Bloodstock
is a quite fantastic thing. No other festival has a line up quite like it. Don’t
like death metal? There is probably some pompous power metal a hundred yards away.
Not keen on black metal? No probs there will be some hard rock somewhere. But
its more than that, thanks to the Metal to the Masses, no one else does more
for the underground scene either – face facts Download, Chase and Status aren’t
playing here (and on a personal basis, the disabled section is absolutely
brilliant to see from.)
The
reformed Earthtone9 are the first to entertain the newly expanded crowd (it is
now a 15,000 capacity). Back this year with their album “IV” they have an odd
approach to things. “Lovely stuff,” says singer Karl Middleton. “Not my words,
those of Top Gear Magazine,” in truth their sound has very little to do with
the smuggery of the aforementioned show, it is rooted in the late 90s, with its
melodic chorus and shouty verse approach.
San
Francisco’s Death Angel (and we might be biased here at RTM) are surprisingly low
down on the bill. And there is a real sense that their set is the real
beginning of the proceedings. It is apparently the band’s first ever open air
show in the UK and it brings the first moshpit of Bloodstock 2013. With songs
like “Evil Priest” and “Lord of Hate” it is more or less impossible not to
enjoy their 40 minutes.
Following
that, RTM decamps to the Sophie Lancaster Tent to watch Bloodbound. The Germans
are one of those bands, like Manowar, that sing about metal songs about metal. One
of their songs – indeed the title track of the new album – is called “In The
Name Of Metal” which sees us “raising our firsts to the music we love” which
sums them up.
Norwich
thrashers Shrapnel are next up and they sound exactly what you would expect a band called Shrapnel to sound. Let’s
be honest, thrash is ace, and more than that, it is very difficult to get
wrong, and with songs like “Eternal War” Shrapnel get it very right indeed.
The Prophecy
share not only the home town of Halifax with Paradise Lost, but a lot of their sound
too. It is a very British doom metal sound. Long songs and longer riffs abound.
With a new album out, “Redemption” is typical of their superb set.
Faced with
our first dilemma of the weekend, we forgo the brilliant Firewind on the Ronnie
James Dio stage as we have seen them before. Instead we watch Skiltron.
Largely, we admit, because we like a bagpipe at RTM and second because a power
metal band who sing about the Highlands from Argentina has got to be watched.
They are brilliantly OTT and by the time they close with a cover of “Long Way
To The Top, If You Wanna Rock And Roll” they have won everyone over.
Cypher 16
are next up and set RTM thinking. Has there ever been a great band with numbers
in their name? 16 aren’t too bad, but they appear desperate to tell everyone
how metal they are. They would be better if they stuck to being themselves,
which is a decent electronic-tinged rock act.
Xertath
follow and they are ok, but their sub Meshuggah grooves don’t get us hanging
around and missing Voivod. Perhaps surprisingly the field is not too busy for
their set, meaning a little bit like Sanctuary last year, it doesn’t matter how
legendary the act is, the public makes its choice with its feet. The band’s new
album “Target Earth” is an interesting if not captivating slab of tech metal,
and neatly it is a metaphor for their set. Songs like its title track and “Tribal
Convictions” together with the title track of the band themselves are ok but wouldn’t
get us rushing back.
Of all the
bands that are on today, it is Accept that we were most looking forward to and
the Germans do nothing to disappoint us. Attempting to do nothing other than be
heads down old school metal, part thrash, part Priest and Maiden they are quite
brilliant. Starting with “Hung Drawn And Quartered” and playing “Stalingrad”
from their superb new album and they have the track “Balls To The Wall” which
is the best song played all day. Band of the day, hands down.
When it was
announced that King Diamond were making their first appearance in the UK for
donkeys years, grown men were ready to weep. Whilst we never quite got that
excited at RTM. We were ready to be entertained. Perhaps, then, it is just us
that wasn’t totally bowled over by the performance. Playing the first half hour
behind bars probably had some symbolism we don’t understand but the King’s
voice doesn’t sound all that wonderful. Tracks pass by and to be frank, they
all sound the same and the show isn’t all that spectacular. The set is,
disappointingly, a little underwhelming.
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