WARNING: Blasphemy afoot if the gospels according to Jarvis, Damon and Liam of the NME serve as your regular dose of secular input...Hold onto your Kerrangs, pack a Metallica T-shirt (make that two) and don that trench; Sonisphere's set to unleash its first attack on Britain. And the American invaders are all set. This August sees the salubrious, serene setting of Hertfordshire's Knebworth House transformed into a bustling nucleus of desecration, destruction and debauchery with the Overlords of Purgatory brandishing axes (of the six-stringed variety), tearing through anything and everything in their path. Headed up by Hetfield's rehab addicts and Lords of Metal themselves Metallica alongside the melodrama of Nu-metal stalwarts, Linkin Park. Behind the front lines lie enough of a supporting cast to rival those of Lloyd-Webber, with a rare UK show from hibernation-bound Reznor as he drills his industrially-charged Nine Inch Nails into the hearts and minds of melody, virtuosity and thrilling thrash alike. Surrealist prog-metallers Mastodon bring their sterling beast 'Crack the Skye' all the way over from Atlanta. Oh and no stone is left unturned as the latest in doom and gloom is set to appear in the sheltered surroundings of the Bohemia Stage with math-trashers Rolo Tomassi, Geordie miserablists The Chapman Family and Corey Taylor comes out from behind the gruesome masks into the blinding lights for a UK debut solo show. Phew.
If that's not all, Sonisphere have followed in the footsteps of the greatest farmer the universe has ever known, Michael Eavis and ditched those dastardly booking fees. For those in finer tune with plastic buttons than guitar strings, there's a whole hoard of ticket/ Guitar Hero bundles. And travel's free from Manchester, Birmingham and London Victoria. Whether these are the UK representatives of all things metal and rusted or just reasonable markers of the scale of the country is anyone's guess. But with the single cost of a tube ride from the land of leather that is Camden Town, there's no excuses this year.
For tickets and more info, visit the Sonisphere site.
For free travel info, here.
And for anything else, well the internet's your oyster.
Nine Inch Nails- Leaving Hope
Nine Inch Nails- In this Twilight
Mastodon- Oblivion
