When I submitted my list of the 30 must see acts at Download 2019 to his satanic majesty who sits atop of ROCKFLESH towers, he raised a fiery eyebrow and bellowed "Whitesnake? Whitesnake? Whitesnake? Really???" And the answer is yes, for one reason and one reason only, this will be the mass outdoor karaoke moment of the entire festival.
Read MoreThere was a time when Skid Row were huge, proper unit shifting and arena bothering huge. They were the last of the Hair Metal bands to go stellar before the extinction event when grunge came along and forced metal back underground. They were also one of the bands that crumbled first and fell furtherest. As they didn't have the back catalogue or solid fanbase of say Mötley Crüe or Aerosmith to fall back on, their audience disappeared over night.
Read MoreI still find it hard when Grunge is lumped in with Classic Rock and acts from the early nineties alt rock boom are labeled veterans, as for me they still young upstarts with a new fangled sound that frankly knocked me for six. They may seem now to be fairly standard alternative Rock but at the time, The Smashing Pumpkins were ground breaking as they united lovers of indie and heavy shit like never before.
Read MoreAt Download 2010, I made the mistake of consuming five pints of Hobgoblin in a short space of time and then heading to the pit for Lamb of God. Needless I say, I was quite ill after, but boy did I have a good time. I have a number of other similar anecdotes of other Lamb of God appearances at Download and the vast majority involve the furiosity of their pit, and alcohol.
Read MoreThere are those who point fingers at Download booking policy and say their choices are safe and conservative. I, however would argue that there are a number of interesting and intriguing leftfield additions this year. This is none more illustrated than by the inclusion of Behemoth in a prestigious mid-afternoon main stage slot. This is a self proclaimed Satan worshiping Black Metal monolith released on an unsuspecting hundred thousand people waiting for the inoffensive rock reggae of Skindred.
Read MoreSlayer are Metal and Metal is Slayer but pretty soon their furiosity and brutality will become but folk law, the stuff of legends as within months (not years, months!) they will lay down their instruments and cease to be. So this is last chance, city folks, the final ever UK show. Roll that around in your minds, one solitary finite opportunity to see the juggernaut that is Slayer on our shores.
Read MoreSome band’s rises are stratospheric, going from nothing to public adornment seamlessly overnight. Others take the long way around, slowly but surely honing their art and bit by bit building a fanbase by the weight of sheer hard work. Delain are very much in that category as seventeen years into their career they are still a mid afternoon second stage booking.
Read MoreIt is only as I write these short vignettes that I fully comprehend the treasure trove of metallic riches that this year's Download bill is. With so many nuggets of wonderfulness that clashes, difficult choices, partially seen sets, a lot of running around are sure to be the order of the day. There are some bands though who I will watch every second of, who will trump anyone else that happens to tresspasse onto their timeslot. Opeth are one such band as they are nothing short of magnificent.
Read MoreI am a late convert to the church of Clutch. People whose musical tastes I trust have sung their praises for many years but I held out, labelling all the fuss ill-judged and hyper-bole. But with last year “Book of Bad Decisions”, the penny finally dropped and I got what all the fuss is about.
Read MoreDo I really need to explain why you need to at least see some of Slipknot on Saturday night? Everyone knows they are probably one of the most incendiary and pulsating live acts you will come across. It's Slipknot! Right! simply the most degenerative, ugly and God darn confrontational juggernaut to have become a household name.
Read MoreFrom my recommendations so far, you are probably getting a pretty good idea by now that I like my Metal to be interesting and challenging. Well, there is nothing more interesting and challenging than Animals As Leaders. They produce highly technical, intricate and precise instrumental Metal that manages to never stay still.
Read MoreAhhh, Dream Theater! the thinking person’s Metal band. The band that the terms pompous, overblown and convoluted were invented for and believe me that they are all meant as high compliments. This is Metal as its most complex, self-indulgent and mind-blowing.
Read MoreOk! This is a strange one as there are currently two Batushka in operation and as the band hide their appearance on stage by wearing habits and eastern orthodox schemas, it is unlikely we will ever actually know actually which version turns up at Download.
Read MoreIt wasn't even midday when Power Trip took to the stage at Bloodstock last year and yet they managed to tear the place a proverbial new one. They were the word of mouth hit of the festival with psyched up revellers feverishly asking each other "Did you see Power Trip?".
Read MoreIt is frankly impossible for me to write objectively about At The Gates, so I am not going to try. They are my Iron Maiden, my Metallica, My Slipknot in that they have shaped everything I love and cherish about this musical genre. 1995's “Slaughter of the Soul” is perfect in every single facet. It is direct, venomous and drips with righteous anger. It is also a masterclass in extreme songwriting as every track is defined, melodic and devoid of any padding.
Read MoreI am old and rather set in my ways, so at Download, I very rarely visit the multicoloured sugar rushtastic bouncy castle of pop punk fun that is the Avalanche stage. However now and again, an act will tempt me to forget my age and aching limbs to skip joyously past the wrestling into the very heart of the young people's neon fortress.
Read MorePut aside your assumption of sexually oppressed Norwegians in corpse paint and battle armour as in the right hands Black Metal is a highly emotive and passionate art form. French duo Alcest make exquisitely beautiful music that soars with a euphoric intensity.
Read MoreI don't even need to be writing this as if you are at Download and not contemplating going to see Anthrax then you shouldn't be at Download. This is Anthrax, one of Metal greatest survival stories, a band that frankly shouldn't still be here making excellent albums but they are.
Read MoreIf you like your Metal, bold, bombastic, choral and smothered in strings then the late inclusion of Epica would have had you in fits of ecstasy. These Dutch masters don't do subtlety, they are Epic(a) by name and epic by name, producing massive melodic anthems that are operatic in design and ambition.
Read MoreWhat's that I hear? You want good time Rock n’ Roll boogie refined through a filter of vintage Norwegian Black Metal? Well you are in luck my friend as I give you Kvelertak, the most fun you will ever have whilst a Norwegian screams at you in, well, Norwegian.
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