Download in 2012

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did attend the Download Festival at Donington Park, England, in June 2012, arriving just in time to hear Opeth phone in their last song and complain they had travelled from Sweden for 10 hours to play for forty minutes. Well, some of us travelled for  8 hours from London and if they have this attitude and continue writing self-indulgent jazz then the conceited quilt-smuggler will find himself playing for twenty minutes after an intercontinental flight to Guam, where the Steel Panther's album has reached quadruple platinum, so the leotards informed us, having sold 500 copies, which I think might be an overestimate, since second-rate cod-80's metal is superior only to, say, third rate cod-80's metal, speaking of which the Black Veil Brides rather bravely appeared on stage to the most hostile reception I have seen for a long time, though I do not think any of the mud actually struck them; to be fair numbers of supporters were also present and I did get the impression they were the real deal with a rock and roll attitude. These latter bands bookended Trivium, the step up in performance being quite embarrassing, they do seem to get better, or at least I get more accustomed to them each time they appear; indeed the day started off with As I Lay Dying sounding rather like, well, Trivium. And after Opeth I had heard Nightwish, a rather operatic production, might be nice to watch from the balcony of a peristylum hall somewhere, rather spoilt by the lead singer's Swedish accent sounding rather like a headmistress of one of the better schools. Sylosis romped in the murky acoustics of the Max tent, out of tune to start with and the guitar remaining rather low in the mix throughout, probably not their best performance, and the vocals a bit weak, compared to many of the other bands in similar style. Suggest they find a vocalist who can sing and write some lyrics, leaving the lead guitar free for concentrated shredding. Then let them continue to carve their brutal sonic cathedrals in the darkest mines of Moria. The Butcher Babies have a fair old chop to go to reach this level, screaming incoherently to metalcore backing. They said they would be in Aberystwyth next week, but did not specify the street corner. After the Biffy Clyro, no idea what they were doing there, played Metallica, sounding rather like... Trivium. I suggest they get an extra guitar or a synthesizer if they don't want to remain a novelty act.

Saxon played a very well received set early Saturday to a large crowd, looking rather more lively than I had seen them a week or two ago in London; the same could be said of Kobra and the Lotus who started Sunday. Devildriver and Lamb of God delivered their punishing thrash to fearsome pits. The softer sounds of  Sanguine were rather lost behind the pummelling rhythms of the nearby stage. A rare treasure was Mechanical Smile, playing an angsty rock entrancing the bedroom jam stage. The singer might work on looking at the fret board rather less when picking out her chords. The ritual of Ghost was exceptional in type among the performers at Download, and not at all bad in form either, and I wonder if there is not more room for the theatrical or prog approach on the modern scene.

Oh, and the last act were Black Sabbath, with an excellent bassist, fine guitarist, very physical drummer and an odd but very effective front man. They played almost entirely the earlier, blues-based material, rather a curious choice in such a large venue, and sounded quite different to all the other bands.