Last year While She Sleeps (7) were opening the main stage. It's a slot that has seen many bands go on to great things, but also a few who've faded into obscurity. Following the difficult year frontman Loz Taylor has had — along with his throat problems — it could have easily have been a case of the latter for the Sheffield five piece.
Luckily that’s not the case. as they play to a packed-out tent on the pit stage today. There are still some issues regarding Taylor’s vocals, while his new, more subtle vocal style works well for Our Courage, Our Cancer, it lacks the real power needed for more raucous numbers such as This Is The Six.
That said, his presence has been missed, he gets more charismatic with every show, and his band mates remain a rabid pack of wolves. It may still be a time of readjustment for them, but there’s still plenty of life left in WSS.
Architects (9) are another UK metal band that have had their fair share of problems. Some creative missteps along the way (not to mention personal problems) makes the victory that is this set even better. They sound incredible — sledgehammer-to-the-face levels of heaviness — while Sam Carter proves he is one of the best metal vocalists around today. Not only does he master screams and clean vocals, he’s capable of pulling your heart strings one moment and making your blood boil the next. Saying this is the best show of their lives may sound like standard quotes from the frontman phrase book, but the good will felt from this capacity crowd makes it easy to believe he means every word. When metal bands spit rhetoric about creating positivity from hate, this is exactly what they mean. Not only a highlight of the weekend, but for Architects as a whole.
