Posted on the Bloodstock website:

"The Bloodstock team are delighted to announce that both Blind Guardian and Cradle Of Filth have been added to the bill for Bloodstock Open Air 2009. The pair will co-headline one day of the festival and the event will mark the ONLY UK shows of 2009 for both bands!

Following Blind Guardian's unfortunate cancellation in 2007, the Bloodstock Open Air team have responded to constant demand from the festival's core fans and brought the band back to Bloodstock at the earliest possible opportunity.

Neither Cradle Of Filth nor Blind Guardian will need any introduction to metal fans. Both are leaders in their genres, and both have built long and successful careers through hard work, dedication, a refusal to compromise and, of course, some very fine metal music along the way.

Cradle Of Filth; influenced by the Scandinavian black metal scene of the early '90s, they soon developed their own unique take on its frenetic sound, delivering a gothic and decidedly English take on the genre which broke into the mainstream consciousness with the release of the landmark Dusk And Her Embrace album in 1996. Since then, the band has steadily expanded their base without diluting either their sound, their spectacular stage shows or the controversial themes which their music so vividly brings to life.

When it comes to power metal, few bands have proved as influential or inventive as Blind Guardian. Starting life in Germany in 1984, the band issued their debut album Battalions Of Fear in 1988, following it up with Follow The Blind in '89. It was with their third opus, however, 1990's Tales From The Twilight World that they began to move in a more epic direction which later culminated in the classics Nightfall In Middle Earth (1998) and A Night At The Opera (2002).

Blind Guardian mainman Hansi Kürsch sent the following message:
"It's almost seven years since we played Bloodstock for the first time. Still we have never forgotten our first appearance in front of a fantastic British audience. Easy to imagine how thrilled we are by the chance to play there for a second time. I expect nothing but some outraging bards singing our songs with us and a band in perfect shape - take that for granted."

Cradle sent the following message:
"Cradle Of Filth, metal forged from the hot friction of wanking nuns, are very much looking forward to headlining the Bloodstock heavy metal festival this summer, especially knowing and loving most of the other bands playing on the bill over the three day weekend. But obviously not in a gay way. Carcass, Kreator, Moonspell, Arch Enemy, The Haunted, Apocalyptica, Satyricon, Enslaved, Saxon, Gwar, Candlemass, Turisas... this line-up alone places this up-and-coming British festival right up there with its sometimes-a-pain-in-the-arse-hard-to-reach European rivals. So hail to England! Hail to Bloodstock! This is a proper metal festival for proper festive metallers. No shoddy haircut screamo pap allowed! F.O.A.D.!" (Insane screaming continues and then fades to black...)

Blind Guardian vs. Cradle Of Filth - Power And Pain - Bloodstock Open Air 2009.

Regards

Bloodstock Team"

Source:	bloodstock.uk.com
Event:	Bloodstock Open Air 2009