A successful year, with great performances from Emperor (obviously), Rotting Christ, Blood Red Throne and Stahlsarg amongst many, many others.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who hung around after the Megadeth set to find out who will be playing next year, as the programme suggested that 2 out of 3 headliners of 2015's weekend has been booked already, and went away feeling a bit of petty disappointment that nothing was said at all about it.
So 47 days later we have fount out with 5 very differing artists joining us next year. Within Temptation as Saturday headliner, Opeth as Special Guests, Ihsahn for Friday and on Sunday Cannibal Corpse and Sepultura.
Not a strong start in my opinion. I have to admit that I was disappointed because of how long it took to announce the first 2, and the choices as well. However, to jump on the social media bandwagon and complain that "it's not worth going to" because of 2 bands that you don't like out of over 100 bands have not been announced is really rather petty. It's also fair to say that the organisers have redeemed themselves by booking Cannibal Corpse (Crushing Death metal from NYC, with songs such as "Meat Hook Sodomy", "Butchered At Birth" and "Hammer Smashed Face"), Sepultura (Brazilian "Deathend" groove metal) and the mighty Ihsahn (Emperor, Ildjarn, Zyklon-B among many others) playing his newest solo album in his only UK show of 2015.
So I've decided to do a brief explanation of why the bands are playing, what we should expect and whether it'll sink faster than the Titanic or really show that Download and Sonisphere are not the only 2 mainstream "alternative" festivals that the UK holds. So, to begin...
WITHIN TEMPTATION
Female fronted symphonic metal band from Waddinxveen in the Netherlands. They first played Bloodstock back in 2005, which also was their UK festival debut.
They are back a decade later, for their only UK festival date in 2015 to perform their sixth and newest album "Hydra". It's been met with a mixed response from critics and fans a like, and one of the main reasons for some of the negativity is some of the odd choices in guest vocals. Including Howard Jones (ex- Killswitch Engage), Tarja Turunen (ex- Nightwish) and for some bizarre reason Dave Pirner (ex- Soul Asylum) and rapper Xzibit.
Admittedly, I'm not a fan of symphonic metal, but obviously there's a large fanbase, and Within Temptation have the ability to pull in more people (and therefore money) into Bloodstocks muddy, waspy grasp. However, from previous experience of past years the Saturday headliner tends to be a more popular band. The "ticket seller" so to speak. Such as Emperor ('14), Immortal ('11), Dimmu Borgir ('08) and even Lamb of God ('13, Regardless of opinion, they did pull in a very large crowd).
From previous success, Within Temptation obviously deserve a slot at BOA '15, but it would of been more appropriate to of placed them in a much earlier time slot.
Is this the start of a trio of weak headliners? Or will Within Temptation show us that they're made to be placed so high on the bill? Judging by their past shows and "Hydra", it's the former.
OPETH
The now Progmetal marmite of Bloodstock, already having twice headlined in 2008 & 2010, this time round they have been demoted to "Special Guests", and they're here to celebrate their 25th anniversary and their 11th album "Pale Communication", and sadly "Pale Communication" is just as disappointing as their previous love/hate album "Heritage".
On that note, this year is the perfect year for Opeth to remind everyone of their roots. "Orchid" (1995) and "Morning Rise" (1996) are amazing yet often overlooked albums that can be very welcomed being played live by old fans and new, but if they stick to their newer titles they can be dreary, boring and somewhat tiring live, which is very frustrating as Mikael Åkerfeldt has proven to us that he has a very powerful voice, and is an exceptionally talented musician when he was in Bloodbath and also when he lent his voice to Katatonia too.
Sadly, Opeth are a talented orchestration of once promising and forward thinking creative artists who have gradually devolved into tiresome Progmetal for Dads, and take far too much time introducing songs with lost in translation Christmas cracker jokes. A possible miss for me next year.
CANNIBAL CORPSE
Where to begin?
Cannibal Corpse played an exquisite set at BOA '10 with a good mix of classics and newer songs. They released "A Skeletal Domain" earlier this month, and it's everything you would expect it to be. It's classic Cannibal Corpse and amazingly so. It's the albums production that has slightly ruined it for me. It's primed and polished, everything sounds perfect and slots perfectly together. A typical Audiohammer recording, the total opposite of what Cannibal Corpse stands for.
On the upside, at Bloodstock we will undoubtedly hear the classic, raw Cannibal Corpse sound that we all know and love. Hopefully they will be higher on the bill, and therefore get a longer set.
SEPULTURA
The fun to watch nostalgia band are back again with a mouthful of a album title. They recently played BOA 2012, with a lively, loud set and very easily can get the crowd moving with their mix of thrash and various other genres thrown in the mix. Regardless if the crowd is filled with die hard fans or people who have never heard of their music, they certainly will be entertained. The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart is a classic sounding Sepultua album, a fine mix of thrash and Brazilian groove. In my own opinion it's close to the quality of "Roots". Only downside is that being on a Sunday and possibly an earlier slot they could miss the chance to pull in the crowd they truly deserve. Again, another solid booking for Bloodstock.
IHSAHN
Oh, Ihsahn.
There's an obvious reason why I left this part of the view last.
We are again graced by being in the presence of Emperors front man. An exceptionally talented musician and Black metal God.
However, that's where Ihsahn and Emperor stop for the time being. Das Seelenbrechen is his 5th solo album under his name, and what an album it is. It's extraordinarily experimental, with a mix of classic Pink Floyd's David Gilmour style guitar solos, soft spoken word, Coldwave and decent Prog, but then it's caressed by his powerful, guttural voice that we all recognise and love. The BM class elite may snub his efforts, but there's something for everyone within this album and it's by far one of the best releases in the past few years.
I personally can't wait to see him live, and I urge anyone going next year to see him play, you won't regret it.
