As long as there are a few solid headliners (or even second stagers) at a festival to hold down the fort, I'm happy to spend a few hours braving exorbitantly-priced beer, acres of pale, exposed flesh and hordes of mall-metal saddos and grizzly old bikers in pursuit of the almighty riff. Hell, I've grumbled my way through festivals and big tours more times than I can count -- all in the name of those few acts on the less-than-stacked bills that made it all worth it.

That's how I got my first live taste of Opeth, Iron Maiden, Clutch, Judas Priest and Cannibal Corpse, after all! By that token, it's easy to see why a fest of Bloodstock's magnitude would lure me from my vinyl-and-demo-tape-littered black metal cave and out into the sunshine to enjoy the blissful cacophony of Carcass, Sodom, Kreator and Satyricon.

This year's edition of Bloodstock U.K. had message boards buzzing, as it came fully loaded with a burly lineup of old-school legends and hot newcomers. Friday's headliners, the immortal Carcass, were in fine form, ripping through the corpses of 'Rotten to the Gore,' 'Genital Grinder' and 'Exhume to Consume' like men possessed. Earlier in the day, heavy metal flag-bearers Saxon and Swedish melodeath phenoms Arch Enemy kicked things off with a bang, pumping up the massive crowd with hit-heavy set lists while the doom/death turned mellow Swedes in Katatonia offered up plenty of gems for their long-suffering fans.

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Bloodstock Festival
DERBY, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 16: Satyr of Satyricon perform on stage on the last day of Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Hall on August 16, 2009 in Derby, England. (Photo by Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns) *** Local Caption *** Satyr
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Redferns

Noisecreep Test

    Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Mastodon at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Mastodon at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Crowd at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Neurosis at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Neurosis at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Crowd at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Baroness at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Baroness at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

    Baroness at Scion Rock Fest 2009 held at the Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, February 28, 2009

    Brian Manley for Spinner

oKE.start("music-noiscreep.thrashandburntour");


Virginia crossover kings Municipal Waste whipped the crowd into a circle-pitting frenzy, goading punters to fling themselves upon the mercy of their fellow men to "break a world record for number of crowd-surfers in the air at one time." Even frontman Tony Foresta got in on the aerial action, swan-diving off the stage and over the barrier in one of the most epic stagedives this writer has ever seen. Teutonic thrash titans Sodom's long-awaited return to English soil was nothing short of triumphant. The old boys have still got it, and showed the young guns how thrash is supposed to be done -- fast, loud, dirty and raw!

Saturday's lineup was, to put it mildly, unbelievable. Topped off by a one-two-three-four punch of Entombed's nasty old-school death groove, Candlemass' refined approach to doom, the progressive black majesty of Enslaved and Kreator's battle-hardened thrash metal -- and the rest of the bill wasn't too shabby, either. The Haunted, Apocalyptica, Battlelore and Wolf all held their own in the face of legendary greatness, while power metal maestros Blind Guardian's energetic set belied their 25 years of heavy metal histrionics. Goth rockers Cradle of Filth were put quite firmly in their place by one disapproving member of the crowd, who saw fit to chuck a golf-ball-sized gobstopper at the guitarist's noggin, and effectively cut short the rest of their set, to the dismay of the rest of the audience.

The final day dawned with an immensely satisfying slice of balls-out rock 'n' roll from veteran hellraisers in Girlschool. Who says heavy metal is a boys' club? The metal destroyers in Amon Amarth stormed the stage with typical gusto, laying waste to a rabid crowd and hauling out a bevy of Viking anthems from their wildly successful 'Twilight of the Thunder God' album, as well as sneaking in a few vintage tracks for the diehards. Much-loved doomsayers Anathema gracefully held the attention of the almost 10,000 attendees without any discernable effort, while British thrash gods Sabaton delivered a solid set of chestnuts from their golden years. Norwegian black 'n' rollers Satyricon went down an (ice) storm.

But the night truly belonged to Europe. The most popular one-hit wonder in the world had the entire festival losing it to 'The Final Countdown,' and ensured that the U.K.'s biggest open-air event once again ended on a high note. See you next year!

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