BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2011

DATE:

VENUE:

Friday 12th August - Sunday 14th August 2011

Catton Hall in Derbyshire, UK

Triptykon on Bloodstock's main stage, 12th August 2011

Photograph copyright © 2011 Mark Holmes - www.metal-discovery.com

Reviews by Mark Holmes & Hannah Sylvester; Photography by Mark Holmes

(The Defiled; Wolf; Forbidden)

(Poisonblack; Triptykon; Coroner)

(Kreator; Devin Townsend Project; W.A.S.P.)

(Skeletonwitch; Grave Digger; Tarot)

(Dripback; Finntroll; Ihsahn; Northern Oak)

(Therion; Rhapsody of Fire; Immortal)

(Hell; 1349; Primordial)

(Napalm Death; Hammerfall; Exodus; At The Gates)

(Amaranthe; Morbid Angel; Motörhead)

Reviews by Mark Holmes & Hannah Sylvester; Photography by Mark Holmes

(The Defiled; Wolf; Forbidden)

(Poisonblack; Triptykon; Coroner)

(Kreator; Devin Townsend Project; W.A.S.P.)

(Skeletonwitch; Grave Digger; Tarot)

(Dripback; Finntroll; Ihsahn; Northern Oak)

(Therion; Rhapsody of Fire; Immortal)

(Hell; 1349; Primordial)

(Napalm Death; Hammerfall; Exodus; At The Gates)

(Amaranthe; Morbid Angel; Motörhead)

POISONBLACK

Having seen a familiar-looking guy hobbling around on crutches the day before the festival officially kicked off, it finally twigged as Poisonblack entered the stage who it was, as singer/guitarist (and ex-Sentenced vocalist) Ville Laihiala announces that the reason for his seated performance is that he’d had a knee operation two days prior to today. So fair play to them for making it over to honour their festival appearance, when others would probably have pulled the gig. Following a sombre piano and string-led intro, Poisonblack launch full-force into ‘Piston Head’ with bassist Antti Remes strutting the stage and Marco Remes windmilling behind his keyboard, adeptly compensating for Ville’s inability to move around. Moving further into the set with ‘Casket Case’ and ‘A Good Day For the Crows’, and dedicating one song to “a fallen brother” (presumably Sentenced guitarist Miika Tenluka) it’s clear that Poisonblack are one seriously tight band, with a style displaying elements of gothic metal, but with way more groove and drive than most bands associated with the genre. It’s just a shame that they don't have a larger crowd because, as someone standing in front of me at the end of their set rightly comments, “I didn’t know much about them before, but after that performance, I’m pretty bloody impressed”. Too right! (HS)

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FRIDAY 12th AUGUST - PART 2

TRIPTYKON

Following a stage tech being possessed by the evil spirit of the cookie monster and testing the on stage mics with a menacingly growled “cooooooookieeeeeeeeees” (and subsequently creating a mass of dark cloud in the sky – clever trick that), the much hyped and worshipped Tom G. Warrior/Fischer (covered in his trademark black eye make-up) of Celtic Frost fame enters the stage with his new band Triptykon for their first ever UK performance, to a rapturous, adoring and absolutely enormous crowd. Lusciously downtuned, and extremely heavy and tight, they start their set with a much slowed down and downtuned version of the now 17 year old Celtic Frost classic ‘Procreation of the Wicked’ which, for the record, still sounds fresh and contemporary. A surprisingly smiley and happy band, with easily the best sound of the day so far, it's also refreshing to see what turns out to be the only female musician on the main stage for the entire weekend (apart from vocalists of course) in the form of bassist Vanja, who not only demonstrates immense technicality and prowess, but also easily puts many of the harder-looking and butcher male bassists to shame, and jeez is she seriously going for it with the headbanging! Playing both the first and last track from last year’s debut album, ‘Eparistera Daimones’ (‘Goetia’ and ‘The Prolonging’ to be exact), in addition to another very well received Celtic Frost cover, in the form of ‘Circle of the Tyrants’, Triptykon’s debut UK performance is, well, stunning and triumphant to say the least. Here’s hoping they return to these shores again very soon. (HS)

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CORONER

During the twenty first century it seems with each year that passes another seminal metal act from the 80s/90s reforms. And, particularly from the technical thrash/death genre, the pattern seems to be: "we've only reunited for some festival dates, we're definitely not making any new music"... only for such statements to be contradictorily refuted one or two years later when bands evidently rediscover their vibe of yore and release a brand new album. And then touring. And then another new album. And then more touring. Atheist, Pestilence and Cynic have followed said pattern. Technical Swiss thrashers Coroner are still at the festival stage of their reactivation and have, thus far, declared they have no interest in writing/recording new material. Time will tell on that one I guess but, for now, British metal fans, some who will remember the band from back in the day, others who will be discovering them afresh, have been provided a much relished opportunity to witness the Swiss trio in action. I say trio, and it's the band's original three musicians still involved - bassist/vocalist Ron Broder, guitarist Tommy Vetterli and drummer Marky Edelmann - but they also have a fourth member with them on stage, a distinctly non-metal looking guy who seems to sit largely redundant behind what looks like a very small keyboard on which he occasionally turns the odd knob while casually nodding along to Coroner's heavy-as-fuck technical/prog-thrash discharge. His presence adds very little visually and I can't help but feel it would've been better if he'd been sitting to the side of the stage while adding his sounds. In fact, the core trio of Coroner themselves are not a visually exciting band to watch at all, with only minimal movements around the stage. Fair enough in that Broder is bound to the mic for lengthy passages of music but Vetterli seems a little too subdued in his performance, primarily keeping his head down and just playing guitar, and they do collectively look lost on Bloodstock's massive main stage, interacting with each other and the audience very little. Fortunately, though, their music still kicks some serious butt from opener 'Masked Jackal' to set closer 'Grin (Nails Hurt)', and every bar of every song, with all the changing time signatures and technical twists and turns, is performed tightly and flawlessly. Most impressive is that I understand Edelmann hadn't played drums for 14/15 years before Coroner's reunion but the man's talents behind the kit have not faltered during this time. Overall, Coroner are technically brilliant during their three quarters of an hour on stage with an arsenal of songs that have indubitably stood the test of time, but they are not much by way of visual entertainment. Perhaps their live vibe has simply been lost on a large festival stage and their performance would be better digested in a small club venue where you could witness the technical mastery of their highly skilled musicianship up close. Let's hope touring ensues and such a possibility is engendered. And, of course, a new album! (MH)

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