Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Reviewed by Nathan Daniel

Arriving at the arena gates at 11.45am, with an entrance scheduled for just 15 minutes later, all seemed well. However, it wasn’t long until the Download Festival Twitter announced that arena opening times had been set back by 2 hours due to the appalling weather conditions. On top of that, mud plastered the grounds of Donnington, making for difficult walking (and moshing); and the bands scheduled to play early on(Such as Austin Dickinson’s Rise To Remain & Cancer Bats) found themselves without sets to play.
2 hours of waiting, in the end, proved not to be so bad, with mass sing-alongs of Tenacious D keeping the thousands entertained and clearly showing who they were most excited for.

First up, Silent Descent on the Pepsi Max Stage. A trance-metal band, that despite an 8-year long career, seem to have achieved relatively little. They draw in an average-sized crowd who are in need of warming up, and thankfully, to an extent, are indeed warmed up. Their heavy melodies see the crowd bouncing at some points, but it seems that the band may be enjoying themselves more than the crowd. They do however finish positiviely, as vocalist Tom Waitling finds himself atop the crowd.
Outside the Pepsi Max stage, Fear Factory (improvised openers of Main Stage) can be heard booming across Download. Their music though, resembles the consistency of the mud on the floor. Bludgeoning riffs and heavy vocals have never sounded so monotonous, but the Californians do manage to send sections of the crowd into a moshing frenzy.

Following Fear Factory on the Jim Marshall stage, are another set of Californians, NOFX. They’re a refreshing blast of Punk-Rock on an otherwise, heavy Friday line-up. Fat Mike introduces the band as “the Megadeth of Punk-Rock”, before blasting through classics such as ‘Bob’ and ‘Franco Un-American’.  As could be expected, they keep the crowd entertained with their bouncy Ska-tinged music and upbeat personalities. Coming ever closer to their 30th birthday, NOFX show no signs of slowing down with 3 UK tours scheduled for this year and a holding of their contoversial, hilarious reputation.

Billy Talent play in the same slot as in their 2009 performance, and draw in the biggest crowd of the day. They also receive the best crowd reaction so far, and after a rendition of ‘Rusted From The Rain’, allow Cancer Bats to take the stage for the ever-popular ‘Hail Destroyer’. This kind act of bromance vastly pleases the crowd, allowing Liam Cormier to sprint around the stage, whipping the thousands into many a circle pit. Billy Talent play the second half of their set, finishing with a triumphant ‘Red Flag’ and proving to be just what the Main Stage needed to really get going.

Cue Skindred on the Jagermeister Acoustic Stage. Expectations are high following their famous five-star performance of 2011 as they tore the Main Stage apart. 47-year-old Benji Webbe is as energetic as ever, bouncing around the stage in a Michael Jackson Thriller-style jacket. The crowd soak up his brilliance, loving every moment of the 30 minute set. Benji instructs the crowd to imagine that they are on a hot, sunny, Jamaican beach. They may be stood in a cold, wet, mud-filled field, but for those 30 minutes, they could have been wherever they wanted.
Yashin afterwards, deliver a similarly brilliant performance. They emphasise a togetherness in their crowd, opening with single ‘New Year Or New York’ and telling each member of the crowd to link arms, turning them into a bouncing machine.

Meanwhile, Machine Head show a certain prestige back on the Jim Marshall stage. Rob Flynn conducts tens of thousands of metalheads, wrapped around his little finger, into a furious rage. Chants of “MACHINE FUCKING HEAD!” and crowd roars of appreciation are deafening to all within Donnington Park. They demonstrate their elite in breaking the circle pit world record, with no less than 24 tearing around the crowd. Machine Head really do provide a spectacle today, showing just why they are Titans of Metal.

Fresh (or ridiculously hungover) from winning ‘Best British Newcomer’ at the previous night’s Kerrang! Awards, While She Sleeps take to the Pepsi Max Stage. They walk out to the roar of a packed tent, rammed with ‘The Black Youth’ (WSS fans) and those that are more curious to see what the band are about.
Within seconds of political opener ‘Dead Behind The Eyes’, its quite clear what sort of performance may be ahead –  an intense, powerful and unforgettable performance from an uprising band. The Sheffield Metallers display what is undoubtedly the highest amount of energy that Download has seen so far, with guitarists flying from side-to-side and singer throwing himself into the crowd. Not even the cutting out of the sound system as Loz (Taylor, vocalist) scales the scaffolding could dampen such a performance. They leave the stage to a huge crowd wanting more, and indeed knowledgable of why this is a band who are well on their way to big things.

The Prodigy may arrive on stage over 20 minutes late for their Headline set, but within minutes, the mistake is forgotten. They open with 2009’s ‘World’s On Fire’, to a positively brilliant crowd reception. The rest of 90 minute set sees them deliver hit after hit, after hit. Maxim Reality and Keith Flint act as conductors of the 95,000 strong crowd, not allowing them to stop for a breath. It’s arguable whether they even stop bouncing for the entire time as they witness what is truly something special.

This performance, if nothing else, firmly demonstrates that there is a definite place for acts such as The Prodigy at Rock and Metal festivals. The biggest of their three appearances at Download Festival, The Prodigy destroy the Jim Marshall stage and set a standard for the following nights’ headliners.