen to create enchanting soundscapes, while vocalist Mikko Kotamäki has a voice apt for the music, alternating between a passionately growled delivery and melancholically captivating clean vocals that equal the likes of Aaron Stainthorpe. By the time Swallow The Sun conclude their set, it is appositely ironic that the sun has disappeared (and not to re-appear for the rest of the day) - swallow the sun they most certainly did!

Norwegian prog-metallers Communic are next, although are rather confusingly introduced as "from Denmark"!?! As the Scandinavian three-piece appear on stage, frontman Oddleif Stensland (now with short hair), walks straight up to the microphone before the band even play a note of music with a miffed smile to inform the audience "actually, we're from Norway". As with Cloudscape earlier today, I'd previously seen Communic at ProgPower UK last year, and also at ProgPower Europe in 2006, where they impressed me during both performances for the sound and energy they conveyed as only a trio. Although they receive a good mix and sound through the PA, there is something lacking in their performance today. This is somewhat inexplicable as I can't fault them musically - perhaps it is because they are a little subdued on stage, which might be due to tiredness as they travelled to the UK in the early hours from Lithuania following an appearance at the Be2gether festival yesterday. Perhaps it's because their set mainly comprises tracks from new release 'Payment of Existence' with only one song aired from the first two albums (title track from 2006's 'Waves of Visual Decay'). Communic certainly aren't bad in any way; it's just that when you know a band are capable of better performances than this, it is slightly disappointing. On the plus side, the new material works great live, and positive crowd responses imply they are a popular choice on the festival bill. I'm still perplexed as to why so many people aliken Communic to Nevermore - there are certainly compositional similarities, but vocally Stensland reminds me more of fellow Norwegian Kjetil Nordhus (ex-Green Carnation) than Warrel Dane. Overall, Communic collectively deliver a good performance today, although fail to attain the brilliance of which they are more than capable.

Reviews & Photography by Mark Holmes