Bloodstock - Friday
2 September 2005
The Assembly Rooms, Derby
At last year`s Bloodstock I watched pretty much whole sets by the select number of bands I wanted to see. This year my mission was simple - an attempt to see every band at the festival. Well, I came close, but no cigar, or rather no Kingsize Blues. Apologies to that band but I simply couldn`t tear myself away from Raven.
Friday at Bloodstock was labelled Battle Metal night. Quite how Zillah fit into this bracket I have no idea, but When Rock Goes Wrong was an apt choice of song. To be fair if schizophrenic grindcore is your thing then maybe you should have turned up early in the Darwin Suite. However, the empty room indicated not many fans from the scene were here and it was simply wrong band in wrong place.
Zillah set list included:
When Rock Goes Wrong
A double dose of thrash followed, first with Hanover`s Reckless Tide kicking off the main stage. Not all of the band hails from Germany however, with vocalist Andrew Troth keen to tell us he was English. In fact he was also keen to tell us a rambling story before being comically cut short by co-vocalist Kjell Hallgreen announcing the next song was about a choo-choo train.
Despite the guitars of Susanne Swillus and Oliver Jaath suffering from a rather thin sound, the band`s manic thrashing and to and fro vocals was well received.
Reckless Tide set list:
Desperation / Self Destruct / Misery / Equality / Death Train / Lebende Organverpflanzung / Madness Within / Demons & Dictators
More thrash from Deliverance who I had caught earlier this year playing to a sparse crowd as if they were headlining Hammersmith. Full marks for effort that day and the Italians were putting in 100% again today, to a deservedly busy Darwin Suite. Vocalist / guitarist Andrea Fermani was not going to be chained centre stage, switching to sing into whichever mic stand he happened to be passing and heading up onto the drum riser in instrumental sections. Meanwhile bassist Massi Ricci was contorting his face into evil grimaces and striking phallic poses with his bass.
At times Fermani`s enunciation makes some of the songs not entirely memorable and a few more like Dust Rises High would certainly add to their arsenal.
Deliverance set list included:
Dust Rises High / Deliverance
Maybe it was the involvement of Chris Caffery and Mike Terrana, but I don`t think Metalium have managed to reach the heights of their debut album. So for them to open with two tracks from it certainly made for a powerful start. The energy of frontman Henning Basse managed to keep the momentum going through the band`s set, getting the crowd chanting "hey, hey" at every available opportunity and displaying an amazing vocal range on the likes of Demon`s Of Insanity.
Back to the first album and the track Metalium itself made a welcome appearance, though at times when Matthias Lange`s lone guitar breaks into a solo the band would perhaps benefit from a second guitar.
Metalium set list included:
Fight / Break The Spell / Demons Of Insanity / Odin`s Spell / Cyber Horizon / Metalium
I`d have loved to have seen Warchild been given a shot on the main stage, however wherever you put these guys they always seem to deliver. A busy Darwin Suite was greeted by opener Life Goes On with Francesco Luiso`s foot firmly planted, Bruce Dickinson-like, on monitor gesticulating to each phrase. Guitarist`s Keith Wild and Ottavio Marzo combine for a harmony solo during Nothing To Share, a song which again brings Maiden to mind but with an underlying added heaviness.
The Italians obvious self belief had an infectious effect on the crowd and slipping in a cover of The Evil That Men Do was a neat move in giving some of those new to the band something to sing along to. Magnifico!
Warchild set list:
Life Goes On / The Preacher / Nothing To Share / The Last Dream / Theater Of Pain / Son Of The Lies / The Evil That Men Do / Starless Sky
Stormwarrior`s set didn`t get off to the best of starts with the sound all over the place. Scott Bölter`s guitar solo sounded like it was played on a banjo during second song Heavy Metal Fire leading to lots of confused looks. Thankfully by the galloping Axewielder things began to improve and a sea of plastic swords, axes and scythes were waved in the band`s direction.
I did get a sense that a large portion of the crowd were waiting for Kai Hansen`s appearance and deciding to not play anything off their latest album seemed a bit of an odd decision by Stormwarrior. Nevertheless their short set was enjoyable, if not spectacular.
Stormwarrior vocalist Lars Ramcke reappeared with a guitar as Kai Hansen was introduced to the crowd. The man himself looked slightly embarrassed by the rabid response to his arrival and perhaps felt a little exposed without a guitar.
A set of old Helloween classics followed, and by old that meant pre-Keeper Of The Seven Keys. Although this was a known fact beforehand, the actual reaction to the songs was more restrained than expected, with perhaps a lot of the crowd too young to remember the likes of Ride The Sky. Those of us who were a bit older were treated to some rarely aired gems such as the sprawling Phantoms Of Death.
Stormwarrior set list:
Signe Of The Warlorde / Heavy Metal Fire / The Axewielder / Thunderer / Iron Prayers
Stormwarrior with Kai Hansen set list included:
Ride The Sky / Murderer / Phantoms Of Death / Victim Of Fate
Catching some of Conquest Of Steel meant missing the end of Kai Hansen`s appearance and I arrived as the band were mid penultimate song. The denim & patches appearance did in fact bare a striking resemblance to Stormwarrior and it seemed a shame that the two were overlapping.
Conquest were practically playing on home turf with a crowd packed with their warrior friends and the feeling was one of a metal party. Vocalist Dan Durrant drank from a chalice of blood prior to closing number Can`t Stop The Metal which was as OTT as his behaviour and the song title suggest. Certainly my brief encounter with the band left me intrigued to see more.
Conquest Of Steel set list included:
Conquest Of Steel / Can`t Stop The Metal
To be honest I`m not a massive fan of Hammerfall, finding them a bit basic and samey after a few songs. I appreciate a lot of people do however like them, evident from the number of t-shirts and reaction to each of their "metal hymns". Certainly the band are a well oiled machine. Having played this set at festivals across Europe over the summer, the synchronised head-banging and rehearsed stage positioning was all carried off with precision Judas Priest would be proud off.
Sadly the bands polystyrene icebergs had not made the journey, most likely as their luggage allowance only covered the bands elaborate clothing. Surely Magnus Rosén had enough mirrors on his trousers to notice what he looked like!
Joking aside the band were great fun and obviously brought enjoyment to many long after I`d heeded the call of the fish & chip shop.
Hammerfall set list included:
Secrets / Riders Of The Storm / Renegade / Let The Hammer Fall / Hammerfall
LINKS:
Bloodstock
Hammerfall
Stormwarrior
Metalium
Reckless Tide
Conquest Of Steel
Warchild
Deliverance
Zillah
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