Bloodstock - Catton Park, Derbyshire - August 7-10 2014 (Live Review)
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
Written by Alec Chillingworth
As the sun and rain partake in battle worthy of a Bathory album cover, beer-riddled rockers swarm around Catton Hall for Bloodstock, a weekend of metal, mud and crustacean impersonators – but more on that later.
First up, Entombed A.D make the most of their criminally short main stage slot, churning out their inimitable brand of doomy death metal with utter conviction, but it all pales in comparison to the might of Primordial. A corpse-painted Alan Averill leads the charge against British summer time, sprinting across the stage and belting out Celtic-metal bangers like it's nobody's business.
A regular head-scratching, beard-stroking issue is raised as Prong set about slaying all who attend their early afternoon showcase: why isn't this band massive? Opening with Eternal Heat and not letting up 'til the immortal Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck, it's apparent that Tommy Victor and company are on the absolute form of their lives. The incessant groove of Turnover sits in the setlist just as well as the classics, reaffirming Prong as one of the most consistent, unapologetically vital acts in the game.
Speaking of integral pieces of the heavy metal patchwork quilt, Triptykon (pictured, main) do a mighty fine job of evoking awe from the Bloodstock faithful. They kick off with the downtrodden, gut-wrenchingly melancholic stomp of Black Snow, testing the patience and nerves of unsuspecting punters over 13 minutes. By the time Hellhammer classic Messiah ignites, the crowd is enveloped in a heaving mass of limbs and Triptykon emerge victorious.
Having given a giant middle finger to keyboard warriors with their appearance two years ago, Hatebreed are welcomed as returning heroes – and rightfully so. This band was made for the live arena, with hardcore pit anthems In Ashes They Shall Reap, Honour Never Dies and the unstoppable Destroy Everything completely levelling the Bloodstock campus.
A hard-as-nails six-year-old is hauled up on stage by Jamey Jasta as the chaos continues and it just proves the fact that this festival is more than your average stoner-fest – this is an event for people of all ages. That being said, Norwegian bill-botherersDimmuBorgir should have probably just stayed at home. While their recorded output is something to be celebrated, a poorly handled technical fault sucks all momentum from their performance.
How many times has the average festival-goer seen Down? While the New Orleans rockers have become a constant presence on the UK festival circuit, tonight marks their first headline performance. Is it any different? Well, Phil Anselmo's a bit drunker than usual, but that's about it – the living legend strings together sentences using 'asshole' as both noun and verb, chugging away at a bottle of God-knows-what while screeching along to the Down back catalogue. The performance itself is flawless as usual, with iron-clad tunes such as Lifer and Bury Me In Smoke packing all the punch.
Saturday opens with an obscenely huge audience congregating to watch Evil Scarecrow and the Nottinghamshire piss-takers are a genuine revelation. Done up in face paint and banging on about robots, the 'Crow manage to get 10,000 hungovermetalheads to scuttle (yes, really) in unison to their apocalyptic ditty Crabulon.
While not holding quite the same entertainment value as Evil Scarecrow, Shining's novelty comes in the form of a saxophone playing frontman. Industrial-tinged tracks like I Won't Forget benefit hugely from a cheeky dose of sax, but a wanky, self-indulgent piece toward the end of their set sees interest within the crowd waning. Still, you can't mess with those tracks from 'Blackjazz'.
Decapitated deliver cuts of blistering death in their usual, uncompromising fashion, but it's Children Of Bodom who truly set the bar in terms of performance today. Having headlined the festival before, 2014 saw Bodom crushed underneath the weight of Carcass and Emperor but, not ones to be shown up, the Finns promptly plough through an hour's worth of melodic death metal perfection.
The mix is absolutely spot on, leaving frontmanAlexiLaiho'sfretboard skills at the forefront instead of being bogged down by unwanted noise. In Your Face, Needled 24/7 and Silent Night, Bodom Night are all served up with the sort of precision most bands can't even dream of. Basically, there's no dicking about – Children Of Bodom prove that they have the right to headline Bloodstock once more and, judging by the reaction they receive, it could easily happen.
Carcass is what Carcass does – there's no bullshit when it comes down to it and it's refreshing to witness a UK band playing so high on a festival bill. Tracks aired from last year's superb 'Surgical Steel' record show that they are far from done – the hilariously titled Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System goes down just as well as Heartwork, while a delay caused by an audience member receiving help after suffering a seizure didn’t derail the mighty grind masters. Jeff Walker's workman banter and a 'word from our sponsors!' appearance from former drummer Ken Owen all add to the overwhelming sense of unity within the Carcass camp – now let's have another album as brilliant as 'Surgical Steel', eh?
As the skies unfurl and God weeps, Emperor take to the stage for a live rendition of their seminal 'In The Nightside Eclipse' record. Fans get exactly what they turned up for – one of the purest LPs in black metal played with the dedication and vigour required to do the original recording justice. There are fireworks, there's screaming and there's all manner of minds being lost as Emperor militantly recreate Into The Infinity Of Thoughts. Ihsahn's inhuman yells resonate just as well now as they did back in the day.
It does feel weird cheering drummer Faust – previously imprisoned for murder – but otherwise the gig remains a true spectacle. Ending on the unbeatable couplet that is Wrath Of The Tyrant and a cover of Bathory's A Fine Day To Die, it feels like a once-in-a-lifetime moment. This is never going to happen again.
Hope everyone's arrived home safely from BOA! Thank you all for being a part of it and remember WE ARE BLOODSTOCK! pic.twitter.com/8bXupwDrfH
Sunday sees death-grind beasts Aborted shredding the hangovers from the faces of punters, the sheer volume of blastbeats proving fierce enough to disturb any slumber. Voices perform to a criminally scarce crowd in the Sophie Lancaster tent, but those clever enough to turn up get a right treat – it's a half hour lesson in how to do black metal like the best of them. No corpse-paint, no fireworks, just some very nasty music.
A delayed plane forces Graveyard to cancel their main stage appearance, allowing Gothenburg oddballs Avatar to step up. A gaggle of fans and a few sceptics gather to see the band on the tip of everyone's tongues, taking in the sight of a group of blokes dressed up as clowns. Musically, Avatar cover so much more than they're given credit for – the Marilyn Manson-esque chorus of Paint Me Red contrasts completely with the Korn-influenced riffage of Hail The Apocalypse, while the grooves of Burn It Down and Black Waltz would make Clutch jealous. The only way is up.
Saxon turn up and do what they always do: play an hour of hits and make everyone go 'wow, I forgot how good Saxon are'. Basically, if you're not going to their winter tour this year then you're a bit of a tit. AmonAmarth bring everything plus Thor's kitchen sink to the main stage, which sports a pair of undeniably over the top dragon-heads and enough pyro to get rid of that pesky rain that's plagued the site all weekend. It's easy to see how this band has climbed the prestigious Bloodstock bill and found themselves sub-headlining – it's because they're flawless. New tunes like Father Of The Wolf and Deceiver Of The Gods are winners and the inevitable Twilight Of The Thunder God and The Pursuit Of Vikings will always be certified singalongs. Fire, beards and undiluted metal – that's what Bloodstock's all about, right?
Topping off a horrifyingly moist weekend, Megadeth thrash the shit out of the unwavering Bloodstock horde. In a similar manner to Down, MegaDave and his mates headlining isn't really anything new but, that being said, their set is still a shining highlight.
Opening with Hangar 18 pretty much sums up the worth of this band. Megadeth have, over the years, amassed an arsenal of tunes good enough to erode the neck vertebra of even the hardest thrash fan. The inclusion of She Wolf and Kingmaker added zilch to the set, but this is Megadeth, and there's not really a better way to finish things up. You've been alright, Bloodstock.
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