As we make our way into the main part of the day shizzle gets stepped up and Tribe Of Ghosts represent and further descend into chaos as they are brutal in the best kind of way! Our first female fronted band of the day on the Sophie Stage has a mixture of clean and guttural vocals shared by her and the guitarist giving them a unique sound.
You get massive breakdowns, slamming riffage and thunderous pummelling drums that tear through your bones. There is a disjointed quality to the vocal lines that is both haunting and intriguing at the same time as they cut through the mix. A mighty impressive set slamming, banging and battering the crowd into submission, I kinda feel dirty after watching them !
Casket Feeder take the stage next, we have caught these guys in previous years and they never fail to make an impression. The heftiest of heft, Casket Feeder are a band that simply rips the skin off your face if you are upfront, close and centre! Gnarly to the core, they have gargantuan breakdowns that slam you to the floor, break you into pieces and then they make you climb back up so they can do it all over again! A powerhouse band with relentless aggression as the skies cleared after our first and seriously heavy shower, the bodies were streaming past the tent looking in fearing for their lives, was it safe to enter, will we ever get out alive! These are the kind of questions Casket Feeder make you ask yourself. Of course, the answer is always no, but who am I to warn them?
A change of direction will be welcome and Skin Failure progressive thrash will do nicely, let’s do this!
Skin Failure hit the stage and right away I know we are kindred spirits, slashing thrash, groove-laden progressive thrash from the depths rips apart the Sophie Lancaster Stage, an absolutely banging, addictive performance right smack bang in the middle of the day reinvigorates a tiring crowd, day two is starting to catch up with a few people but when you are faced with a sonic onslaught such as this, you simply just have to give into a higher power! A blistering set packed with banging tunes is greatly appreciated by the Sophie faithful, Skin Failure has to be on your radar, a fun, energetic band that delivers live on the stage, what’s not to love?
For a change of direction and a breather from the intensity of the earlier sets, Dakesis are up next and represent the more melodic, symphonic side of metal. Once again, there is always an appetite for this genre here at BOA, a lot of people will think it’s all about Black Metal, Modern Metal and Legacy bands, but amongst us walk the symphonic and they appear from behind the rocks, dodgems, port-a-loo’s and food stalls when a Symphonic band appears! A welcome pallet cleanser once again to reset the Sophie crowd before we are treated to something completely different, Gutalax, Gore ’N’ Roll all the way from the Czech Republic!
Pics by Flash Art Mark
