Bloodstock Festival Preview

We all know that there are plenty of metal festivals around, from the more radio-friendly Ozzfest and Download through to slices of Norse brutality like Hole In The Sky.

The UK is particularly well served by metal festivals, with Prestatyn's Hard Rock Hell festival actually giving people a reason to visit Butlins.

Although Sonisphere does provide an alternative to some of the more mainstream festivals there's one event that stand out year after year, giving the UK the best that the metal world has to offer - Bloodstock.

Since its formation back in 2001 Bloodstock has gone from strength to strength, with previous line-ups including Saxon, Hammerfall, Amon Amarth, In Flames and Opeth.

Based in South Derbyshire, the festival combines picturesque surroundings with skull-crushing metal which rampages across two stages for three days, from the 13th to the 15th of August this year.

In a continuing effort to fight against prejudice the second stage at Bloodstock will, as it was last year, be named the Sophie Lancaster stage, after the victim of a brutal attack in 2007 who was targeted for her appearance and connections to the alternative subculture.

This year's Bloodstock bands include:

Behemoth:

Voted by Terrorizer Magazine readers as the best band on 2009, with Nergal and Inferno voted best vocalist and drummer respectively. Continuing their previous blackened death metal work, their latest album, 2009's Evangelion is set to be a future classic.

Obituary:

As one of death metal's key bands, Obituary proved at their UK dates last year that they're still the kings of the genre, as proved on last year's Darkest Day LP. With Bloodstock as their only UK festival date in 2010 Obituary could well play the best set of the year.

Children of Bodom:

A band that really doesn't need an introduction, CoB are famed for their blend of NOWBHM, black and death metal, with vocalist and guitarist Alexi Laiho becoming an idol to a number of budding young musicians.

Fear Factory:

Combining solid metal with elements of industrial, Fear Factory are one to the world's best known metal bands. With a change in line-up last year seeing the legendary guitarist Dino Cazares returning to the fold, Fear Factory are bound to impress.

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For more information on Bloodstock take a look at their official site or Twitter.

All images are © their original owners, for more information on any of the bands featured please click the links provided.

Happy Easter!

I'm not really one for celebrating Easter, and I don't know anybody who does, but what I do enjoy is free chocolate. Everybody knows that food in the shape of other things is better than normal food, so I was thrilled when I got given the most sinister chocolate rabbit in the world:

Okay, okay, so it would be more sinister if there were a real rabbit's skull inside which you'd only notice when the head melted a touch and you saw its true form poking through, but still, whoever designed it was an evil genius.

While Easter really doesn't get as much twisted tribute as Christmas (Halloween is a given) some artists go out of their way to reveal some of the sinister nature involved.

So, the Musical Scares award for best twisted representation of Easter goes to... Todd Schorr!

Schorr's lowbrow art is really in a class of its own, taking a multitude of pop-culture icons and blending them together with an almost worrying eye for detail, all whilst maintaing excellent composition and most importantly, keeping a sense of fun.

While Schorr is one of the bigger names in the community, there's a reason for it, and time after time he produces great pieces with inventive themes.

Given that this is being posted on Easter Monday there's really not alot more to say about it, so while that rabbit sits on my desk, luring me in with its devious eyes, I hope you have a good time in what remains of the holiday!

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Paintings © Todd Schorr
Official Todd Schorr Site