As is now traditional, piss-poor directions see at least one DT reviewer introducing himself to the entire UK beatbox championship upstairs before finally hooking up with the rest of the Downtuned school trip in the bar downstairs for Overkill’s annual classic thrashathon .

Openers Gripper are maintaining a resolutely low-key internet profile (I think – to be honest I could only stand to stay on MySpace for about 45 seconds) in line with their stage presence. The group put accros some bland but effective post-Arch Enemy deaththrash with cut n’ copy female vox and a dreadlocked weirdy-beirdy bass player failing to disguise tunes that blur together and bring nothing new to the table. They do have decent musicianship and a nice line in Slayeresque off-beat coordinated headbanging, but need to drop the hackneyed ‘pump-fist-shout-hey-hey-at-audience’ stage moves.

Next up it’s Savage Messiah, featuring possibly the only guitarist ever to purchase a red Jackson Kelly and kicking off with some decent mid-tier thrashing a la Sacred reich with some impressive soloing that brings a hint of Chuck Schuldiner to proceedings. Unfortunately they cock this up with a bizarre foray into Gary Moore noodle territory and a reliance on their Iced Earth album collection for songwriting skills.

So far-things are going…ok, but despite the constant flow of booze we’ve yet to be impressed.

Enter Greece’s Suicidal Angels.

Heeellooo Looohhhndohhhnnn…are you vvvvready to thrasssshhhhh??

Proof positive that Sepultura have a lot to answer for, we’re treated to a hot mix of Destruction/Scepter Eurothrash circa 1986 –in other words, stupid and fucking great! Nonsensical comments about being borrrrrnnn in darrrknezzzz aside, SA will never be big, but have all the kvlt kudos to keep them busy on the party san festival circuit for years to come –derivative but tons o’ fun.

In the past few years Overkill have occasionally felt like they were treading water on record, but new album Ironbound seems to have reconnected them with their roots. With the band favouring a classics-heavy set tonight, it’s a genuine tribute to the new tunes that they don’t stick out, giving us a short sharp dose of exciting, quick witted early 80s thrashing with nary a step wrong. Out front, singer Blitz seems to have transformed into the bastard offspring of Bruce Lee and the Cryptkeeper, whip-thin with a voice that could cut glass –this from a serial stroke victim, while D.D.Verni may have lost his corkscrew locks but has kept his talent for great tunes and the gnarliest bass sound in metal.
Keeping things short and sweet, the set is heavy on early material with a few rabble rousing shoutalongs like Necroshine and Here’s to The Old School thrown in, then it’s back on for a quick encore, ending of course with Fuck You! – Which segues seamlessly into the seldom-aired Dead Boys cover Sonic Reducer.

Furious, headbanging fun of the highest calibre, Overkill cement their deserved status as scene legends with a show that pisses all over younger challengers and even leaves old bastards like us with a bangover. Long may they reign!

Downtuned returns from the UK’s only proper, longhaired, denim and leather outdoor metal festival with a T Shirt suntan, a beer belly and guts clogged with food served out of caravans.

We saw some music too!

First up – Friday’s bands -

First of all – I’d like to say a big fuck you to the organisers for charging £5 for a program with the band times on it. Sure, they gave away a program with little interviews, but to find out when a band was playing one had to shell out £5 of beer money to buy a poxy little laminate. Bad form.

First band we catch are American thrash revivalists Municipal Waste. Even in the middle of the day they bring a drunken dive bar party atmosphere to a midlands field. They debut some new material – which sounds a lot like their old material, and considering their old material is beer fueled precision party thrash it goes down a storm. Great work.

Sodom bring their muscular brand of kraut thrash to the main stage next. While lacking the speed of Municipal Waste, they have a history and back catalogue that makes entertaining a filled of boozed up metalheads second nature. From newer material like ‘Napalm In The Morning’ to old school classics like ‘The Saw Is The Law’ they provide a perfect soundtrack to replacing body fluids with alcohol.

Saxon kick the evening off – and as playing metal festivals has become their job now – anything short of a perfect set would be unacceptable. But, as always, Saxon deliver the goods. Biff does seem a little miffed not to be headlining – but although a top bill mainstay on the continent, they have plenty to prove in their homeland. And with that in mind – they do. Pumping out song after anthemic song, they leave the crowd wanting a Saxon headline next year. Point proved.

Arch Enemy should set the stage alight with their set. Now being one of the biggest bands in metal they should bring a perfect evenings entertainment with them. They should be ace. But they’re not. Gossow stalks around the stage and trades off delivering a decent vocal performance for posing. And not well. Looking more arrogant than entertaining she fails miserably. And Amott spends far too much time on widdle-wank-ego-massaging guitar solos than playing, y’know – songs. A massive let down.

After the disappointment of Arch Enemy I wasn’t expecting much from Carcass – sure – they’re one of the most innovative bands in metal – inventing goregrind and melodic death, and at he height of their powers I would be very, very excited. But it’s been a decade since they’ve been a touring band, and reviews of their recent appearances have been less than brilliant. But they absolutely destroyed. The songs are note perfect, Jeff Walker still has the same voice he did on Swansong and Bill Steer looks like a 14 year old playing his first gig, such is the excitement. Erlandson taking over from Ken Owen is a fine choice – he can replicate the sound with no problems. And bringing Ken himself on for a little drum solo was a sweet touch (Ken having suffered a brain haemorrhage a few years ago)  There’s life in Carcass yet – and maybe, please, another album!

Saturday review to come!