Download 2019 Countdown : 10. Behemoth, Main Stage on Saturday, 14:20 - 15:05

There are those who point fingers at Download booking policy and say their choices are safe and conservative. I, however would argue that there are a number of interesting and intriguing leftfield additions this year. This is none more illustrated than by the inclusion of Behemoth in a prestigious mid-afternoon main stage slot. This is a self proclaimed Satan worshiping Black Metal monolith released on an unsuspecting hundred thousand people waiting for the inoffensive rock reggae of Skindred.

Download 2019 Countdown : 11. Slayer, Zippo Encore Stage on Sunday, 20:45 - 22:15

Slayer are Metal and Metal is Slayer but pretty soon their furiosity and brutality will become but folk law, the stuff of legends as within months (not years, months!) they will lay down their instruments and cease to be. So this is last chance, city folks, the final ever UK show. Roll that around in your minds, one solitary finite opportunity to see the juggernaut that is Slayer on our shores.

Download 2019 Countdown : 12. Delain, Zippo Encore Stage on Friday, 15:50 - 16:30

Some band’s rises are stratospheric, going from nothing to public adornment seamlessly overnight. Others take the long way around, slowly but surely honing their art and bit by bit building a fanbase by the weight of sheer hard work. Delain are very much in that category as seventeen years into their career they are still a mid afternoon second stage booking.

Download 2019 Countdown : 13. Opeth, Zippo Encore Stage on Friday, 18:15 - 19:05

It is only as I write these short vignettes that I fully comprehend the treasure trove of metallic riches that this year's Download bill is. With so many nuggets of wonderfulness that clashes, difficult choices, partially seen sets, a lot of running around are sure to be the order of the day. There are some bands though who I will watch every second of, who will trump anyone else that happens to tresspasse onto their timeslot. Opeth are one such band as they are nothing short of magnificent.

Download 2019 Countdown : 14. Clutch, Main Stage on Friday, 16:05 - 16:50

I am a late convert to the church of Clutch. People whose musical tastes I trust have sung their praises for many years but I held out, labelling all the fuss ill-judged and hyper-bole. But with last year “Book of Bad Decisions”, the penny finally dropped and I got what all the fuss is about.

Download 2019 Countdown : 15. Slipknot, Main Stage on Saturday, 21:10 - 22:50

Do I really need to explain why you need to at least see some of Slipknot on Saturday night? Everyone knows they are probably one of the most incendiary and pulsating live acts you will come across. It's Slipknot! Right! simply the most degenerative, ugly and God darn confrontational juggernaut to have become a household name.

Download 2019 Countdown : 16. Animal As Leaders, Zippo Encore Stage on Saturday, 13:50 - 14:25

From my recommendations so far, you are probably getting a pretty good idea by now that I like my Metal to be interesting and challenging. Well, there is nothing more interesting and challenging than Animals As Leaders. They produce highly technical, intricate and precise instrumental Metal that manages to never stay still.

Download 2019 Countdown : 17. Dream Theater, Zippo Encore Stage on Sunday, 19:00 - 20:10

Ahhh, Dream Theater! the thinking person’s Metal band. The band that the terms pompous, overblown and convoluted were invented for and believe me that they are all meant as high compliments. This is Metal as its most complex, self-indulgent and mind-blowing.

Download 2019 Countdown : 18. Batushka, The Dogtooth Stage on Saturday, 18:35 - 19:10

Ok! This is a strange one as there are currently two Batushka in operation and as the band hide their appearance on stage by wearing habits and eastern orthodox schemas, it is unlikely we will ever actually know actually which version turns up at Download.

Download 2019 Countdown : 19. Power Trip, Main Stage on Saturday, 13:10 - 13:50

It wasn't even midday when Power Trip took to the stage at Bloodstock last year and yet they managed to tear the place a proverbial new one. They were the word of mouth hit of the festival with psyched up revellers feverishly asking each other "Did you see Power Trip?".

Download 2019 Countdown : 20. At The Gates, The Dogtooth Stage on Friday, 22:10 - 22:50

It is frankly impossible for me to write objectively about At The Gates, so I am not going to try. They are my Iron Maiden, my Metallica, My Slipknot in that they have shaped everything I love and cherish about this musical genre. 1995's “Slaughter of the Soul” is perfect in every single facet. It is direct, venomous and drips with righteous anger. It is also a masterclass in extreme songwriting as every track is defined, melodic and devoid of any padding.

Download 2019 Countdown : 21. Black Peaks, The Avalanche Stage on Sunday, 15:00 - 15:30

I am old and rather set in my ways, so at Download, I very rarely visit the multicoloured sugar rushtastic bouncy castle of pop punk fun that is the Avalanche stage. However now and again, an act will tempt me to forget my age and aching limbs to skip joyously past the wrestling into the very heart of the young people's neon fortress.

Download 2019 Countdown : 22. Alcest, The Dogtooth Stage on Sunday, 16:50 - 17:20

Put aside your assumption of sexually oppressed Norwegians in corpse paint and battle armour as in the right hands Black Metal is a highly emotive and passionate art form. French duo Alcest make exquisitely beautiful music that soars with a euphoric intensity.

Download 2019 Countdown : 23. Anthrax, Zippo Encore Stage on Sunday, 17:35 - 18:25

I don't even need to be writing this as if you are at Download and not contemplating going to see Anthrax then you shouldn't be at Download. This is Anthrax, one of Metal greatest survival stories, a band that frankly shouldn't still be here making excellent albums but they are.

Download 2019 Countdown : 24. Epica, Zippo Encore Stage on Saturday, 14:55 - 15:30

If you like your Metal, bold, bombastic, choral and smothered in strings then the late inclusion of Epica would have had you in fits of ecstasy. These Dutch masters don't do subtlety, they are Epic(a) by name and epic by name, producing massive melodic anthems that are operatic in design and ambition.

Download 2019 Countdown : 25. Kvelertak, Zippo Encore Stage on Friday, 14:50 - 15:25

What's that I hear? You want good time Rock n’ Roll boogie refined through a filter of vintage Norwegian Black Metal? Well you are in luck my friend as I give you Kvelertak, the most fun you will ever have whilst a Norwegian screams at you in, well, Norwegian.

Download 2019 Countdown : 26. Conjurer, Dogtooth Stage on Friday, 16:00 - 16:25

Do you want to go darker? Download every now and again excels in finding the cream of the crop of emerging Extreme Metal acts and shoves them onto the bill primarily to scare the living shit out of the pop punk kids. This year, it is British dark overlords in waiting, Conjurer who peddle a rich and nihilistic blend of Black, Doom and Post Metals.

Download 2019 Countdown : 27. Amon Amarth, Main Stage on Sunday, 15:50 - 16:40

ast time Amon Amarth played Download, they were magnificent and stole the whole weekend from under iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Rammstein collective noises. They wandered on to the Main Stage at midday to a crowd suffering from hypothermia and trench foot and gave us a headline show.

Download 2019 Countdown : 28. Heart Of A Coward, The Avalanche Stage on Sunday, 14:00 - 14:30

We love a trier at ROCKFLESH; not for us those who have achieved instantaneous success. We favour those who diligently and slowly and perseveringly climb up the greasy pole that we call Metal. Heart of Coward are one of those.

Download 2019 Countdown : 29. Alien Weaponry, Main Stage on Saturday, 11:00 - 11:30

Alien Weaponry are our next must see recommendation for Download. They may be insanely young but they are probably the hottest band you will find on site. And Christ they are young! If you are harassed by some teen to buy them a pint as their ID has been rejected, its probably a member of Alien Weaponry. But God, is there a buzz about them?