Battle of the Pagans!
-Shan Siva

I had heard good things about Bloodstock from Martin Walkyier (yes, he of Sabbat fame) at BYH 01 and in view of the shitty weather situation on mainland Europe (hell, Wacken nearly got washed away!) I opted to stay on home ground and check out this new festival. Situated in the heart of England in the city of Derby (a 2-hour drive from London), this was the second year running for Bloodstock but it managed to pull around 2000 people with a significant portion of the audience coming from Europe. The festival was actually indoors taking place at The Assembly Rooms with the main stage located in its conference centre and the second stage in a smaller hall known as the Darwin Suite. In the foyer were vendor tables and ample booths for food and beer. Certainly most Europeans I spoke to were happy with the civilised surroundings given the floods that were wrecking their countries - I almost got the impression that Bloodstock had become some kinda metaller’s Noah’s Ark!

I was glad we got in early as everyone had turned up to see Freedom Call, whose brand of majestic power metal was certainly making a big impression here in the UK. However, I’m not sure if scheduling FC this early was an error or incredible business acumen in order to draw the crowd in early as security didn’t even have a barrier set up (probably thinking that FC were some local band that would pull 10 people and a dog!). They resorted to telling the crowd (who to their credit complied) to stay 3 feet away from the stage which felt like being on the starting line of a marathon race as I contemplated being downtrodden on by the 500 Germans breathing down my neck! FC didn’t disappoint in their 40-minute set that saw them play material from their first 2 albums before introducing us to material from their 3rd opus ‘Eternity’. Certainly the roars from the crowd and furious headbanging all around acknowledged the high expectations that people have for this band. Afterwards I managed to collar drummer Dan Zimmerman who later on would also be drumming for Gamma Ray! “Its great to be here and also play twice in one day. Yes, its necessary to keep fit so I do a lot of sports like running, cycling, swimming and of course playing the drums. Actually it’s not easy for German bands to play here, especially if they are not well known so festivals like Bloodstock are really good for us and other less well known acts. Since you last saw us we have lost Sascha, who now has his own band and seemed to not want to play metal anymore, although its really strange because he’s now in Helloween. Still, I’m glad everyone liked the new material. The production for ‘Eternity’ went very smoothly, unlike on ‘Crystal Empire’ which took almost 6 months to record, mainly due to everyone’s different commitments. I think your editor (Josh) will be happy that we are still into fantasy and I think that ‘Eternity’ manifests the FC trademarks even more like the choirs, harmony vocals, and of course, the pounding drums ha ha!”

With a number of signing sessions taking place I couldn’t resist the urge to meet Diamond Head as they were the first band I’d ever seen live. The signing room was also graced by the artwork of Paul Gregory (who has done covers for Saxon) which was an excellent idea by the organisers as it gave the people the opportunity to appreciate his talent up close whilst waiting in line. Deciding to be cheeky I had dug out the original 22 year old concert programme which had cheesy page sized facial fotos and duly presented these to the band at which point Brian Tatler grimaced but thankfully Sean Harris saw the humour of it: “You were at that gig?! Well, then you were one of the privileged few cos there must’ve been only about 30 people there ha ha! There was going to be a race riot that night (it happened the next day - SS) so hardly anyone showed up. I’ve been told that apparently Lars Ulrich was also in the crowd (I never saw him but I did see him at a Twisted Sister gig - SS) but this programme is something I never thought I’d see again ha ha!” To his credit, Sean returned the humour by posing next to his own programme foto- actually he didn’t seem to age all that much (even his girlfriend agreed). Like many cult NWOBHM acts like Grim Reaper and Jaguar (Angelwitch being the sole exception thankfully), Diamond Head have decided to move on to playing rock music rather than what made them cool and refreshing in their heyday. Nowadays it would appear that most of the crowd including myself have only turned up to hear classics like ‘Am I Evil?’ and ‘Prince’ - if only they could come out with sings like these today.

Outside having a beer were the Irish guys from Primordial, still fiery after their set of dark, pagan Celtic metal that gave me thoughts of ritual human sacrifice and the samain... “Actually my name’s Alan ha ha but yeah, I’m glad you called us Irish rather than British. Primordial’s music takes its inspiration from the character of 80s metal and the passion of that and mixes it with Irish traditional music - if you like we’re the bastard child of traditional music, Bathory and Candlemass ha ha! We were influenced by black metal in the way that it spoke to us in relation to our culture as we live in a knee jerk reaction politically correct age and that’s just bullshit. Its important to find your roots in a rootless world the most important thing is to never allow anyone to dictate to you how you should or shouldn’t relate to your culture. Still, there’s a lotta things I hate about Ireland and Dublin is very different and certainly one of the most trendy cities I’ve ever been in. Since the economic boom its been busy wiping out the bohemian element which is a shame because when we Irish were poor and unemployed we gave the world bands like Thin Lizzy and Van Morrison and now we have money we produce fuckin boy bands. But step outta the city and its like two different worlds so I hope you all out there come and visit us sometime ha ha!”

Primordial’s set heralded the gathering of the melancholic, black barbed steaming masses turning the Darwin Suite into.....Pagan World! As the primeval swamp stench increased and I contemplated the prospect of becoming a modern primitive Bal Saggoth took to the stage to the sound of their ‘From the mists of Hiberboria....’ intro. These guys were totally irretrievable! If anyone besides the band can tell me Bal Saggoth are about I give them their dues as they are without doubt one of the most enigmatic groups on this planet. Clearly into their music, Bal Saggoth were playing their first UK show in 4 years, and they even looked like fuckin barbarians although vocalist Byron now looks like Matthew McConnaughey from ‘Reign in Fire’. These guys are lost in the musical epics that they create onstage - I’m amazed by how they remember it all and how their fans manage to keep pace with them. They gave me serious brain failure and I actually had to go see Gamma Ray just to calm down before seriously contemplating returning for the grand finale with (Return to the) Sabbat. Frankly, I didn’t think that it would be possible to surpass the OTTness of Bal Saggoth but Sabbat did - and how! If Byron’s sword of Atlantis was to be awed, Martin Walkyier’s bone and skull totem pole commanded the audience’s worship of him as their tribal leader. Resplendent in eye shadow (blood red for the occasion!), Walkyier had a possessed look and was totally mental onstage (and offstage one of the humblest guys you’ll ever meet). In short, Sabbat blew the place apart. Recovering outside, I found the prospect of talking to a very drunk Bob Catley (of Magnum) more exciting than 105 minutes of Blind Guardian....

Reminiscing back at the hotel, I could find no fault whatsoever with this year’s Bloodstock: everything went smoothly in terms of getting in and bands running to schedule. Furthermore, the venue was spacious enough with good sound and lighting that made for an enjoyable weekend without the usual energy sapping festival hassles. More importantly, Bloodstock has showed that at last somebody has the balls the promote a successful, well organized heavy metal festival in England - long may it reign Vince!