Mudvayne

This is not a good start to the Ozzfest. For the lesser informed The Union Underground (1) are a predictable group hailing from Texas that proceed to knock out the most obvious, bland collection of tunes heard for a very long time. OK, so 'Turn me on Mr Deadman' is an alright tune but it still sounds like a Rob Zombie B-side. And to think this field are subjected to this cack at 11.00 in the morning. Oh, and indeed, dear.

Jesus, Geezer Butler may well be one of the finest bass players this country has ever produced but someone should have stopped him spreading his seed and we might not have had to put up with the turd-a-thon that is Apartment 26 (1). Like The Union Underground before them this once again all what is wrong with nu-metal today. Biff Butler and his cohorts may give there heart and soul and the efforts are clear to see but when you have a collection of songs as piss-poor as Apartment 26 have nothing in this world is going to save you.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!!! Whoever booked this bloody stage deserves to be given a red hot poker where the sun don't shine! Pure Rubbish (0) do my job for them with their own name. It's not a clever use of irony it's the truth! This band sound and look like 1985, which is never ever a good thing and sound like a D-list Buck Cherry (As if Buck Cherry weren't bad enough). They even manage to clear thousands of people away to get something to drink within their first riff and that is absolutely no exaggeration. Not content with bashing our ears with their awful own material they also proceed to pull out a meat cleaver and butcher AC/DC's 'Let There Be Rock'. Pure Rubbish, exactly what it says on the tin.

Thankfully Black Label Society (3.5) are on hand to steady the ship. A rootin' tootin' band from the deep south of the USA if ever there was one, Zakk Wylde and company today manage to convert their live act from one that should be seen in a flea-pit club and send it kicking and screaming into the bowl. It's not the most diverse collection of tracks you'll hear for sure but for some bizarre reason it works today and manages to stay consistent throughout the bands allocated half an hour. But following the trash that’s gone before it maybe it's just delusion creeping in.

There's absolutely no delusion at all in saying that today, Mudvayne (4.5) royally kick ass. Given that the band have recently cancelled a UK tour, it could have been very easy for the heaving throng in front of the stage to have turned their back and given the band a hard time. But when a band are firing the sort of shots OJ Simpson is used to there's no stopping them. From the opening attack that was 'Dig' the crowd are blatantly up for Mudvayne with the afore-mentioned hit proving one of the days biggest sing-a-longs. The band certainly sound a little departed from everything that has gone before them today but the ludicrously dressed four piece manage to pull off the spine-tingling dynamics of 'Nothing To Gein' and uncompromising crunch of Internal Primates Forever with the minimum of effort. A triumph when it could so easily have gone horribly wrong.

Unfortunately for Amen (2) it appears as though the mammoth amount of touring the band have endured has finally taken it's toll. Today the band look exhausted and you'd swear this wasn't the same band that tore apart every venue on there last UK tour. Casey Chaos in particular looks half the performer he was at the beginning of the bands touring schedule in support of 'We Have Come For Your Parents' today coming across as dis-interested and wanting to be anywhere but on that stage. In all respect, you have to admire Amen for cancelling their forthcoming tour because if this was all they could give people would have to question the band's so far undamaged live reputation. We'll just put this down to an off day and we look forward to seeing them at there best in the future.

As for today’s Second Stage headliners Disturbed (4) this is their crowning moment. After critical maulings and just being ignored it's a small miracle that the band are in the position they are in today. As David Draiman stalks the stage, showing all the prowess of a superstar, it is fitting that he has every single person in front of him eating out of his hand. Disturbed have the (dis)pleasure of just following Slipknot on the main stage, so while their crowd starts small for Draiman's theatrical entrance (Today prefering a cage to the usual electric chair) by the time they end the days second stage proceedings with a bone-crunching rendition of 'Stupify' there is a huge array of fists in the air and the chanting of the bands name is deafening. Today the Bowl, tomorrow world domination. Disturbed are the future of heavy music, hallowed be thy name.