Sonisphere Announcement 3

So Sonisphere have begun the process of fleshing out their undercard, which let’s face it, is really the best part of any festival.  As anyone who reads regularly (do those people exist?  I have no idea) will know, I have a ticket to this festival already so I have a slight (or possibly large) personal investment in it being good. So let’s see what they’ve given me.

Starting with Alice in Chains can never be a bad thing.  Being a child of Nirvana and grunge, any chance to see Jerry Cantrell and his heavy mood filled rock is fine by me.  William DuVall has done wonders in his replacement of Layne Staley, something many thought couldn’t be done, and last years The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here was a very solid addition to the AiC cannon.  They were great at Download last year and I’m delighted to welcome them back to our shores.

Talking about bands replacing members, a new look Slayer line up will be interesting, particularly with new material on the way.  Whatever happens with that however, this is still Slayer being Slayer so you really can’t complain.  I know they have built up a reputation for being an inconsistent live act in recent years, but the second they launch into “Angel of Death” I doubt you’ll care.  The same can be said for Airbourne.  You know fine well what we are going to get from them but you can guarantee that what that is will be pretty damn good.  After a disappointing shift at Download, where sound problems let them down, it will be good to see them hopefully getting the chance to rock our socks off.

Mastodon can struggle outside, with their cavernous sound often lost to the elements.  However, tracks like “Curl of the Burl” hint at a newly trimmed down Mastodon and they fit the festival environment much better than what came before.  With a new album on the way we might see more of this from Mastodon, but it has to be said they are a band that like to throw out the rulebook.  Either way if team Sonisphere can crack the Mastodon sound issues then there is no doubt they will slay.  Talking of slaying, this year I shall not be missing Gojira, who are without a doubt one of the best extreme metal bands on the go at the moment.  I’m yet to see them live but from what I’ve heard they can do that too.  See you down the front.

Being one of the minority who didn’t think that Ghost’s second album was as good as their first, I have really soured on the poppy doom maestros, however these guys are always interesting and I’m willing to give them another shot. While I have to be honest Karnivool are a name who spend a lot of time on my list but have never actually made it into my ears, so I can’t comment on them.

This is a very, very solid announcement from Sonisphere.  Yes it is very similar to Download last year, but as someone who was at Download last year I had an awesome time, so if that is the case I’m sure I shall have one again, plus there is a lot of bill still to go.  All in all Soni is once again looking likely to deliver, so my money still looks safe.