Graspop, Belgium, 25th June

After 10 musically sterile weeks in Spain, during which I missed Dying Fetus, Cathedral, Deathfest, Dinosaur Jr and Live At Leeds, I have had my metallic desires satisfied once more. It goes to show how desperate I was that I was willing to fly to Belgium on my own and spend 75 euros on a day ticket to the friday of Graspop. Fortunately, I had some of metal's most diverse and exciting acts awaiting me.

Although the day started with Billy Talent and ended with Aerosmith (both very enjoyable by the way), the more interesting bands lay inbetween. Anathema played for an hour just after lunchtime - a beautiful, haunting sonic assault, perfect for lying on your back and reflecting to. Then came one of the acts which was largely responsible for me being there - Devin Townsend. He may have lost his trademark skullet and ditched his most famous musical incarnation, Strapping Young Lad, four years ago, but he appears to have lost none of his zest for music and life. The greatest hits setlist, featuring "Deadhead", "Life", "Truth" and a couple of cuts off his latest work, "Addicted", is delivered with a youthful exhuberence that a few artists should take note of. I'm talking about Slayer. As they clashed with Devin rather imperfectly, I had to miss most of their set, but I chose to skip the last Dev song for a bit of tidy thrash metal. What I got was the predictable "Raining Blood", enjoyable but it seemed like such a chore for Araya and co. to play! Sad really. But somewhat inevitable.

Fast forwarding a couple of hours, past a decent enough performence by the recently reformed Stone Temple Pilots (why Scott Weiland wore a scalf in 30 degree heat only he'll know), and we get to South Carolina's favourite death metal sons, the unrelenting mesmerising technical barrage that is Nile. Karl Sanders's podgy fingers wizzed up and down the fretboard with nonchalant ease, showcasing the classics as well as a few from their truly awesome lastest album, "Those Whom The Gods Detest". The band go on to prove that the recent news that Morbid Angel are finally heading into the studio to record their first album in 7 years is a lot more irrelevant with bands as awesome as Nile around on the death metal scene.

That left Aerosmith to bring the day to a close, leaving a load of sweaty western Europeans satisfied with the days events. Good to be back!

Jack