Deputy editor Caren Gibson checks in with reviews from day one of Hammerfest!

Paradise Lost are a band who never got as big as they should have been. Having sold more records than Metallica in Germany in the mid 90s, they looked to be the heirs to Iron Maiden’s slipping crown after Bruce Dickinson’s departure. But they had the gall to cut their hair and realign their sound to one that was more melodic – albeit with their trademark Northern gloom – and in the process alienated a lot of their less ardent fan base. But the fans who stuck with them were rewarded with all their best tracks and it’s no mere nostalgia trip – even for those who were there to revisit the old days. They’ve lost none of their miserable charm and are still really fucking good.

Annotations Of An Autopsy are easily the heaviest band on the bill. They have a tough job following headliners Opeth but there’s a healthy turn out nonetheless, and those still standing are pummelled by their brutal death metal with a voice that can only come from the bowels of Satan.

Lethargy stick out like a sore thumb. Among all the doom, power metal, death metal, pirates and metalcore their classic rock and bassist Marc Jones’s impressive back bends seems a little out of place. They suffer from a bass heavy sound, and have drawn the short straw playing the second stage while Opeth are on the main stage. But a couple of hundred people are present nonetheless and every now and again some will wander out of the room ad return minutes later with three or four friends. Worth checking out when you get the chance.