BOA 2016 rate the bands you saw

[houston4044]

As per usual, rate the bands you saw over the weekend and we can see if any band particularly stood out for better or for worse.

(all scores out of 10)

Psykosis 7- Good solid thrash, enjoyable
Phil Campbell 10- Such a great set, and top it off as closure I got to hear my favourite Motorhead track that i'd never heard (Deaf Forever) and get to hear Dee Snider sing my 2nd favourite

RedEye Revival 5- Just didn't seem to get out of 1st gear
Souls of Jack Ketch 6- Solid
Evil Scarecrow 9- Finally got to see them live, now I understand all the fuss! Hilarious, getting a whole field of strangers to scuttle was great.
Anti-Clone 4- Like a second rate Mushroomhead
Misery Loves Co 5- Played far too many slow songs, Kiss My boots was amazing, shame they picked a poor setlist.
Stuck Mojo 5- Kind of had it coming, but was enjoyable for the odd song
Foetal Juice 8- Just like Morgue Orgy the other year, hilarious dark humoured death metal; was excellent
Venom 7.5- Bit slow to start off with but once they found their feet they were flying, would see again.
Twisted Sister 10- Amazing! So glad I finally got to see them! Songs that I was never too keen on before sound great now I've heard them live, my only tiny niggle was leaving out Stay Hungry (coulda swapped it for Destroyer IMO)

Heretic Order 8- Good way to start the day
Kill II This 6- Better than expected, bigger crowd than expected too
Vallenfyre 6- It was good, but just didn't click with me completley.
Vodun 8- very enjoyable, nice mellow break.
The King Is Blind 7- Liam Cormier turning up was a random surprise but worked well
Fear Factory 9- Aside from Burton's vocals being a tad dodgy (but better than usual) was flawless
Mordrake 7- Standard metal done well
Paradise Lost 6.5- They just didn't really seem interested, Holmes' banter was good though
Bull Riff Stampede 7- Good last minute replacement
Gojira 6- I was surprised how many songs I remembered
Acid Reign 9- Solid, solid thrash.

Sanguine 7- Apart from Pretty Girl where her screams were like nails on chalkboard it was good
Unearth 8- I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was, good walk down memory lane for me
Metal Allegience 7- When it came to doing the slower parts of songs such as Into the Void they just fell off a cliff but for the rest of the set they were great
Dragonforce 8- surprisingly good, shame about the delayed start but found myself enjoying them alot
Vektor 7.5-
Anthrax 10- Set list niggles aside, everything else was perfect (although I admit I am hugely biast here )
Slayer 8- Either it was tiredness but my enjoyment dipped after Mandatory Suicide up to Dead Skin Mask after which it picked up


RAM gallery- Was worth a look around, made a nice break from everything and made me realize what a good artist the man is
Battle of the Nations- Good as per usual
Strongman- The lack of any kind of commentary or talking made me realize how much commentators add to these things, highlight had to be the guy near me doing Jim Ross impressions, nearly pissed myself in laughter

[someone else]

Friday
Glory Hammer - great fun. 7/10
Evil Scarecrow - Still a band who can't seem to believe how fan a joke has got them, but it still raises a smile 6/10
MLC - The outdoor stage was a little big for them, but decent enough 6/10
Stuck Mojo - No No No No No No - lame riffs and white boy rapping, the worst of 90's metal in one package. 3/10
CoC - After seeing them twice since the reunion, playing a slightly slowed down set with stand in drummer and instruments, it didn't quite hit the peaks, but they're a great band 7/10
XII Bore - Decent enough, but there are loads of bands doing what they do 6/10
Behemoth - Not a massive fan, but alright 7/10
Twisted Sister - fantastic from start to finish 10/10

Saturday
Mage - Decent start to the day, they're an ok band but get 8/10 for not being in earshot of K2T
Vallenfyre - Not my thing, but some decent riffs, but should have been in the tent 6/10
Cybernetic Witch Cult - Fantastic find on the Jager - Monster Magnet type band who broght some flair to the tiny stage with B Movie and sync'd dialogue projected onto the backdrop. 9/10
Akercocke - Meh, didn't get them first time round, and some atrocious solo-ing 4/10
Vodun - Let down by bad sound, but they're a great band 7/10
Rotting Christ - never heard them before, but sounded good 7/10
Fear Factory - Couldn't get the nostalgia juices flowing, tinny, dated underpowered 90s metal sounding like someone banging a biscuit tin for 45mins, then bad goth ballading. Replica was a lone highpoint 5/10
Paradise Lost - seeing them for the millionth time, you never know which one is going to turn up, fortunately it was the decent one. More of an older set with lots of dry humour 8/10
Stubb - bit of psyche rock in the VIP tent, decent but wrong festival 7/10
Gojira - I'm still 50/50 on them, the bits I liked were great, but lots of dull stuff too 6/10
Grifter - Good bit of dirty riffing, livened by a 6 yr old going mental to their whole set 7/10
Mastodon - Like em on record but they didn't work, doesn't help that only the drummer can sing well, so only some songs hit their mark 6/10

Sunday
Heart Of A Coward - sounded like a bunch of posh lads playing at being metal - lumpen mid paced plod rock 4/10
Unearth - Sounded alright, nowt amazing 6/10
Jukebox Monkey - decent sounding stoner-grunge 7/10
Symphony X - Second to TS as band of the weekend, showing that power metal doesn't have to be piss weak shrieking 9/10
Anthrax - Not a huge fan: I like them on cd but never done much for me live 6/10
Pythia - Not as dreadful as the first time I saw them, but still not my thing. My mate is into that stuff and he loved them 5/10
Slayer - I think its because I never listened to them as a teen that Slayer mean nothing to me: I like them a bit, but never enough to really get into them and have no nostalgia value, so they are probably never going to deliver that knockout punch, but it was the best I've seen them 7/10

I did see some other bands in the tents, but not ones that made enough of an impact to find out who they were. So a hit and miss line up all told.

[Skippy]

Thursday
Phil Campbell - Didn't do much for me, seemed like an average pub rock band until Dee Snyder livened them up for one song - 6/10

Friday
Fury - Fantastic way to properly start the festival - 8/10
Gloryhammer - Let down by poor sound but were still fantastic - 8/10
Evil Scarecrow - I've seen them too many times, but they are still pretty good, especially with a crowd going mental for them - 8/10
Isarnos - Sounded immense, but definitely suffered being on a poor stage - 8/10
Garganjua - Continued an amazing start to a festival, in a completely different way to everything else I'd seen - 8/10
Misery Loves Co. - Just sounded like a nu-metal emo band. Clearly noone cared either - 3/10
Venom - Not my thing at all - 3/10
Agrona - Not exactly my thing but they are local so I went to see them. Put on a decent show anyway - 6/10
Beyond the Black - Didn't really know them that well but they were absolutely fantastic - 9/10
Twisted Sister - I heard they were good, didn't realise they would be THAT good - 9/10


Saturday
Cambion - Looked a bit out of their depth on the mainstage and most of their songs kind of blurred into one breakdown - 5/10
Vodun - Were excellent but sound kind of let them down - 8/10
Rotting Christ - Not much to say. They didn't blow me away but solid festival fare really - 7/10
Misanthrope - I felt kind of bad for them. They handled it well, but they had the smallest crowd of the weekend and most of them were playing with balls - 6/10
Paradise Lost - Looked pretty disinterested, I really enjoyed them last time but they looked like they didn't want to play the set they were - 6/10
Gojira - Sounded immense from what little I saw of them. Too common over here for me to feel too bad for missing them though - 8/10
Poseidon - Suffered from Gojira playing next to them, and sounded too much Garganjua the day before to me. They were decent though - 6/10
Shining - Were probably the band of the weekend for me. So much better indoors than they were on the mainstage - 9/10
Mastodon - Sounded like nothing. I walked away after 4 songs of bland nonentities, apparently they got better but from what I saw they were not a headliner - 4/10

Sunday
Visions of Disfigurement - I have no idea why I watched these. Entertaining for a brief period, and then just boring - 3/10
Ghostbath - Definitely in the wrong slot, would have been much better in the tent but I thoroughly enjoyed them - 8/10
Sanguine - Surprisingly varied and entertaining set - 8/10
Metal Allegiance - I was expecting more, from the "you never know who might turn up", having just Gary Holt for one song was a bit of a letdown. Entertaining anyway though I guess - 7/10
Witchsorrow - Didn't mean to watch them but they are always solid - 7/10
Rabid Bitch of the North - Maybe I was too tired but they were a bit of a disappointment - 6/10
Satyricon - Not my thing but sounded immense if it was - 5/10
Aklash - Excellent band, they might take themselves a bit too seriously though. - 8/10
Dragonforce - On a bit too late for me to get a full interest in, and their music is a bit too samey - 5/10
Sodomized Cadaver - A mate's band, put on a fine show even if I hate the genre - 7/10
Symphony X - Brilliant. Not quite up to the standard of their show early in the year, but they were amazing. Seemed like the crowd picked up when they realised as well. - 9/10
Footprints in the Custard - For better and worse, probably the next Evil Scarecrow - 8/10
Anthrax - I guess I was just too tired to care by that point - 5/10
Pythia - The music was good, but the singer just seemed terrified - 6/10
Slayer - Much better than last time, but there is no way they should ever close a festival. Feels like they only have one song - 3/10

[phuqsticks]

Friday
- Gloryhammer - Great to have some power metal and plenty of sillyness - 7/10
- Evil Scarecrow - Very good fun - 7/10
- Isarnos - One of the surprises of the weekend; a bloody good folk/metal band - 8/10
- Metastasis- Not my cup of tea, but entertaining as they were bloody bonkers 5/10
- Corrosion of Conformity - Cracking set despite some difficulties - 9/10
- Behemoth- Not a fan of The Satanist, but a good show - 7/10
- Back To The Black - solid Delain-lite types - 6/10
- Twisted Sister - Reason I bought my early bird and a stunning show - 10/10

Saturday
- The Heretic Order - Theatrical satanic trad metal. Very entertaining 7/10
- Ten Ton Slug. Very Impressive sludgey doom on the New blood - 7/10
- The Raven Age - Slick but bland - 4/10
- Vendetta - Tight hardcore band worked the crowd well - 7/10
- Vodun - Most original band of the weekend and lots of love for them around the site afterwards - 10/10
- Rotting Christ - Best RJD stage band of the day - 9/10
- Paradise Lost - Very patchy 5/10
- Misanthrope - I lasted 2 songs - 2/10
- Bull Riff Stampede - bored me - 4/10
- Shining - Waaaaaaaaayyy better than I'd been expecting - 8/10

Sunday
- Sanguine - Not completely convinced about the vocals, but great tunes and very entertaining - 7/10
- Metal Allegiance - Better live than on the EP. Fun, but still just a covers band 6/10
- Satyricon - Great performance, Satyr put everything into it - 8/10
- Whispered - Well-drilled band, well received set. 7/10
- Symphony X - Slick, professional, but not as much fun as the bands that followed 7/10
- Footprints In The Custard- Biggest New Blood crowd of the weekend and what's not to like about a band who finish their set with a thrash version of 'Its Raining Men'? 9/10
- Anthrax - Consumate professionals as entertaining as ever - 9/10
- Pythia - New singer's voice not quite as good as old one, but still decent and the band looked like they were having fun. 7/10
- Slayer - Way better than 2013, but still not as good as Anthrax - 8/10
- Goatwhore - I was flagging by then, but they ripped the remaining crowd a new one - 9/10

[metalicbear]

Phil Campbell - 8/10 - Awesome fast paced set, a perfect homage to Lemmy, lead singer was more of a karaoke singer though.

Fury - 6/10 - Tight musically, started off average but got better as the set went on.
Gloryhammer - 7/10 - Couldn't hear the vocals in the first song, but after was really good. Angus McFife is an anthem.
Evil Scarecrow - 5.5/10 - First time seeing them and I just don't get it. Musically they are ok, the props are shit like their song writing ability. I get the feeling they think they are good, don't need to see them again now.
Misery Loves Co - 2/10 - Dull as fuck.
Stuck Mojo - 3/10 - New singer has no charisma, songs sound dated, were terribly out of place.
Twisted Sister - 10/10 - First and last time seeing them. Absolutely Brilliant.

The Heretic Order - 6/10 - Went to see them after reading their description in the guide, was pleasantly surprised.
Kill II This - 4/10 - Slightly better than Stuck Mojo, can't believe they're actually writing new material. Doesn't belong at BOA.
Vodun - 7/10 - Couldn't hear the vocals cleanly for the vast majority of the set, but sounded good, bags of character and energy.
Gojira - 6/10 - Didn't really want to watch them. Boring.
Mastodon - 6/10 - Have seen them better. Tight, but no crowd interaction.

Desert Storm - 7/10 - Great start to the day. Great riffs. Could have been on the main stage.
Sanguine - 6.5/10 - A very Skunk Anansie vibe to them. Vocals were a bit iffy, but otherwise good.
Metal Allegiance - 6/10 - Had high expectations for them. Their covers were quite good, their own material was shit.
Dragonforce - 6/10 - Let's be honest people only go to see them for that one song and Herman Li. The band were a pissed up mess. Badly need ZP Theart back in the band.
Symphony X - 7.5/10 - Don't really know their songs, first time seeing them and they were a delight.
Anthrax - 8/10 - Have seen them about 5 times now. Tight as ever.
Slayer - 7.5/10 - Not the best I've seen them, but still enjoyable.

[Noodle]

Friday

Fury - 6 Probably a bit too early for me to get into it.
Gloryhammer - 9 Blew all those overnight cobwebs away.
Evil Scarecrow - 10 Hilarious and brilliant!
Venom - 7 Good until Chronos decided to attempt dialogue.
Agrona - 8 Sound was spot on for their style.
Behemoth - 6 Purely for Chant for Eschaton. Rest of it was pretty pants.
Twisted Sister - 6 Burn in Hell was enough for me to retire to drink with mates

Saturday

The Raven Age - 5 Promising intro faded into something I just couldn't get into.
Akercocke - 7 Sloppy at times but the setlist was strong enough to satisfy me.
Vodun - 5 I sort of liked the idea, and the girl can sing! But the music itself fell way short of my tastes.
Rotting Christ - 10 Band of the weekend.
Fear Factory - 5 On paper I should have loved it. In reality Burton's usual attempts at singing ruined it.
Mordrake - 8 Stepped into the New Blood stage as I had nothing better to do. Didn't leave until the end.
Gojira - 9 Heavy as many heavy objects. Just as good as last time.
Acid Reign - 9 Great way to end the day.

Sunday

Ghost Bath - 8 Ridiculous. Brilliant.
Metal Allegiance - 5 Didn't get it.
Art of Deception - 8 I have finally found a Norwegian death metal band worth listening to.
Satyricon - 8 One point off for not stopping after Mother North, and another for Satyr reminding us how important he is to black metal.
Whispered - 7 Managed to catch a few songs before going to watch the end of Dragonforce.
Dragonforce - 6 Didn't give me that power metal buzz.
Sodomized Cadaver - 7 Sort of watched from the side of the Jager tent before frustration from not being able to see or hear them properly set in.
Symphony X - 4 On paper I should have loved them. Went off to get food instead.
Memoriam - 9 I really did not want that to end. Worth missing Footprints in the Custard for.
Anthrax - 6 Maybe I was in the wrong mood but they did very little for me.
Pythia - 9 Sadly only got to see 15 minutes but the sound was perfect. Very impressed.
Andrew O'Neil's History of Metal - 8 I made a point of actually going to see some comedy. Yep, t'was indeed funny.
Slayer - 7 Better than expected.
Goatwhore - 8 Great way to finish another great festival

[Beastly]

Venom- Awesome but kinda weird to see them in blazing sunshine as Kronos admitted himself! Deserved better.
Slayer- Best time I've seen them in years. Last time was at Download when their set got cut short for Marilyn manson of all people.
Anthrax- Good but seen them better. Should have started on a favourite but I do realise it must get tired playing the same old shit when you have new material to promote.
Twisted Sister- Rocking. Back in the day you were either thrash or glam and that was it. Surprised they didn't play I Wanna Rock.
Mastodon- Sorry but I just don't get this thing you call math rock is it? Didn't play the one song I know and could use a frontman. Nice of them to support Acid Reign. I plagarize H shamelessly.
Desert Storm- Yeah it's death metal but too early in the day for me to even try it for more than a song or 2.
Diamond Head- Obviously only went to hear one song and it was great. Wish I'd been able to see more.
GhostBath? Shit for hipsters who want to be metal
Phil Campbell's All Star band- Great to hear classic rock and naturally Motorhead. Pity I was too busy to actually get to watch them.
COC- Voting with a Bullet still rocks
Evil Scarecrow- local lads putting on a great show pure entertainment
Gloryhammer- Sounded OK but I'm always dubious of concept bands. Took me forever to get into Nocturnus. My mate liked them!
Beyond the Black- Found them by complete accident and the female singer is incredibly talented as well as fairly easy on the eye to boot. Asked some lad who they were and all he could say was "That's my future wife". The ballad version of Love Me Forever (Motorhead cover) was simply breathtaking. Never seen anything like it and I've been to more than a handful of gigs in my time.
Gojira- Seem like a good solid heavy rocking band to me.
paradise lost- was stuck in the queue for signing when these were on but they sounded better than I remember of late
Fear factory- Got bored. I thought the first album was great but didn't hear anything off it.
Rotting Christ- Surprised I haven't heard these sooner because it's the kinda stuff I dig groovy black thrash with synchronized headbanging
Akercocke- Diddn't even relalise it was them. Guess it wasn't the weather for suits. Sounded brutal enough but nothing from Goat of mendes. First day back in school eh?!
Vallenfyre- Slipped by without notice. I have the album and did actually want to see them. Meh.
Cambion- Sounded good to me!
Acid Reign- Good to be 17 again. Proper crowdsurfing action as it should be and no one got chucked out. H you legend buy me a beer next time.
Symphony X- Pleasantly surprised I'm not usually keen on stuff with instrumental bits.
Dragonforce- Bit widdly for me and I can't play the solos on Rockband either.
Satyricon- LOL I would have preferred Immortal but the lad who said they were the band that got him into metal seemed to like them. Mine was Sabbat.
Unearth- Not heard them before. New Swedish Death metal done right. I started with Entombed.
Saw a few other bands on jaegermeister but you can't really hear them when the main stage soundcheck starts from where I am.

i realise I probably wrote a right load of old twaddle there but I'm still buzzing so please indulge me. I don't give marks out of 10 statistics are meaningless and numbers are only there to control your mind. You are not a computer even if you live on one. peace out.

The Beast

[VizardAmata]

Friday

Witch Tripper - Good start to things. 6/10
Gloryhammer - 8/10. Despite sound problems, they were great. SO MUCH CHEESE
Evil Scarecrow - 8/10. Fantastic as always.
Behemoth - Solid black metal. 7/10
Venom - Kept me entertained despite not being a huge fan. 7/10
Twisted Sister - 9/10. Absolutely stunning! Watched the entire thing and was never bored for a moment.

Saturday

Vallenfyre - 5/10. Not bad but didn't do it for me.
Ackercocke - 6/10. That was Ackercocke, all right.
Rotting Christ - 7/10. Not seen them before and was not disappointed, a solid performance.
Paradise Lost - 7/10. They played lots of old stuff, so I was happy. Much better than when I last saw them.
Gojira - 8/10. Excellent, as expected. They played minimal waffle from the mixed bag new album.
Acid Reign - 9/10. OUTSTANDING! Fucking loved every minute of it.

Sunday

Ghost Bath - 6/10. Gary's reaction to them was fucking priceless, but they were entertaining.
Metal Allegiance - 2/10. Fucking awful, how do you butcher so many classics?
Satyricon - 8/10. Cracking performance, Satyr gave it his all.
Whispered - 7/10. My feet were fucking agony by this point, but they still managed to keep me moving.
Memoriam. 8/10. Bolt Thrower without being Bolt Thrower. Excellent performance, glad I chose them over Footprints. Bonus point for Bolt Thrower tracks being played.
Pythia - Didn't catch much, but what I saw was solid enough. 6/10
Witchsorrow - Had to shoot off after not very long, but they seemed their usual selves. 7/10 would doom again.
Slayer - 6/10. It was Slayer, so it was good but I couldn't help but feel they were a little formulaic.

[Haldamir319]

Well, that was definitely one of the better incarnations of the festival I've been too. Loads of great performances, decent weather, and very few dickheads around campsite (at least, from our group's perspective). Also, I think it's the first time none of the group sustained any illness (self-inflicted or otherwise) or injury.

Thursday
Sumer - 8/10. A really good start.
Psykosis - 7/10. Not overly original, but good at what they did and were fun, which is all you can ask for.
Phil Campbell's All Starr Band - 8/10. Some cracking covers, and the Dee cameo was a nice touch.

Friday
Witch Tripper - 7/10. A good, solid start to the festival proper. I'd have probably enjoyed them a little more if I wasn't so hung over!
Fury - 7.5/10. More of the same (in terms of quality), extra 0.5 for the lead singer's brilliant voice, and the rousing rendition of 'Britannia'.
Gloryhammer - 9/10. Brilliant. A long requested band that comfortably justified the hype. Got a very good crowd for that time of day, so hopefully it won't be hugely long before they are asked back.
Evil Scarecrow - 8.5/10. Almost as good. Love the on stage antics, and they seem to come up with something new each time. Hopefully they will write another killer song or two before their next visit, when they will surely be elevated a few more spot (especially comfortably drawing more than the two bands directly above them).
Isarnos - 6.5/10. Couldn't really get in the tent, and the sound didn't carry that great, but I enjoyed them decently enough.
The Hyena Kill - 8.5/10. Cracking set from a talented duo. They should probably have been on the 3rd stage.
Stuck Mojo - 6/10. Unoffensive, but lacked many great tunes. I did like 'Rising' though. I don't think the singer was a great frontman.
Chasing Dragons - 8/10 Great frontwoman, and a really good performance. With a few more killer tracks, they'll be a tip top group.
Corrosion of Conformity - 5.5/10. In comparison to the majority of bands I'd seen up to this point, they seemed dreadfully bland. Clean My Wounds was good, but these were one of my biggest disappointments.
Beyond the Black - 9/10. Fantastic.
Twisted Sister - 10/10. That's how you go out on a high. The only shame was that they weren't available to close the Sunday night, as that would have been perfect.

Saturday
The Heretic Order - 7/10. Wasn't too fussed with the opening couple of tracks, but from the very good 'Snake' onwards they improved markedly. The frontman was humorous too.
Mage - 7/10. Didn't check them out as much as I should have done beforehand, but am glad I watched them. Sounded a bit like Orange Goblin with a sprinkling of Down.
The Raven Age - 6/10. Pleasant, clean riffs. Angels in Disgrace was good, though I'd struggle to pick out the band (aurally) from a line-up.
Cibernetic Witch Cult - 10.1/10 BAND OF THE WEEKEND. Totally blew me away, even with such a short set. High Wizard was the song of the festival. Loved the use of the projector and the syncing of the videos to their performance too.
Vodun - 8/10. Sound mix almost ruined their set, but they pulled through. Truly unique, and I'm looking forward to seeing them against at HRH Doom vs Stoner.
Famyne - 7/10. Good performance, and the band showed a lot of potential. I may have enjoyed them more if they hadn't have been directly following the bands they were. Definitely one I'm keeping an eye on though.
Fear Factory - 5.5/10. Well, I think it is official - the vocals have gone. Also, while I know Demanufacture is well regarded in certain circles, I think they would have been better served simply using it as the spine of the set rather than play it in its entirety, and saved a couple of belters for the end. Alongside CoC for most disappointing, I think.
Regulus - 8/10. A great set, though I expected nothing less from one of my favourite local bands.
Gojira - 9.5/10. Was like sex for the ears. So tight, so heavy, so good. Surely a future headliner with that show and the large crowd.
Mastodon - 7/10. I was a little burnt out by this point, and I'd seen so much good stuff that I got a little impatient with them. I don't rate the newest album that much either, though I did think the tracks sounded better live. Lost my shit to Black Tongue (one of my favourite riffs). They were really good at what they did, though, and I know I'd have enjoyed them more on another day.

Sunday
Ghost Bath - 9/10. Bonkers. I know they were described as depressing black metal, but I thought they were more Blackgazey than that. Fantastic musicians, and the vocal technique certainly added something to their set. Golden Number was bloody brilliant live too. I also feel no shame in admitting I was one of the guys attempting 'Ghost Bath vocals' in the campsite for half the evening.
Heart of a Coward - 7/10. Not overly my thing, but I could appreciate how good they were.
Metal Allegiance - 6/10. A bit disappointing, but I liked the sentiment and was pleasantly surprised by the song choices. Wished they'd been tighter - Skolnik was all over the shop on the slower stuff.
DragonForce - 8/10. A shame that the sound problems curtailed their set a bit, but I think they went some way to win over the doubters. Hopefully they'll be back sooner rather than later.
Symphony X - 7/10. The sound mix was rubbish, which took me out of it a bit (could only hear keyboards on two tracks, and the drums drowned out a lot of the other sounds). It's probably a testament to them that I still enjoyed them enough to give them a 7.
Anthrax - 8/10. Watched from near Deli Kate's, as I was exhausted by this point. They didn't disappoint in 2013 and they didn't last night.
Andrew O'Neill's History of Metal - 9/10. Brilliant. Funny, informative and entertaining - I wished he'd had 2 hours instead of 1.
Slayer - 7/10. Watched from between the sound stage and the jager stage to be able to make a hasty exit. Enjoyed them for what they were, and they were pretty tight. However, I've never been a 'Slayer guy' (I prefer the other three of the big four to them) so I struggled a bit towards the end. Well, until South of Heaven/Raining Blood/Angel of Death, which is always a cracking finale.

[Tet]

I wasn't really feeling it this year, so I didn't make my usual efforts to try and catch loads of bands I'd never heard of on the lower stages. I still managed 52 bands, though, so still not too bad:

4/10 Sublime Eyes
2/10 Karybdis
5/10 Sumer
6/10 Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons - Dee!

5/10 Hark
8/10 Fury
8/10 Gloryhammer - Crap sound at the front. I had to move back to near the mixing desk to make it sound any good.
6/10 Evil Scarecrow - The routine seems a bit tired now.
7/10 Isarnos
5/10 Misery Loves Co - Tiny crowd
3/10 Stuck Mojo - Tiny crowd
4/10 Vehement
5/10 The Charm The Fury
7/10 Chasing Dragons - Discovery of the weekend for me.
5/10 Corrosion Of Conformity
4/10 Venom
6/10 Beholder
4/10 Behemoth
7/10 Beyond The Black - Annoyingly I left early to catch Twisted Sister, who started late. I could have stayed for more of their set.
8/10 Twisted Sister - Band of the weekend.
7/10 Diamond Head

5/10 Cambion
7/10 The Heretic Order
5/10 Kill II This
5/10 Mage
7/10 The Raven Age - A few technical problems, but still good.
2/10 Valenfyre
5/10 Cybernetic Witch Cult
2/10 Akercocke
7/10 Rotting Christ
5/10 Fear Factory
2/10 After The Abduction
5/10 One Machine
5/10 Paradise Lost
6/10 Vice
3/10 Gojira
3/10 Mastodon - Worst Bloodstock headliner since My Dying Bride.
4/10 Acid Reign

6/10 Desert Storm
6/10 Pteroglyph
5/10 Heart Of A Coward
7/10 Sanguine - Good, but they've been better in the past.
6/10 Metal Allegiance
7/10 Satyricon
8/10 Dragonforce - As Dan commented, they're good again now.
5/10 Symphony X - Why do so many people rate them? Dull.
6/10 Valous
5/10 Dirty King
4/10 Footprints In The Custard
7/10 Anthrax
8/10 Pythia - Best performance I've seen from them yet.
6/10 Slayer - So, pyro then!

[NeglectedField]

4/10 Footprints In The Custard

What a band name

[satanhimself]

Friday:

Vehement 8/10 - Decent unsigned extreme metal
Foetal Juice 8/10 - Great fun
Stuck Mojo 1/10 - Why were they even booked?
Behemoth 9/10 - Amazing band, just ashame about the sound!!
Beyond The Black 6/10 - mehhh
Twisted Sister 7/10 - Not massively my thing
Diamond Head 7/10 - Am I Evil?!

Saturday:

Vallenfyre 7/10 - Great music although I didn't like the vocals
This Is Turin 9/10 - One of the UK's hidden gems
Akercocke 9/10 - Very much enjoyed my first time of seeing these guys
Paradise Lost 9/10 - Great band, just wish they played more tracks from Requiem
Mastodon 7/10 - Only caught 30 minutes sadly
Acid Reign 5/10 - Not my thing

Sunday:

Satyricon 5/10 - Murdered by shit sound
DragonForce 6/10 - A band I was excited for for had their set cut massively
Symphony X 10/10 - Band of the weekend for me, professional and musically superb
Slayer 5/10 - Murdered by shit sound

After party entertainment Friday 8/10 - yes fairly entertaining
After party entertainment Saturday 2/10 - It's exactly the same as the night before
After party entertainment Sunday 0/10 - How is it entertaining having the same thing 3 nights in a row?

[Fourducks]

Thurs

Sublime Eyes - 6
Karybdis - 6
Sumer - 8 - Nice change of pace, really liked them
Psykosis - 7
Phil Campbell - 8 - Nice to hear some Motorhead songs live, sounded pretty good

Friday

Hark - 5 - Bit uninspiring but not awful for a opening slot
Gloryhammer - 9 - Great fun, festival needs more of this and less Stuck Mojo
Brutai - 3 - Think they're alright on record but their sound was fucking awful.
Isarnos - 8 - Perfect band for the Jager tent
Garganjua - 8 - Excellent doom, great change of pace for the NB stage too
Corrosion of C. - 8 - Sound fantastic with Pepper back, good setlist, one point docked for the slightly overlong outro to Clean My Wounds
Venom - 7 - Not that keen on the band outside of the first 2 records, sounded good though.
Behemoth - 7.5 - Some songs on The Satanist are a bit unremarkable but I fucking love it when they do shit like the end of O Father... with the masks etc.
Twisted Sister - 10 - Perfect performance, even better than I expected. Great setlist, sounded crisp and heavy, Dee's charisma as a frontman is almost unmatched. Shame that's the last show.

Saturday

The Heretic Order - 7 - Pretty good, bit cheesy but no harm done.
Mage - 7 - Heavy, a bit unmemorable though.
Akercocke - 6.5 - Do like them on record but the songs sounded a bit muddy live.
Rotting Christ - 8 - Good atmosphere, nice mix of older and newer songs too. Newer songs sound fantastic in a live scenario.
Paradise Lost - 7.5 - Happy they played Beneath Broken Earth, what an amazing track.
Gojira - 8.5 - Saw them at Download this year and they were fantastic again at Bloodstock, excellent sound quality, shame I missed the last 2 tracks to piss.
Mastodon - 5.5 - Never really been a great fan outside of Blood Mountain when I was a teenager, most of their newer songs just sound like the same track over and over. Zero stage presence as a headliner too.

Sunday

Ghost Bath - 7.5 - Thought they were great, nice melodies. Extra .5 for the crowd/campsite scream shenanigans.
Kahtet - 7 - Another good New Blood band, music worked well without vocals.
Satyricon - 8 - Nemesis Divina is my favourite BM album, great to hear it live and they sounded excellent.
Whispered - 8 - Excellent melodic Death with a theme well worked into the music. Glad they clashed with a main stage band I had no interest in or I might have missed them.
Symphony X - 5 - I like the band but when you have a guitarist as good as Michael Romeo, you don't bury him beneath mountains of bass. Really disappointed. Left a little early to catch...
Memoriam - 8 - Proper rumbling Death Metal, no surprise considering the band members' histories. Loved hearing a couple Bolt Thrower songs live too... SPEAR. HEAAAAAD!
Slayer - 7.5 - Great setlist, plenty of old classics. Sounded a bit muddy though. Also wasn't happy with Postmortem not leading into Raining Blood. Much better than Mastodon though.
Goatwhore - 9.5 - Still had plenty energy left after Slayer so we caught Goatwhore in the tent to close the fest. Fuck me sideways they played a blinder. My neck is still sore.

----

Overall I think the bands this year were excellent, a few problems with the sound here and there which ruined a couple bands (really annoyed about Symphony X). Looking forward to next year!

[rainer]

Anthrax - awesome 10/10
Slayer - not as good as Anthrax 9/10

[bloodfiend]

THURSDAY:

Psykosis – saw them a few years ago when they threw some of their revolting home brew into the crowd, didn’t do anything for me then and no different this time 4/10
Phil Campbell – wasn’t expecting much at all, but was completely surprised, such a fun party to kick things off in the tent on Thursday night, Dee Snider’s cameo stole the show, but the whole thing was a blast 9/10

FRIDAY:

Gloryhammer – just glorious! Cheesey than really really cheesey thing but absolutely brilliant, was screaming along every word down the front with a load of other die heards, and even my power metal hating gf really liked them, which just shows how good they were 9/10
Evil Scarecrow – not the best start when they bounced in on space hoppers and lobbed them into the crowd, and one landed right on my full beer and destroyed the fucking thing! Still great fun, even if I thought they were better 2 years ago 8/10
Isarnos – perfect little break down the front of the Jaager stage, some very well done folk metal with bagpipes, flutes and hurdy gurdy and other shit, great festival music in the sun 8/10
Stuck Mojo – pseudo-macho rap metal tripe, why BOA booked this beyond me, the sparse crowd after the field had been full early in the day told you all you need to know 3/10
Foetal Juice – gave us a Twisted Sister tribute called Twisted Fister and a tribute to Corpsegrinder’s neck called NoNeckAHedron! The songs were drivel, but still quite fun to watch 5/10
Behemoth – such a dependable live band, absolutely nail it every time! Was actually a nice change seeing them do The Satanist as opposed to the best of set I’ve seen many times before, the highlight was still the mighty Chant For Eschaton 2000 at the end though 9/10
Beyond The Black – was expecting some female fronted symphonic metal, was more like a bland Eurovision pop entry 3/10
Twisted Sister – fuck yeah, what a performance, last UK gig and they fucking smashed it! Played for longer than they were supposed to, and I wished it went on for even longer…and Dee Snider looks incredibly ripped for a 61 year old! 10/10
Diamond Head – tedious old knackers, never done anything for me when I’ve seen them, and this didn’t change that, lasted about 4 songs 3/10

SATURDAY:

Kill 2 This – slightly better than expected but still pretty rubbish. Can’t fault the singer’s enthusiasm, but the songs were worthless, crowd was small and apathetic, a band that should never have been at BOA, never mind on the main stage 4/10
Vallenfyre – Greg MacIntosh staggered on stage like a drunk tramp who had been sleeping in the gutter for the last week, and the band played some filthy dirty death metal to match, Greg’s better song rants were some of the best of the weekend! 8/10
Akercocke – was never a huge fan back in the day and never thought they were much good live when I saw them, but this so better than before, they totally nailed it! They don’t need stupid suits or an image anymore, the music did the talking – brutal but dark and evil as fuck, they’ve given themselves a new lease of life and I look forward to the new album lots 9/10
Rotting Christ – another band who I don’t think could play a bad gig if they tried, as usual they were spot on, an awesome hypnotic and unholy maelstrom 8/10
Fear Factory – …and after 2 bands who smashed it, came a massive let down. Demanufacture is a fucking awesome album, and they should have blown the place apart with it. But the sound was muffled, Burton’s vocals were poor, they had no back drop or real stage presence, and just ambled through the album like they were bored and uninterested. Very disappointing 4/10
Paradise Lost – better than the above, but still a let down. Had seen them on fire at Hellfest, playing an electrifying fun through of Gothic, but this was just a production line setlist which they plodded through without much enthusiasm 6/10
Gojira – watch 3 songs. Yawn 4/10
Shining – a lot found the main stage performance 2 years ago offputting, but this was a million times better, the tent was the perfect place for them and they good a decent crowd and absolutely battered them with a mesmerising wall of noise, stunning 9/10
Mastodon – all the swirling visuals and hypnotic light despites couldn’t disguise the shit music, fell asleep to them several times 3/10
Acid Reign – only went to see them cos I didn’t want the night to end on a downer after being bored rigid by Mastodon, and omg what a performance! Not my normal kind of music, but the band were on fire and their energy and enthusiasm was ridiculously infectious, I imagine they made a lot of new friends after that 9/10

SUNDAY:

Ghost Bath – came on stage looking like a bunch of Droogs from A Clockwise Orange, didn’t say a word to the crowd, but the music did all the talking…yeah the vocals aren’t for everyone, but the music was an overwhelming and amazing experience, and the keyboard outro was just beautiful 9/10
Heart Of A Coward – I could be diplomatic and say they’re not really my kind of thing….of I could be honest and say they were total wank 2/10
Sanguine – weird, all over the place, and not very good 4/10
Metal Allegiance – arrived to see them butchering a Sabbath song, then had to put up with an utterly hideous version of David Bowie’s Sufferragette City. A slew of other crap covers followed with bad sound and some nauseating plaudit before each about what a total legend the now dead singer was. Even their own song at the end was rubbish. The members own bands are far better than this crap, we don’t need a “supergroup” to play a pile of generic covers, leave that a pub band down the local boozer 1/10
Witchsorrow – only saw one song, sounded good but I had to get to the main stage quick in time for the next band 7/10
Satyricon – incredible performance of an absolute classic album, the playing and sound was spot on and even the newer songs at the end which I hate sounded good. Amazing 10/10
Dragonforce – a bit wasted at this point, and some widdly power metal was much appreciated, shortened set was a bummer, but they were great fun while they were on 8/10
Symphony X – watched a bit, got bored 5/10
Pythia – bland and uninspired, this new singer was that great 4/10
Slayer – predictable as ever. Maybe 2 years ago it was the tension and aftermath of Jeff’s death that made that performance stand out and really be memorable. This was just there standard set with the same songs, perfectly played and full of classics, but I’d seen it all before 20 times at least, another unremarkable Slayer set to add to the collection 6/10
Goatwhore – hadn’t really heard them before, but they were full of energy really went for it, good end to the fest 7/10