Bloodstock - Saturday
4 September 2004
The Assembly Rooms, Derby


With a kick off time just prior to midday I was really hoping that the crowd and, more importantly, Intense would be ready to rock at this early hour. Thankfully as Collision Of Destinies started the set it was apparent that Intense were well up for this and vocalist Sean Hetherington was going to make sure those gathered were too.

Latest album Second Sight has distinctively purple artwork, which was apparently a fact not lost on the lightning engineer. A combination of purple and blue lighting, dry ice, large Intense logo behind them and album artwork adorning their amps made for a very professional looking set up.

Hetherington vocals were top notch through the set meeting the challenge of more stretching songs such as The Winged. Bassist Stephen Brine, now an official member of the band, seems fully accepted into the Intense fold now.

As noted when I first saw them, the staccato riffing of guitarists Dave Peak and Nick Palmer reminds me of Iced Earth and it seemed a bizarre coincidence that as Intense closed with the sing-along of War Of Angels, the whole of Iced Earth`s 30minute Gettysburg followed their set.

Intense set list:
Premonition (Intro) / Collision Of Destinies / The Skull Of Sidon / The Winged / Seeds Of Betrayal / Dark Season / War Of Angels


Like the previous day, I managed to pop into the Darwin Suite to catch a small portion of a bands set, this time it was Seven Years Dead. I didn`t know anything about these guys, but certainly, although I might have struggled with my breakfast this morning, vocalist Jezzo had certainly had his Weetabix. He was bounding round the stage like a man possessed and even comically put the top back on his water bottle in a metal posing fashion.

Musically with the dynamics of their line-up, Pantera sprung to mind, however at times Jezzo strayed into Mike Patton territory. Almost All was particularly catchy and the flanged guitar intro to Ill Of The Dead was another high point.

Seven Years Dead songs played included:
Postrendgeneration / Almost All / Ill Of The Dead


Panic Cell was another band I was rooting for to take full advantage of their main stage appearance and they delivered with gusto.

The bands colossal presence sits perfectly with their massive sound. Luke Bell`s mic stand is decorated with a menacing skull, but it`s soon dispatched as he spends the set working the crowd. Meanwhile on his left Kelly Downes is spinning round on the spot without missing a crunching chord.

It`s apparent a good portion of the crowd have seen the video for Save Me on Scuzz TV, given the greeting it received and it`s to be hoped the more emotional Thousand Words gets similar airplay.

Bell announces that they`re going to "Bring a bit of glamour to the stage" as Claire from Invey joins them to assist on Away From Here. The End fittingly closes one of the sets of the day.

Panic Cell set list:
Damn Self Pity / Nothing / Shallow / Save Me / Thousand Words / Away From Here / The End


Deservedly Evergrey and Edenbridge had been switched on the running order in the run up to the festival though there was still considerable interest to see the Austrian band.

If Gamma Ray had left me cold yesterday, that was nothing compared to Edenbridge who left me bored rigid. To watch them it appeared other than singer Sabine Edelsbacher the other band members had stood in some glue as they never moved whilst I was watching them.

If you`ve heard the albums you couldn`t fault the renditions, though they were just plain dull. Sabine is often compared to Tarja Turunen of Nightwish but having read a more accurate comparison to Julie Andrews I can`t get that out of my mind now.

By Starlight Reverie I appeared to have become hypnotised by Sabine`s eyebrows going up and down and Roland Navratil twirling his sticks, perhaps he was bored too. Having had one of those moments where you suddenly realise you were asleep for a few moments I decided I`d seen enough.

Edenbridge songs played included:
The Undiscovered Land / Skyward / Shine / Starlight Reverie


The main hall had swelled in numbers once more in anticipation of Evergrey who were possibly the band I was looking forward to most. Tom S Englund was last to appear on stage as the band commenced with Blinded. Englund was wearing what appeared to resemble a cassock, which gave him the air of a preacher addressing a congregation and if we were the followers there were a lot apparently converted by today`s sermon.

Evergrey have an ability to write very technically material without sacrificing feeling or hooks. It`s difficult to pick particular high points as it was all excellent, though A Touch Of Blessing was one of many.

Having seen their recent setlists I was neither surprised nor disappointed by today`s "best of" selection, though I suspect there were a few shocked they did not play more from their new album The Inner Circle. The inclusion of Nosferatu certainly didn`t disappoint one young lady near us who appeared to be recreating Meg Ryan`s famous orgasmic scene from When Harry Met Sally! (OK, it was Dragonmaiden from Power-Metal.co.uk hehe, sorry Lisa).

Englund commented he didn`t know why they hadn`t been to England before and hopefully the reception will tempt them back.

Evergrey set list:
Blinded / End Of Your Days / More Than Ever / She Speaks To The Dead / Rulers Of The Mind / Nosferatu / Recreation Day /A Touch Of Blessing / The Masterplan


As I said in my Threshold review Balance Of Power suffered with an apparent rush for food. I do know this was the case as I`d left the venue in a tide of people after Evergrey, but had wolfed my sandwich down to get back in time for opener Heathen Machine.

There was an imbalance of a non chemical type during Chemical Imbalance when vocalist Jon K nearly fell into the crowd off a monitor much to his shock and great amusement.

Wake Up Call was a particular high point of the set with Jon K`s vocals registering so high it was a good job my pint glass was made of plastic. Pete Southern`s guitar playing was meanwhile impressive again and he got on with his job leaving Jon K the full run of the stage.

Varying slightly from the set list of that gig we additionally got Ten More Tales Of Grand Illusion and Walking On Top Of The World, though unfortunately there was no time left for Sins Of The World

Like their set supporting Threshold two nights earlier Balance Of Power were incredibly tight and in my opinion they are one of the most overlooked bands our country has.

Balance Of Power set list:
Heathen Machine / Chemical Imbalance / Shelter Me / Wake Up Call / Ten More Tales / Searching For The Truth / Walking On Top Of The World / Day Breaker


When a Rob Halford fronted Judas Priest was no more the arrival of Primal Fear`s debut was very welcome to me. However over the course of their five albums to date they haven`t provided enough variety to grab my interest and as a consequence I wasn`t hugely anticipating their set.

A lot of others were apparently, as they had drawn one of the largest crowds of the festival and seemed to go down a storm. Personally certain songs did seem to hit the spot such as Chainbreaker, Metal Is Forever and particularly The Healer. Others however seemed a little too similar to what they`d already played and I wondered whether Randy Black felt less challenged than his previous position as drummer in Annihilator.

Listening to Ralph Scheepers sing you can understand why he was disappointed he didn`t get Rob Halford`s job, he sounds almost identical. It`s apparent he`s fond of weightlifting and with the Olympics having just finished we were joking that he should be tested for steroids and have his set disqualified if caught.

I have to say overall I enjoyed watching Matt Sinner`s mob, but I wouldn`t say I was blown away.

Primal Fear songs played included:
Devil`s Ground / Angel In Black / Chainbreaker / Suicide & Mania / Running In The Dust / Heart Of A Brave / Nuclear Fire / The Healer / Battalions OF Hate / Metal Is Forever / Final Embrace


Sonata Arctica`s UK debut was highly anticipated. I had seen them before at Sweden Rock in 2003, but it is since that I have really got into their earlier material and so was hoping for the best.

Unfortunately technical gremlins seemed to sabotage much of their set. As they started with Victoria`s Secret the instruments seemed to be missing from the mix and Tony Kakko`s mic didn`t seem to be working correctly. Throughout the set you could easily have a conversation proving they had the quietest set of the two days and that`s also quite possibly why I didn`t catch much of what Kakko said between songs.

Although this didn`t seem to affect the actual playing it was apparent the band were less than happy. Bassist Marko Paasikoski seemed particularly displeased, Kakko was seen having a go at a sound engineer and even the usually mental Henrik Klingenberg seemed a bit subdued.

I hope the band do not takes this as a missed opportunity however as I personally liked all the material played by Sonata Arctica so it wasn`t hard for me to enjoy the set regardless of the problems and from the reaction that seemed common amongst the crowd. A return visit on The Reckoning Night tour is a must.

Eventually, although still quiet, by Full Moon and The Cage the sound had improved and the band finished in style.

Sonata Arctica set list:
Victoria`s Secret / Kingdom For A Heart / Still Loving You / Champagne Bath / Replica / My Land / Black Sheep / Broken / Don`t Say A Word / Last Drop Falls / Full Moon / The Cage


By the time Children Of Bodom took the stage I think those with me can testify I was more than a little merry. I`ve already reviewed and praised Children Of Bodom twice on the Hatecrew Deathroll tour and it was no different tonight.

Details pass me by however as I was too busy enjoying myself and by Warheart I had seemed to have joined up with some fellow revellers in playing air guitar on our knees.

All I can say is that I thought they were excellent and I was aching the next morning from seriously enjoying the set.

Children Of Bodom set list
Intro (Napoleon XIV - They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-ha) / Hate Me! / Chokehold / Hate Crew Deathroll / Silent Night, Bodom Night / Warheart / Sixpounder / Angels Don't Kill / Towards Dead End / Bodom After Midnight / Deadnight Warrior / Bodom Beach Terror / Downfall / Everytime I Die / Needled 24/7


Conclusion
Due to an annual work trip that thankfully was at a different time this year, this was my first Bloodstock and definitely won`t be my last. Vince has done a cracking job in organising these annual events and with the New Blood Of British Heavy Metal DVD release and possible additional outdoor event next year the future looks very good for metal in the UK.

Many thanks to Vince for organising our photopass, to Martin for printing and selling the t-shirts and to all who wore our shirts. I had a fantastic couple of days with a real community feeling. It was great to both see so many familiar faces and meet some friendly new people.

See you at the DVD release party at The Camden Underworld on 12 September!

Links to all bands that played at:
Bloodstock Official Site