Since it’s massively disco-balled rejuvenation a couple of years ago, KoKo is ostensibly more suited to the likes of last night’s Guilty Pleasures disco than ravenous Viking metal, but with a hugely bass-heavy sound, it remains the venue of choice for the discerning – or half-deaf – metal fan.

Entombed are up first after for some trademark death n’ roll, and despite having nurtured a sound that, by it’s very nature seems designed to fall apart, are incredibly tight and focused tonight. A quick visit from Amon’s Johan Hegg livens things up, but L.G.Petrov is a growling machine, bellowing out Wolverine Blues and Chief Rebel Angel like his life depnds on it. Usually, Entombed can be relied upon to perform a raucous, ramshackle headbanging exercise, and while L.G seems to be slowly morphing into the metal Shaun Rider, tonight they come across as an accomplished, polished death metal machine, with a great sound tightening things up with thrilling results.

Headliners Amaon Amarth are clearly reveling in the massively upped profile they’ve built over the past 3 or 4 years, the enormous version of the ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’ making you realise just how bloody ridiculous they are- something the band clearly know and exploit. Dressing more and more like rock stars and clearly enjoying the status, the music is always slightly formulaic but never less than enjoyable – it says a lot for the pure charisma of the band that they can take four-four melodic death and keep it enthralling from start to finish.

Tonight we’re promised “a night of surprises” – which begins with ‘Ride of the Valkyrie’s ‘ being dedicated to “The Ladeez” and ends with some cello and a slightly-out-of-place double header with L.G returning to the stage, bizarrely reminiscent of Mark Wahlberg’s performance in ‘Rock Star’.

The theatrics continue with dry ice aplenty, scorching red mist for ‘Death in Fire’ and a fantastic run-through of ‘Cry of the Black Bird’, Amon Amarth is a band on top of their game and they know it. If they can avoid becoming overly sanitised then based on tonight’s performance, they’re set to rule the death metal roost for years to come.

Girlschool have existed as a band for over thirty years. And by now should be a well oiled rocking machine, able to entertain a festival or tiny club show with slick professionalism. But they can’t. They are all over the place. Kim McAuliffe and Enid Williams should be a hard rock machine – but sound like a pair of mums drunk on dry white in a Weatherspoons. The fact that the songs just wash over the crowd with no connection whatsoever is not a good sign either.

It may be the beer, but I seem to be seeing  a lot of people dressed in the red and black battle paint of Turisas. A LOT of people. With a crowd so into the party hard, drink hard, rock hard message of Battle Metal the Finns could fart into a trumpet and get a furious mosh pit going. There is no fart-trumpeting though – there is a rock hard set of festival pleasing folk metal – and a Boney M song being shouted by thousands of metal heads at the top of their lungs is always a pleasing sight.

Viking Deathsters Amon Amarth head up the evening, and with a catalogue of hummable, fist waving mid paced death they are the perfect early evening entertainment. Johan Hegg is a truely engaging frontman, and seems to be enjoying himself, as well he should. Easily winning the crowd over with a little UK vs Germany noise making competition,  they deliver some crushing riffs, and pounding drumming that destroys eardrums and sends those in the crowd blessed with long hair into a windmill frenzy.

The suns sets, darkness envelops the field – evil is in the air. Satyricon take the stage. Satyricon have certainly evolved their sound from their days as true Norwegian black metal stalwarts. Their cut down, danceable new material is like some kind of ultra evil disco. Not that that is a bad thing. Satyr stalks around the stage – his new haircut making him look like a black metal Patrick Bateman – and throws the best frontman shapes of the festival. Ending on the la – along old school black metal pomp of Mother North, they are definitely the coolest and coldest band of the festival.

IT’S THE FINAL FUCKING COUNTDOWN! Yes – Europe in their first ever British festival appearance. They may be best known for their one hit wonder, the second best known keyboard riff in rock (after Jump) and big bloody hair – but they are the continent’s answer to Bon Jovi. And in a good way. They are genuinely a highly polished rock machine who know how to use a massive stage and big audience to full effect. They pull a bunch of wickedly hot rockin’ tunes out of the bag and throw off their novelty band status (at least in this country) completely. And when The Final Countdown does hit, it sends the crowd, me included, into a feelgood semi -dance – semi – pogo – thing ending the weekend on a high.