Catton Hall, Tamworth, UKAugust 13th- 15th 2010
Bloodstock Open Air Day 2: Children of Bodom, Fear Factory, Devin Townsend, Amorphis, Obituary, Edguy, Onslaught, Evile, Leaves’ Eyes, Andromeda
Also the second festival day had a lot of great bands to offer, from female fronted LEAVES’ Eyes to FEAR FACTORY and doomy CHILDREN OF BODOM. But first, our day started with ANDROMEDA.
Andromeda (10.30 - 11.00)
The band with the first slot today was ANDROMEDA. Hailing from Malmo, Sweden, they have a very definitive style with the vocal really forward in the mix making it truly the centre of the track and allowing everyone no doubt as to David Fremberg's talent. A deep hearty proggy sound attacks your senses and they played a really good opening set, my particular favourite being their first track 'The words unspoken'. Front man David displayed great rapport with the audience and was never boring to watch as well as being a great vocalist. All in all you couldn't have wished for a better start into day two. http://www.andromedaonline.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/andromedaonline
Setlist
01. The Words Unspoken
02. In the Deepest of Waters
03. Mirages
04. Inner Circle
05. Periscope
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 8.2 / 10
Leaves' Eyes (11.20 - 11.50)
With the joint vocal talents of Liv Kristine and Alexander Krull, this was always going to be a pleasure to listen to. Foremost in the Sympho-Gothica genre these guys had something to live up to and they did it effortlessly with a smiling Liv hitting notes that I think only bats can hear with consummate ease and Alexander marching around the stage in a perfect guttural contrast. Musically they were as tight and together as a band could be and the sound was balanced really well. The audience loved them as not only were there LEAVE'S EYES fans in abundance but ATROCITY junkies present as well. Every track was great but for me the pinnacle was 'Take the Devil in me'. It's no exaggeration to say they should have been headlining, I was totally blown away. http://www.leaveseyes.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/leaveseyespage
Setlist
01. Njord
02. My Destiny
03. Emerald Isle
04. Take The Devil In Me
05. Froya's Theme
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 9.7 / 10
Evile (12.10 - 12.40)
Still reeling from the tragic and untimely death of Mike Alexander not twelve months ago, I was really pleased to see EVILE on such top form. So far on the second day we hadn't had a bad band and these guys made themselves no exception bringing their own brand of heavy 80's inspired thrash to the stage with gusto. 'Metamorphosis' was a HUGE track, clanging and dischording with real demonic force for well over seven minutes to the delight of the audience. EVILE are a great heavyweight addition to any festival and you really needs to check them out to understand exactly how good live they are. http://www.evile.co.uk/ / http://www.myspace.com/evileuk
Setlist
01. Infected Nation
02. We Who Are About to Die
03. Thrasher
04. Metamorphosis
05. Enter the Grave
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 8.5 / 10
Onslaught (13.00 - 13.40)
More thrashiness abounds in the form of ONSLAUGHT, fabulous metal headed lunatics from the UK whose speed thrash is almost incomparable to anyone else. They should be good, because in one form or another they've been going since 1985. That being said these are no old men doddering around the stage, these guys are crushingly hard. They opened with the epic 'Killing Peace' a murderously good track and the standard only went up from there. Front men come and front men go, but this guy really knows how to play to a crowd and they lapped it up. They're a pretty fabulous outfit if you're a hard thrash fan and ' Burn' would be enough to convert even those who aren't. http://www.onslaughtfromhell.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/onslaughtuk
Setlist
01. Killing Peace
02. Let There Be Death
03. Destroyer of Worlds
04. Metal Forces
05. Fight With the Beast
06. Planting Seeds of Hate
07. Burn
08. Power From Hell
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 8.5 / 10
Edguy (14.10 - 14.55)
“Welcome to the Freakshow” their website announces - well yeah - but I have to say as a virgin EDGUY observer, it was wholly in a good way. They're certainly a bit different but they're also very good, with Tobias Sammet strutting his stuff in a way that all good front men should, with verve and a bit of tongue in cheek attitude. So then, the performance was good but what about the music itself? Well to be honest they were great. It's not to my personal taste but I could see by the several thousand audience members who were having a great time that it's clearly theirs. Everything was played with precision and enthusiasm and despite the fact that they reminded me of a heavier and better Bon Jovi, I had a great time watching and listening to them and their songs are the type of anthemic thing that are perfect for a light hearted road trip. Cool! http://www.edguy.net/ / http://www.myspace.com/edguy
Setlist
01. Dead or Rock
02. Speedhoven
03. Tears of a Mandrake
04. Vain Glory Opera
05. Lavatory Love Machine
06. Superheroes
07. King of Fools
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 7.7 / 10
Obituary (15.25 - 16.10)
From sunny Florida comes this five piece outfit to drizzly Staffordshire - well that must have been nice for them. But did they look ticked off? Nah, not a bit of it, as they launched into a five song setlist that set the place on fire in terms of good hard old fashioned metal. There is nothing overly complicated or clever about these guys but what they do, they do really well and their performance was pretty much second to none clearly having the time of their lives (maybe rain is exotic where they come from?). The 'Cause of Death' medley went down a storm with the fans and I'm sure they'll be welcomed back to Bloodstock in the near future as they did an excellent set. http://www.obituary.cc/ / http://www.myspace.com/obituary
Setlist
01. Redneck Stomp
02. Dying
03. Threatening Skies
04. Cause of Death Medley (Chopped in Half/Cause of Death/Infected)
05. Slowly We Rot
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 7.7 / 10
Amorphis (16.40 - 17.25)
Starting life way back in 1990 as a straightforward death metal band, they quickly evolved into the wonderful thing they are today which combines elements of prog, folk and pretty much anything else worth adding. Lead singer Tomi Joutsen has a hell of a look going on with thigh length dreadlocks which he head bangs to really great effect. He can also do it all vocally being both at home with deathly screaming and growling and yet having a truly great “clean” voice as well. 'Silver Bride' was an excellent choice of opener and 'My Kantele' an excellent choice of closer with 'From the Heaven of my Heart' being the stand alone best track of the whole set. As a band live, they're just pretty damned fabulous. http://www.amorphis.net/ / http://www.myspace.com/amorphis
Setlist
01. Silver Bride
02. Sky Is Mine
03. The Castaway
04. Against Widows
05. From the Heaven of My Heart
06. The Smoke
07. House Of Sleep
08. Black Winter Day
09. My Kantele
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 9 / 10
Devin Townsend Project (18.00 - 19.00)
Poor, poor, poor DEVON TOWNSEND. You know those days when nothing and I mean NOTHING goes right? Well that was how he started his set, for he trundled merrily on stage to find when anyone tried to play anything - utter silence. And wow did the technical gremlins attack him with a vengeance as he was obliged to, very good naturedly I might add, entertain the audience by clowning around for twenty minutes or so before they finally beat whatever problem was affecting the sound. Okay, so now finally after what seemed like and age he was able to start. All this malarkey might have thrown another performer into giving a sub standard show, but Devin seemed so genuinely happy and excited to actually be able to play after all that time that in fact I think it made him better.
His glass is certainly half full in terms of how he feels about life now with 'By your command' taking charge of all the rest and asserting itself as the finest track of the set. I was never a particular fan of his before this, but I find now that I very much like the man, like his attitude to his audience and like his music, so maybe sometimes bad things happen for good reasons. Top performance! http://www.hevydevy.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/devintownsenddtb
Setlist
01. Addicted!
02. Supercrush!
03. Kingdom
04. OM
05. Deadhead
06. Truth
07. By Your Command
08. Life
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
Fear Factory (19.35 - 20.50)
Fear Factory came next. Great name! Great band! They’re so famous they scarcely need any introduction but for those of you who have been in a monastery for the last twenty years, they were formed in 1989 and after a brief split in 2002 reformed bigger and better than ever before. With a setlist that left me pale with anticipation they cracked the egg with a killer version of 'Mechanize' blazing through a further thirteen tracks which included as high points the epic 'Linchpin', 'Zero signal' and finally 'Replica'. They're just plain awesome live, with riffs coming in machine gun like precision that make your ears bleed with pleasure and they well deserved the penultimate spot that they were awarded. Awesome! http://www.fearfactory.com/ / www.myspace.com/fearfactoryofficial
Setlist
01. Mechanize
02. Shock
03. Edgecrusher
04. Smasher/Devourer
05. Acres of Skin
06. Linchpin
07. Powershifter
08. Fear Campaign
09. Martyr
10. Demanufacture
11. Self Bias Resistor
12. Zero Signal
13. H-K (Hunter-Killer)
14. Replica
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.9 / 10
Children of Bodom (21.30 - 22.45)
I'd have lamented usually that FEAR FACTORY were not headlining, but not when CHILDREN OF BODOM are present. They're one of my favourite bands of all time with their awesome precision and killer tracks and they didn't disappoint in any shape or form. 'Follow the Reaper' kicked off the set with gorgeous lighting and epic sound followed by 'Blooddrunk' and 'In your face' as back to back masterpieces. However, it was 'Kissing Shadows' that really stood out and by the time they reached the main set finisher 'Hate Me!' the audience was baying like rabid wolves. A brief and well chosen encore of 'Jump' / 'Silent Night, Bodom Night' and 'Runaway / Downfall' followed before it was all over and people wandered around like lost sheep truly in awe of what a great set it had been. http://www.cobhc.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/childrenofbodom
Setlist
1. Follow The Reaper
2. Hate Crew Deathroll
3. Needled 24/7
4. Every Time I Die
5. Living Dead Beat
6. Sixpounder
7. Blooddrunk
8. In Your Face
9. Angels Don't Kill
10. Kissing The Shadows
11. Hate Me!
---
12. Jump / Silent Night, Bodom Night
13. Runaway / Downfall
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.9 / 10
The second day was sheer brilliance and long and tiring though it had been I was in wild anticipation of what was to come on day three, which promised to be as good if not even better than they genius running order we'd just witnessed.
All pictures by Maddi Isaacs
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