More reviews from this weekend’s Sonisphere festival!

Saxon

Saxon seem to be a stable of most bills across the UK and Europe from Wacken to Download and our own Hammerfest . This is probably because no other band of the generation – apart from Maiden – can routinely bring the heavy metal thunder like the Barnsley quintet. Opening with ‘Battalions Of Steel’ (which, due to technical difficulties, was without drums for the first half) and heading through hits such as ‘747 (Strangers In The Night)’ the band effortlessly bring a little slice of the good ‘ol days to a bill a little lacking in trad. Frontman Biff Byford stalks the stage like an animated Gerald Scarf mantis and – turning away from the band – you can see almost every mouth miming along to the majority of the set.

Gill

Cancer Bats

Playing second fiddle to the mainstages, the turn out for the Cancer Bats in the tent wasn’t initially too impressive, but those who didn’t care to see Alice In Chains soon filed in and felt glad they had. The Canadian metallic rock-core quartet get better with every listen: the riffs pinch, squeal and chug more clearly each time and frontman Liam Cormier’s insisting hardcore ranting becomes more pounding and persuasive with each song. As with bands like Unearth before them, the band rely not on radio hit choruses or dense vocal harmonies but sheer grit and brute force to win over their audience. And if truth be told, Cormier is the kind of charismatic human you would follow anywhere. ‘would I jump in the fire if Liam told you to do it?’ yep, probably. One of the best live acts of their ilk, and – as we reliably hear – there is a new album on the way with some of the fastest/thrashiest as well as slowest material they’ve ever written. Oh, and did I mention they covered The Beastie Boys ‘Sabotage’?! I almost shat.

Gill