The Review: Bloodstock Open Air 2011

The Defiled by Danni Davies

This year Bloodstock held it’s 11th ever event in the hallowed grounds of Catton Hall and delivered a line-up to rival the European metal festivals. With overwhelming success in previous years and triumph in the 10th anniversary of Bloodstock, the festival has been able to maintain a heightened profile in metal history. This year had the highest amount of ticket sales close to reaching capacity yet still managed to accommodate and entertain the metal flock to the fullest extent.

The main difference between last year and this year is the mountainous size of the crowd due to an increased capacity as well as the ever expanding and ample choice of acts which are spread over the four stages; The Ronnie James Dio Stage, The Jagermeister Stage, The Sophie Lancaster Stage and the New Blood Stage.

When the front gates had only been opened for a few hours, people are already flooding in to the arena after setting up camp in their Asgard, Midgard, Hel, and Valhalla camping sections. As they arrived for the first day of Bloodstock there was a heavy start to the proceedings with Achren, Scottish death metal-heads, and also Xerath at the Sophie Lancaster stage. These acts had the spotlight to warm the crowds before the full on line-up kicked in on Friday.

The New Blood stage as the title suggests, is a haven for the up-and-coming, hottest new metal. The crowds vary greatly from act to act as the groups are battling to make an impression and get their name known as the next emerging talent or the  next generation of metal. There’s a lot fliers floating around the arena like tumble weed as the acts attempt to draw in a whole host of guests. But it’s a great opportunity for all of the bands who clinch a spot in the tent as I guess you never know who is watching.

The Defiled opened the Ronnie James Dio stage on Friday morning to a surprisingly warm reception after the initial debate about the band’s suitability to play when they were added to the bill. Don’t let their looks fool you, these guys can rock as hard as the rest of ‘em.

Primordial by Danni Davies

Primordial, who replaced Nevermore at last minute put on a brilliant performance up until the singer lost his voice 3 songs in. He put this down to some sort of a allergic reaction which has never happened before and dealt with it like a champion with endless apologies. The band played on without him present, that in itself is admirable! Maybe it turned into a bit of a Primordial-karaoke which was of course disappointing but it didn’t seem to deter people from watching, or shouting and screaming all of the words to make up for the loss of the singer.

Triptykon went down a storm with the crowd at Bloodstock. There were shirts from Thomas Fischer’s old group Celtic Frost, the band in which Triptykon roots are entirely based on. The members of the group have a history that matches many of bands around lately. There’s always the chance that groups chop and change and reform into super-groups and collaborative iconic bands. The sound from Triptykon was creatively dark, slow and strong.

Kreator are still as massive now as they ever were. They’re extremely well set and very well ingrained in the foundations of all things metal.  They’ve had years to get their material as well as their shows down to a tee. They don’t need to ask for anyone to raise their arms in the air or to encourage an onslaught of crowd surfing, they’ve just got what it takes to push their fans over the edge.

Devin Townsend by Danni Davies

A great repetition of last year was the return of Devin Townsend for the second year running. He came and played a medley of old songs and a few new hits from his brand new Ghost and Deconstruction albums which he’s been racking his brains on over the past year. It was an entirely different set from last year as previously it was more of a comedy metal set as he put on a show during technical failures. As he had his chance to set things straight this year he came on and cracked right on to the business of melting the faces of fans who have flocked to see him once more.

W.A.SP. were a good strong headlining act at Bloodstock 2011 but maybe weren’t the staple that was needed to wrap up the day after having being drained from countless pits and head banging. I’d personally say that having a iconic band from the 80′s who are known for rocking out doesn’t fit too well with a group of people who prefer to drink beer out of a horn rather than a cup. They’re an awesome group, but I think that Bloodstock deserves something a little more outstanding than a sing-along to some old classics that should be played a the end of a night at a metal club.

The elusive but brilliant band Wintersun have come out of hiding in the studio following an almost hiatus-like absence during the recording of their up-and-coming and highly anticipated album Time. After about 2 minutes of technical difficulty (thankfully) Jari Maenpaa and the others put on a show that could just about make up to all of the fans who have been waiting so patiently for their new album. The group played the majority of their first album and also played a new track ‘The Way of the Fire’ to tease fans into wanting more of Time when it’s finally released. They are an unstoppable force who are one of the best of their league.

Wintersun by Danni Davies

Rhapsody of Fire are a power metal group with a huge following of fans. They even have songs collaborating with the great Christopher Lee on YouTube, so you know that they mean business. They perhaps have the best catalogue of riffs and metal lyrics as well as the greatest melodies on guitar which have obviously inspired many groups, namely Dragonforce.

Hammerfall by Danni Davies

Hammerfall are a great crowd starter and are a top-class metal group who have quality material to match. They have worked hard over the years to promote the hammer and to finally smash every crowd that they come across. Probably the strangest thing of the set however was the fact that “Let the hammer fall” was chanted, and a hammer was spotted in the singer’s pants. If you can get over that fact, then you can find out that they’re an awesome metal band.

If you’re in to folk metal then there’s always Finntroll, the band who received the most requests to play this year. The trolls came from the North and performed to a crowd 10,000 strong and came out as the better. Finntroll are another group who encourage tribal paint and a casual jig amongst those who are willing to dance and raise their horns. If they were to tour in the UK I would be booking a ticket as soon as I could.

At The Gates by Danni Davies

Searched for death metal on the internet? Then you’ve probably come across the Swedish melodic death metallers At The Gates. They’re the kind of group you’ve known for years and have a couple of albums kept on the shelf but then love again when you listen to it the next time as everything just falls into place with their music. Surprisingly they sounded pretty clean live, but they are indeed a death metal band with some seriously dark and ‘out there’ songs.

On a par with At The Gates are the Black metal titans Immortal who brought their full pyrotechnic show to the UK for the first time in history. The group are as dark as what their face must look like the night after a gig if they don’t take off their corpse paint. If you went to their gig at Bloodstock with high expectations from them, you will have been pleased. The group are one of the forefathers of Black Metal itself. They commented:  “Bloodstock ´11 was a massive experience, and a great return to the UK. See you in Blashyrkh!”

Maybe the worst and most disappointing part of the weekend however was the final head-liner at Bloodstock. Although the band Motorhead have had an admirable career and stand out as one of the most influential bands of their time, it just didn’t cut it for a headlining act. The act seemed lazy and short not to mention incoherent, I think that people had been left fairly disappointed with their set as literally it seemed like band members were wandering on and off without a care in the world, and to top it all off, they cut the set by 30 minutes and left the weary metal heads to wander off home early. A definite anti-climax.

Other highlights include ferocious female fronted Mortad, Dripback and Spires.

To round it off, Bloodstock 2011 was a success from start to finish. If you didn’t like one band too much, then you could wander to another tent and check out what they had to offer and to see if they ticked any boxes for you. Then all that was left was to try and remember their name to check them out when you got home. The choice at the Bloodstock festival is the main thing that would keep me going back year on year.

A message from the organizers of Bloodstock following the events of 2011:

“We’re overjoyed at the success of this years Bloodstock. Our highest attendance yet from an ever loyal fan base of true metal heads which clearly shows that the Metal scene in the UK truly is stronger than ever. The incredibly friendly atmosphere Bloodstock is so well known for was clearly evident to everyone all weekend and the buzz front of house and backstage was electric.

Bloodstock is a full year in the planning and we promise to deliver an amazing line-up for 2012 and as always the best value festival for all metal heads in the UK.”

Bloodstock 2012 will take place between Thursday 10th to Sunday 12th and early bird tickets are already on sale for £90.  If you want to buy a ticket already and are not sure just yet, you’re safe in knowing that the Bloodstock crew are passionate about metal and are a truly independent, metal-family run festival, built for the fans, by the fans.