BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2010

DATE:

VENUE:

Friday 13th August - Sunday 15th August 2010

Catton Hall in Derbyshire, UK

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

CHILDREN OF BODOM; FEAR FACTORY; DEVIN TOWNSEND; AMORPHIS; OBITUARY; EDGUY; ONSLAUGHT; LEAVES' EYES; ANDROMEDA

OPETH; MESHUGGAH; POWERWOLF; SONATA ARCTICA; GORGOROTH; CATHEDRAL; ENSIFERUM; RAGE; ROSS THE BOSS; BLACK SPIDERS

Reviews by Elena Francis & Mark Holmes; Photography by Mark Holmes

SUNDAY

TWISTED SISTER; CANNIBAL CORPSE; BLOODBATH; GWAR; KORPIKLAANI; DORO; HOLY MOSES; SUFFOCATION; BONDED BY BLOOD

Reviews by Elena Francis & Mark Holmes; Photography by Mark Holmes

GORGOROTH

Many bands in the history of music have suffered a conveyer belt of members although it seems to be a common infliction upon Scandinavian black metal acts. Just look at the likes of Mayhem and Marduk. However, none can boast as many silly monikers within their ranks over the years as Norway's Gorgoroth which has included, among others, Hat, Grim, King ov Hell, Goat Pervertor and Skagg. That's not forgetting ex-frontman Gaahl, of course, who parted company with the band in 2007 (which led to a failed litigation claim to use the name 'Gorgoroth'), replaced the following year by Pest, erstwhile vocalist with the Norwegians for a couple of years during the mid-nineties. In fact, guitarist Infernus is the sole surviving member from Gorgoroth's original inception although here they are in their current version on Bloodstock's stage, still flying the flag for traditional black metal in 2010 (or should that be 'kvlt' black metal if using the subgenre's own pretentious lingo). And, beyond the music, as Gorgoroth walk out to a largish audience around 4:45pm, that tradition evidently extends to a bunch of grown men attired in spiked apparel and corpse paint which looks as daft as their pseudonyms sound. Black metal bands are often admired for their histrionics but corpse paint and spikes do not solely constitute such - black metal's idiomatic costume is old hat, and has been for years. Having said all that, musically, this latest guise of Gorgoroth are actually quite a good live act and, playing under aptly dark skies that threaten yet more rain, mosh pits have already become mud pits as the festival crowd bang their heads away to blast-beat driven dissonance. 'Aneuthanasia' is aired second in the set, a track from last year's critically acclaimed 'Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt' album, whereas other songs played - opener 'Bergtrollets Hevn', 'Destroyer', 'Unchain My Heart!!!', 'Forces of Satan Storms', 'Revelation of Doom' and 'Profetens Åpenbaring' - are drawn from their back catalogue of material. Pest's growls are aggressively effective over the sonic discord created by his band mates and, ultimately, Gorgoroth prove themselves a worthy inclusion on the festival lineup. (MH)

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FRIDAY 13th AUGUST - PART 2

SONATA ARCTICA

Sonata Arctica are the kind of band who fit the traditional Bloodstock line-up with their typically Finnish icy keyboard melody-laden power metal, yet it is a surprise that this is their first appearance here in six years. Nonetheless, lighting the candle with ‘Flag in the Ground’, the audience is more subdued than one would expect for Sonata Arctica. Whether this is because of the unfamiliarity of the ‘Days of Grays’ album or the poor sound is not clear but what is evident is Sonata’s need to step up their game. Adhering closely to their latest full-length, ‘The Last Amazing Grays’, ‘Juliet’ and ‘The Dead Skin’ pepper the set whilst oddly juxtaposed with the one-two punch of glassy ballad ‘Last Drop Falls’ and signature ‘FullMoon’, the latter prompting a field-wide sing along, evidently the boldest highlight in the entire set but followed by further ambivalence when the newer material returns the Finn’s set to the meat hooks. Frontman Tony Kakko is still as entertaining as ever, doing his part to dress inappropriately for a band as fixated on love and fantasy themes as these power metal modern legends are and bounding around the stage like an adorable Pomeranian puppy, while the rest of the band watch on simply playing the ‘good sports’ card somewhere in the background. ‘8th Commandment’ and ‘Don’t Say a Word’ see more mouths moving and it is difficult resisting the particular power metal these five men whip out. Closing the set with the light-hearted ‘Vodka’, Sonata Arctica have no doubt left a keen impression, which is impressive given the set was understandably absent from the classics that punctuated their setlists years ago, including ‘My Land’, ‘Requiem’, ’The Cage’, ‘Tallulah’, ‘Kindgom for a Heart’ etc. (EF)

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POWERWOLF

As Meshuggah continue to entertain Bloodstock's main stage audience there is a noticeable buzz in the air over at the Sophie Lancaster stage in anticipation of Powerwolf's debut UK live show. And the German symphonic power metallers appear to a sizeable crowd as they begin an hour long set with 'We Take It From The Living'. Clearly excited to be performing on these shores for the first time, the metal quintet stalk the stage with energetic zest, grinning at onlookers as guitarist Matthew Greywolf wields his instrument in the direction of the audience who reciprocate with a banging of heads and display of hands in the air en masse. Keyboardist Falk Maria Schlegel sporadically runs out to the front to scream at those in the front rows while the bulky stature of Romanian frontman Attila Dorn casts an imposing presence centre stage as he sings in perfect pitch with his classically trained voice. Not musically dissimilar to Sabaton in their compositional approach, Powerwolf look like no other power metal band as their quasi-corpse paint is conventionally at odds with the music they play, albeit conveying an effectively dramatic image nonetheless. I unfortunately only manage to catch half of their set due to commitments elsewhere on site, although it's a thoroughly entertaining half an hour that seems to be lapped up with gleeful enthusiasm by those who stay to watch. (MH)

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MESHUGGAH

Sweden's technical, math-death masters are up next on Bloodstock's main stage, a band famed and respected for their mind-bending time signatures and tight, precision riffing. Polyrhythmic dissonance is what Meshuggah offer and this they deliver in abundance. Walking out onstage swigging from bottles of beer, it's a refreshingly unpretentious entrance, as the audience greet them with deafening cheers. Having had the pleasure of catching the band live before, I prepare for the imminent assault on my ears as Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström's custom built 8-string Ibanez guitars are downtuned to the point where their palm-muted playing resonates throughout your entire body like you've swallowed an entire hive of particularly pissed off bees. However, when they commence playing with opener 'Rational Gaze' from 2002's 'Nothing' album, I am rather surprised and delighted by the clarity of their sound from the offset - a perfect mix through the PA and a decent volume means that Meshuggah can be enjoyed this evening without fear of perforated eardrums. Kudos to whoever resides on the mixing desk, presumably their own sound engineer. Frontman Jens Kidman delivers his death growls with incisive bite while spasmodically jerking his body with accompanying facial gurns. And then there's the tight rhythm section of bassist Dick Lövgren and Tomas Haake behind the kit. In fact, the entire band work as a concrete rhythm unit, transgressing all time signatures previously known to man with some truly awe inspiring musicianship. While one can't fail but be impressed by the skilled delivery and tightness of Meshuggah's hard-hitting music, it somehow loses something in the early evening light, detached as it is from their usual synchronised lighting, of which little is visible. I witness the next three tracks, 'Bleed', 'Electric Red' and 'Pravus' from 2008's 'obZen' before rushing over to the Sophie Lancaster stage to catch the UK debut of Powerwolf... (MH)

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OPETH

And so, onto Friday night's main stage headliners, Opeth. Returning to the festival only two years after they headlined Bloodstock Open Air in 2008, it is perhaps circumstantially somewhat of a bittersweet booking as they were brought in to replace Heaven & Hell who cancelled due to reasons just about every metal and rock fan in the world is undoubtedly aware of. Big question is though, would the Swedes fare better this time round compared to their uncharacteristically 'flat' performance two years ago, following as they did the power metal might and bombastic frivolity of Helloween? In short, they most certainly do. A deliberately subdued opening of 'Damnation' track 'Windowpane' sounds beauteously epic as clean guitars and laid-back rhythms fill the night air with mellow sophistication, over which Mikael Åkerfeldt, clad in a Vincent Price t-shirt, exercises the smooth tones of what is indubitably one of the most appeasing clean voices in metal. This then gives way to the prog-metal prowess of 'The Grand Conjuration' and it's a vein in which Opeth continue throughout the next hour and twenty minutes as they take Catton Hall's audience on a transcendent journey of intelligent songwriting and accomplished musicianship which sees airings of 'The Lotus Eater', 'The Drapery Falls', 'The Moor', 'Bleak', 'Deliverance', and set closer 'Demon of the Fall'. Most pleasing amongst the more standard Opeth set inclusions is undoubtedly the rarely performed 'The Moor', humbly introduced by Åkerfeldt as a difficult song to play as he informs the audience - "hopefully you won't hear my fuck ups!" And songs are interposed by the frontman's witty remarks throughout as, at one point, following some high pitched vocals, he declares - "I'm a cock...and a twat!" A pertinent tribute to Ronnie James Dio comes in the form of 'Catch the Rainbow' after 'Bleak' as Åkerfeldt unegotistically tells the crowd - "I'm a bit emotional in a way and a bit nervous because I can't really sing and I'm gonna sing a song by one of the greatest singers of all time." Overall, an immense set from a band on stupendously great form and, with a pristine sound through the PA, it's a fine way to end the first day of Bloodstock's tenth anniversary. (MH)

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