Download 2012 Official Poster.

While we dig ourselves out from the glut of ales, sprouts and assorted confections, the farthest reaching eyes of anticipation are already looking towards spring, summer and beyond in 2012.
So far 2012 is looking like one hell of a year with one hell of a set of headliners at Download alone, and as days go by more and more events are fleshing out their bills. Laying it all out on the table, we are taking a broad look at how these live music juggernauts are looking from scene to scene.
First up, we have Resistanz and the Whitby Goth Weekend in April.
Resistanz has now fully solidified its share of bands and aftershow events giving it a bill that puts it and it’s host venue The Corporation in Sheffield on the international map. Sponsored by

Resistanz 2012.

Deathwatch Asia and The Corp’s own resident EBM Industrial night Revolution, the two day festival returns this year with an utterly immense bill featuring the scene icons Icon Of Coil, Grendel and Ultraviolence alongside fast rising stars Surgyn, Studio-X and many more which look set to upstage the 2011 inaugural event in every way possible. With special guest DJ’s, the UK exclusive appearance of the EBM super group Icon Of Coil and an over all ticket price of just £50, this Sheffield event couldn’t get more competitive.

As the autumnal episode of Whitby’s Goth Weekend drew to a close, eyes turned to their April event, detailed in full as a full page advert in the Bonfire weekend programme. Funnily enough the weekend appears to have some of its fire back this coming year with a number of greats and underground legends confirmed for their Spa Pavilion event. The spring weekend takes place from 26th to the 30th of April and features a bill comprising of In the Nursery, Ugly Buggs, The Spiritual Bat, Last July, Dead Eyes Opened, Gene Loves Jezebel(in their final UK show featuring Peter Rizzo & Jay Aston), Die Laughing, The Bellweather Syndicate, Partly Faithful and Stills. Weekend tickets are priced at £50 for the weekend with Friday and Saturday tickets priced at £26 and £29 respectively. Naturally, an event that  has spread to the size of Whitby has comes with the added benefits of some fringe competitors, with a number of club nights and one off gigs already a staple of a weekend in this world famous event, but these are far too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say that there is always something else going on during the Goth Weekend, even if it’s just a running competition to see how many goths can fit in a single bar at once.

In June the summer and the festival season itself begin in earnest with the gigantic Download Festival in Donington. Download have laid their cards on the table already with the gods of thrash Metallica, crossover icons The Prodigy and the fathers of Heavy Metal itself Black Sabbath all due to be in attendance. While this is it so far in terms of announcements many are already calling it the biggest Download ever, though recent reports suggest that more bands are to be added to the bill in the next few weeks. Its all very vague at the moment but how can you top Sabbath and Metallica, on the same bill no less? The major downside of this is that tickets will be very in demand so grab them when you can!

Bloodstock 2012.

The slightly more loose lipped Bloodstock is a bursting bag of treats. Unveiling a whole heap of acts around about Halloween time Dimmu Borgir, Hatebreed and Corrosion of Conformity are confirmed for the  Ronnie James Dio Stage, while Anaal Nathrakh are set to headline the Sophie Lancaster stage. taking place across the weekend of 10th-12th August Bloodstock is the overlooked gem in the crown of UK rock festivals. Added to the mix of Alice Cooper, Orange Goblin, Anvil, Behemoth, Waitain, Paradise Lost, Seattle thrash mob Sanctuary, Michigan melodeath bruisers The Black Dahli Murder, Swedish heavy metal riff lords Grand Magus, the 2012 bill for the Catton Hall festival seems to be shaping up rather nicely this early in the game. Possessing all the budding potential of its peers empty posters but with some true heavyweights in tow Bloodstock is a serious contender for your cash. Another feather to is cap is that tickets are still currently priced at around £90 which for any full scale festival is a bloody bargain.

With Sonisphere, Hevy and Infest festivals all announcing dates (6th – 8th July, 3rd – 6th August and 24th – 26th August respectively) but precious little else, it looks like they’ve got their work cut out for them to win your hard earned cash, but what about everyone else? Decisions, Decisions…

Sylosis.

After a hard years touring, Reading metal mob Sylosis are preparing to celebrate the festive season with a home town gig. 2011 has been a massive year for the band, spending most of their time on the road since the release of “The Edge Of The Earth”, making quite an impact in venues across the country and festivals alike. Snagging an prestigious opening slot on Knebworth’s Sonisphere line up this summer along with a successful UK tour with neighbours Malefice.
Frontman Josh Middleton has shared his anticipation regarding the bands final date of the year saying “We’re really excited to announce we’re doing a home town Christmas show at Sub 89 in Reading. We have some great supports in the form of Xerath and Chapters. We will be touring the states for a month with As I Lay Dying leading up to this show so we’ll be a well oiled machine for this one”.
Taking place December 22nd advance tickets for the 16+ show are priced at £7.50 and are available from Urban Piercings Reading, the Sub 89 website and venue and Seetickets.
Sylosis – The Edge Of The Earth is available now via Nuclear Blast Records.

Metallica (Photo By Anton Corbijn).

Thrash metal legends Metallica are the first band to be announced for Download 2012. Marking the festivals tenth anniversary event with a Saturday headline performance the band have also announced that they will perform their best selling self titled album, better known as ‘The Black Album’ in it’s entirety, mirroring their earth shaking 2006 back to back performance of ‘Master Of Puppets’. Whilst a coup for the festival, managing to draw back the rock gods from rival event Sonisphere, the sheer idea of returning to the site of such rock history itself is enough to make playing Download 2012 an exciting prospect for the band.
Co-founder and drummer Lars Ulrich says “Six years is way toooo long to be away from the hallowed grounds of Donington Park. We are beyond psyched and feel privileged to come back once again to soak up the energy and vibe of the most legendary of festival sites.”
Next years performance will be the eighth time in their career that Metallica have appeared at Donington having performed at both Monsters Of Rock and Download Festivals, including their first Monsters of Rock festival in 1985.
‘The Black Album’ is easily one of the most iconic Metallica releases, reaching number one in the album charts of over 25 countries and 5 hit singles: ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Sad But True’, ‘Wherever I May Roam’, ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘The Unforgiven’.
Andy Copping, VP of Promotions at Live Nation commented, “I am absolutely bowled over that Metallica will be playing ‘The Black Album’ at the 10th anniversary of Download. The album is up there as one of the greatest albums of all time, everyone knows the songs. The Download festival has come a long way since we first started in 2003 and to have Metallica back to help us celebrate this milestone is just fantastic.”
Announced during an interview on BBC Radio One Ulrich seized the opportunity to toy with anxious fans threatening a sandwich of 2 full album performances of their recent  Lou Reed collaboration ‘Lulu’ either side of vague new material. Needless to say Metallica fans everywhere are both relieved and thrilled at the promise of such a mammoth album performance.