Bloodstock Open Air - Day Three - Sunday 17th August 2008

Torrential overnight rain had turned much of the venue into a quagmire. Fortunately a combination of fresh winds and good drainage, coupled with only a few spots of rain during the day, ensured a Glastonbury-style mudpit didn't form. A no show from Blasphemous Creation meant that the honour of first band viewed of the day went to...

Crowning Glory. Having seen them tear the Bristol Pear apart on a couple of occasions, I was intrigued to see how they would take to a far larger stage. Duck to water springs to mind. Despite having to endure a poor sound, and the main mic not working for the start of the set, they played a blinder. Great stage presence and solid riffing won over an increasing percentage of the crowd. No surprises with the setlist; after the intro they played Dead Man's Paradise, Sands Of Time, Crime, The Devourer, Winter In Your Blood and the obvious closer Sea Of Dead Dreams. A little birdy tells me they are off to the studio soon to record a new album. Get it right and I see no reason why they shouldn't be huge. Thanks to the band for the photos post-set - cheers fellas!!

Hot-footed it across to the Scuzz stage to see the end of De Profundis's set which was also impressive, their five string bass player being outstanding. Share a guitarist with Empyreal Destroyer and also inhabit the death/black metal domain. Slower sections generated impressive power and the blast-beating sections were suitably vicious. Need to see a full set from them soon.

Alestorm were up next on the main stage and judging by the amount of pirate costumery on display it was clear they had a good following. Have to admit I was somewhat apprehensive about their set as the couple of sampler tracks I'd heard hadn't done much for me. Is there genuinely much mileage in "pirate metal"? Who knows, and quite frankly who cares?! They played a very entertaining set, were tight as a band and are clearly good musicians. Their intro song The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air set the tone and they were great fun throughout. Musically I'd describe them as Dragonforce playing sea shanties, take that as you will. "We're Alestorm from Jamaica" was my favourite of the frontman's quips, although the "killing ninjas" address was also very funny. The crowd lapped it up, I again have to question how long they can milk this particular idea... then again Dragonforce are just about to release their fourth album so who knows...

Ravenage from East Yorkshire had to overcome more technical difficulties than any other band I saw over the weekend. Keyboards weren't hooked up properly at the start; having got through that false start the guitarist's amp head malfunctioned at the start of the second track. Feverish work on stage got them up and running again, but by this stage I had to race back to the main stage to see Grand Magus. What I saw of Ravenage was ok, they play folk/battle metal well enough. Thought their overall sound was a bit thin, personally I'd trade the keyboard player for a second guitarist. Hope they get a better sound if I see them again, the kick-drumming was painfully loud; trust me I normally think bands need to be louder!!

Grand Magus were on my not to be missed list and they didn't disappoint generating a huge sound for a three piece. Visually they're quite ordinary, but as most of the crowd were headbanging furiously throughout most of their set, guess that is the least of their worries. Old school power metal was crossed with doom to skullcrushing effect, the two closing tracks Iron Will and Kingslayer being the standouts for me. Stunning performance, dread to think how brutal a full set would be.

For some bizarre reason the running order on the Scuzz stage had been tinkered with. Caught the last couple of songs of the fantastically-named Necrosadistic Goat Torture and musically they were very impressive in a modern death metal way. The delivery of the female vocalist was nowhere near vicious or compelling enough though (it transpires that she's leaving the band so I'll let her off!). Wish them well in their search for a new vocalist and look forward to hearing a full set in the not too distant future.

Celtic Legacy were distinctly ordinary. Three guitarists couldn't save a run of the mill power metal band I'm afraid.

Impressive formation pit activity preceded the next act on the main stage. The pyramid was always doomed to fail, but they had fun trying. Ring a ring o' roses was entertaining as was the piggy-back last man standing battle. This was a worthy pre-cursor to a truly explosive set from Canada's Kataklysm. Hyperspeed thrash with death metal interludes whipped up an absolutely immense circle pit. Played with surgical precision throughout, the slower breakdown sections were horrifyingly brutal. Highlights of the set were Taking The World By Storm, Crippled And Broken (which set off probably the most frenzied pit of the weekend) and The Road To Destruction. Awesome display, hope they tour soon!!

Musta Talvi were appearing on the Scuzz stage by virtue of winning the Midlands round of the "Battle For Bloodstock" competition. To say I was underwhelmed when I saw them at the Barfly earlier in the year is a huge understatement. However I'd been hearing good reports so thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. Very glad I did as they delivered a very polished performance. Spurred on by a patriotic and fervent Scuffy Murphy's crowd they unleashed a hard-hitting yet melodic performance of tightly played extreme metal. Long, intricate songs fused various styles effortlessly, with thrash, death, Celic and classic metal sections blending seamlessly. Great riffs, lengthy entertaining shredding and dynamic song-wrting contributed to an excellent display. Twilight Vengeance, Godshattered, Annihilation Of The Masses, and Next Time I Paint You Red were all superb. See you at a gig in Brum soon guys!!

Overkill play brutal old school thrash. Helps of course that they have a stunning vocalist in their ranks. Breakdown sections were vicious, what we saw of their set was superb, with Rotten To The Core being particularly awesome. Fatigue and the need to rescue our babysitter from our terrible twosome meant that this was to be the last set we witnessed of the weekend, but what a way to round things off.

So here comes the summary of the weekend. First and foremost enormous thanks have to go to Mark and Red from Powerplay magazine - great company throughout!! Upgrading our passes to VIP bands made the weekend even better and we are both tremendously grateful. The weather held up phenomenally well which was a huge bonus especially during this dismal Summer. Sound quality on the main stage was surprisingly hit and miss. Scuzz stage had a better and more reliable sound throughout, even allowing for the technical hitches on Sunday. And so to the bands... Opeth were stunning and just held off Iced Earth for band of the festival. Meeting Mikael Akerfeldt was also a quality moment. Dimmu Borgir had a superb overall stageshow, but the pyros were very disappointing. The thrash bands were all superb with Evile, Kataklysm, Destruction and Soulfly playing devastatingly good sets. Grand Magus also played a blinder. Of the up and comers Crowning Glory and Mantra were hard to separate, with Hospital Of Death and Musta Talvi also being highly entertaining.

Overall thoughts? Beer was expensive and food could have been more varied (Subway especially would have been a welcome inclusion) these are minor negatives however. Seeing thirty three bands in three days, for a rock fan as passionate as myself, is very close to nirvana. Of these bands twenty three were being viewed by the Chopmeister for the first time. Having vowed to never go to an outdoor gig again (foolhardily uttered after seeing Maiden headline at Donington in '88) this was a breath of fresh air, literally and metaphorically. Can't wait for Bloodstock 2009, and think that Wacken, Hellfest, Graspop and Metalcamp also need checking out sooner rather than later. True convert then?!!

Fantastic weekend and immensely enjoyable. Event of the year so far by a mile, quality and quantity in abundance. If you are thinking of going next year I would unreservedly say GO!!!! And Pink and myself will see you there!!