5 Bands You Can’t Miss At Download Festival 2011: Sunday
So we arrive to the final part of our three way blog, and boy does Download Festival have some belters for you on the Sunday? We’ve already blogged about the fact this years Download Festival hasn’t lived up to it’s previous line ups, but we hope over this blog that we have proved they do indeed have some amazing bands set to rock the stages over the weekend. It’s not all about the big names and behind the scenes, the guys behind the festival have worked damn hard at identifying some awesome bands you shouldn’t miss. So, for one more time, lets get cracking!
Malefice
It’s fair to say that I’m not as excited for this early set as I would have been if you re-winded back four odd years ago. I listened to a lot of metal when I was in my teens, and Entities was a fine record I listened to back in its year of release (2007). Dawn Of Reprisal was Malefice’s first release for the iconic record label Metal Blade, and with that record deal came a very focused, melodic metal album that I had always imagined would sound pretty big on stage. Needless to say, I haven’t actually seen Malefice live yet but come the Sunday of Download, that will finally be corrected. I can only hope that they live up to my high expectations.
Karma To Burn
I’m not going to lie and tell you I’m the worlds biggest Karma To Burn fan, because I definitely am not. However, whilst I’ve only recently started listening to the Hicksville band’s stuff (mostly Appalachian Incantation) I am seriously looking forward to getting my fair dose of instrumental music at Download when the band hit the Second Stage immediately after Malefice. I’m not a big fan of Madina Lake, who will no doubt clash with these guys over on the Main Stage so it comes as a huge delight that there will be an alternative to the pop rock band act on Sunday. If you don’t really know much about these guys then definitely check out the aforementioned album. It’s a nine track record with metal instrumental goodness that will help you on your merry little drinking way towards Download’s swansong.
Kvelertak
Second on my list of “must see undercards”, sitting right behind letlive., are Norway’s hardcore rock band Kvelertak. The six piece Nordic group manage to build a crushing hardcore sound on top of traditional guitar wankery that is often attributed to Scandinavian rock bands, and the results are nothing short of blinding. The bands debut self titled record was produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou and throughout the record, the sheer heaviness that you often hear in Converge’s sound has been passed to the Norwegian group’s debut album. Kvelertak have only been around for a short while but they’ve made lots of friends in the music industry thanks to their impressive brand of neck breaking heavy rock, and other than making fans in Converge, the sextet have recently finished a European tour with Comeback Kid. On top of that, the band have been picking up very prestigious Norwegian music awards. It’s been a great career so far for Kvelertak, and I really hope that is recognised when the band step on to the Second Stage on the Sunday. I’m very, very excited for this set.
The Gaslight Anthem
When you take a look at the bands following New Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem on the Sunday, you start to get a bit worried about what sort of audience will be greeting Brian Fallon and co. In saying that, before the band take to the main stage, you have acts like The Pretty Reckless and Bowling For Soup so you have two sides of the coin here. The Gaslight Anthem should be fine, however, as the bands folk punk sound has garnered many fans from many different genre cliques, which could possibly be attributed to the fact that the band are hugely like-able as people. The almost pop like set will be a good breather from the heavy bands you will be seeing before them (if you follow the bands above) and will provide a nice singalong for those who follow them. If you pray the night before, you may even be treated to a cameo appearance from the bands friend in Frank Turner, who happens to be headlining the Second Stage later in the day. That’s all just speculation however, but it’s certainly a possibility, right? Right?
Linkin Park
If you have been a Download faithful through and through for the last few years then chances are you press that “x” on your browser right about now. Linkin Park certainly have been over attending Download in the past decade, and that is sure to piss most people off, but I must explain this. First of all, I am a Download virgin, so none of the above really applies to myself! Second of all, I grew up listening to everything Linkin Park, from Hybrid Theory to Meteora, and Reanimation in between for good measure. If you are in the same boots as me, regardless of how fucking atrocious Linkin Park’s new album is, you will not want to miss the opportunity to see one of your childhood favourites grace a stage of this scale. I’ve never seen Linkin Park before, so if they heavily lean on older content throughout their finishing set, I’ll jump on a long bus journey home a very, very happy (and probably drunk) man.
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That concludes our three part blog for Download Festival 2011. If you have just come across this and don’t really visit the site, you should probably bookmark our home page because we could definitely be friends! We’re going to be heading to Donington this year to cover the festival, so if you happen to stumble across four really drunk dudes screaming quotes from Family Guy, chances are that will be us. Until then, get excited!
