METAAAAAAL!!!
The will was breaking. Rain had dampened the spirits, muddied the ground and the thought of standing for a further five hours was really testing the purity of one's metal heart. Thank God for Dream Evil and their no-holds-barred, traditional and ballsy style of heavy metal. Although attracting a decent crowd, the Arch Enemy signing tent had a queue that stretched across the whole field perhaps stealing some of Dream Evil's audience. But it was their loss as the Swedish crew put in one of the sets of the festival.
There was a sea of head nodding and hair as the stomping tunes Dream Evil extracted from their back catalogue infected every metal head. Quality tunes such as 'United' and 'Fire, Battle, Metal' from their latest release went down with aplomb. 'Made of Metal' had the audience chanting and punching the air and 'Children of the Night' had people singing. With the band's over-the-top heavy metal attitude it was great to see them adopt a tongue-in-cheek demeanour to the whole experience most notably from vocalist Niklas Isfeldt. The band was clearly enjoying themselves but they weren't taking it too seriously which perhaps endeared them to a British audience.
Niklas' voice was tremendous as it soured and falsettoed around the damp crowd taking their minds off the crappy weather. A fervour was building because the audience knew what was coming. They were aching for the one song that perhaps epitomised the whole festival, and then at the end of the set it came. 'The Book Of Heavy Metal' tore through the speakers as almost all the crowd screamed 'METAAAAAL". Whereas Nevermore and Arch Enemy were the bands of the weekend, 'The Book Of Heavy Metal' was definitely the song of the festival.
It was a great performance and reminded Bloodstock of why we were all there. Even with the bad weather, dodgy food and aching bodies it was Metal that was binding us all together. Dream Evil delivered exactly what the crowd wanted. I hope they come back soon.