Beez checks out Unearth opening the mainstage at this year’s Download festival!

The question was put on this week’s podcast, would the low-down and dirty beatdowns of Unearth be able to hit it’s usual peak on a gargantuan stage in front of an AC/DC-sized audience? The initial reaction was to say yesterday was to instantly scream “YES!” at the top of my lungs like a schoolboy who had just touched his first boob and today the Massachusetts bruisers justified that and then some.

Read our Download review of 36 Crazyfists and Killswitch Engage here

Visually, the Unearth crew rewind the metal clock, recalling the good-time vibe of 80’s Anthrax. Smiles on their faces, shorts so big that you could jump out of a plane and land in them and a fun factor to counter-act the relentless heavinessof the band’s crushing brutality. ‘The Great Dividers’ ignites a circle-pit like a cyclone in the centre of Donington park and ‘My Will Done’ cracks skulls like a pick-axe to the side of the stage. Frankly, Unearth remain one of the most vibrant, entertaining live bands in contemporary metal and whether it’s 500 people of 50,000, they’ll take the Pepsi challenge with any band, anywhere.

Download 2010 is underway in the most kick-ass of fashions. If there were any justice, Unearth’s days of playing to 75% full ’smaller’ tents are over. Welcome to the fucking big league!
Beez

Come and have a gander at some of the hottest chicks in metal, the rock hotties at Download 2010