Legendary German heavy metallers ACCEPT have recently shared a history of Bloodstock Open Air Festival on their official website which can be read below:
“Destiny always has a surprise for passionate people. In 2001, Paul entered the way that destiny was defined, but without his knowledge; big occurrences never announce when they will happen.
On a rainy day in 2000, the passionate British artist Paul Gregory who believed in Heavy Metal and nothing else met his friend, Vince Brotheridge, for a beer. Like all Metal lovers, they started talking about Rock ‘N’ Roll and pure steel and that was the point which the destiny maker started writing a new story, in the face of the rising sun he painted glory and fire. Vince seemed to be inspired by the Metal Gods, he told Paul: “how cool it would be to start a metal festival…” the eyes of destiny started shining so bright and people saw the sign in a huge flash of lightning coming down from the sky, and Paul said a strong YES to his fate blessed by the storm.
Everything is always more difficult in the beginning, but passion will ease this and show the way. Paul and Vince chose a venue in Derby and now they needed some Metal warriors on their stage. The Metal Gods who didn’t want to leave them alone, whispered in Paul’s ear to call Biff Byford, frontman and sword carrier of the legendary SAXON. Biff knew Paul very well, as he had designed several album covers over the years for SAXON. Biff accepted to headline the first festival, so an indoor version of Bloodstock Festival was born.
Paul and Vince carried on until 2006 when Vince left the team amicably. Paul’s family, who were already involved with the festival, didn’t want to leave him alone. So in a family gathering close to the fireplace, they took the oath again and cheered to the glory of Metal when the flame was shining on Gregory family. Blood knows the same blood, Adam, Vicky and Rachael who have Paul’s blood in their veins became the engine of this train while Paul’s essence is still a big motivation for them. Vicky Hungerford (Paul’s daughter) accepted to design the stages with mighty Metal warriors, as the legacy of Paul’s art runs through her veins. Rachael Greenfield (Paul’s daughter) who got the brain from Paul as her legacy, became the mastermind of the team and accepted to manage the marketing and infrastructure. Adam Gregory was always the man of ideas, so Paul named him as Master of Ideas for Bloodstock Open Air Festival and he also organises all issues about sponsorship, infrastructure and licensing. The Metal Gods found out that the family was not complete yet, so they chose Simon Hall and whispered his name in the family’s ears. Simon joined the family and they accepted him as a brother, so he is largely responsible for working on the Metal 2 The Masses project and is an expert in running and promoting this.
Now and after twelve years of glory, Bloodstock Open Air Festival became the biggest, number one and the most sensational Heavy Metal festival in the UK. It is a well established annual part of heavy metal history, taking place every August at Catton Hall, Derbyshire, England, over three days and three stages, blessed by flame and lightening and the Metal Gods themselves. The biggest names in metal have graced the stages over the years and 2013 is no exception. The headlining acts are King Diamond, Lamb Of God and Slayer, but there are so many more metal bands appearing: Accept, Avantasia, Anthrax, Sabaton, Exodus, Devildriver, Ex Deo and Whitechapel to name a few.
Writer: Mohsen Fayyazi Edited by Alison Booth”
As previously announced, ACCEPT‘s “Blood Of The Nations” album is 100% Metal Shock Finland‘s “The Best Shocking Comeback Album” in the whole of heavy metal history.
Metal Shock Finland‘s Chief Editor, Mohsen Fayyazi commented:
“That shocking news, I still can remember it. “ACCEPT Is Back”, It was shocking enough to make me jump 1 metre high. I’m glad they did it and how awesome they did! Yeah that was bloody great shocking news.“
Senior Manager, Ali Blackdiamond stated the following:
“When I heard this album it literally blew me away! The power and energy of the band and the music is mind blowing, every song is brilliant! Then when I saw ACCEPT touring and playing the songs live, it was the icing on the cake, I loved every minute!”
“Blood Of The Nations” is the band’s first studio recording since 1996, featuring new vocalist Mark Tornillo, drummer Stefan Schwarzmann and also guitarist Herman Frank, since Balls To The Wall in 1983. The album was produced by the legendary Andy Sneap and released on August 20, 2010 via Nuclear Blast. “Blood Of The Nations” has been met with many positive reviews and it featured on many charts some of which are listed below
- Finnish Album Chart: 9#
- Swedish Album Chart: 7#
- German Album Chart: 4#
- Hungarian Album Chart: 7#
- Swiss Album Chart: 15#
- European Billboard Top 100: 12#
On 21 May 2010 their video for “Teutonic Terror” was number 5 on the worldwide video charts in all genres on MySpace. The video also topped the MySpace Global Metal Charts at Number 1.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 