It says something about how big a booking is when people are leaving Emperor on the Ronnie James Dio stage to jam themselves inside the confines of Bloodstock’s smaller Sophie stage. But it’s understandable; Nailbomb are about to make their live UK debut, a full 31 years after the release of their sole album, Point Blank.
Back in the 90s, the collaboration between Max Cavalera and Fudge Tunnel’s Alex Newport created a proper cult following; decades later the band were spoken about in hushed tones. Today, although Newport isn’t a member of the touring crew, the chance to see this unicorn of a project is too exciting to miss, meaning that anticipation levels are off the scale as the band wander on and drive immediately into a scathing Wasting Away.
Max has obviously been hitting the gym, looking lean and svelte as he attacks his guitar with gusto, and his legendary roar is as raw and ragged as ever. It all seems like we’re in for a classic show.
But then, the sound gremlins come and spoil it all - as the industrialised intro to Vai Toma no cú ends, the guitars that should come screaming in sound like they’re being played in a basement in a tent on the other side of the field.
Max and co don’t address it onstage, meaning they’re probably unaware of the problems. Ultimately, it means they have little chance of recapturing the hellish chaos of the sound of that classic album.
Still, that’s hardly their fault, and it’s still a treat to hear industrial punk metal bangers like World of Shit, Coakroaches, Blind and Lost, plus a superb cover of Dead Kennedy’s Police Truck (one of two they do, alongside Doom’s Exploitation).
By the time they end with Sick Life you’re torn between being grateful for the fact that you’ve just seen one of metal’s greatest ever one-album wonders...and being annoyed that they were hampered, albeit through no fault of their own. Shame.
