i had never had any problems seeing the bands i wanted to see you can get close to the stage, but if you want to be in the first rows, you'll probably need to camp in front of the stage before the concert starts.
as is usually the case, different bands attract different kinds of fans. if you don't mind getting lost in the pit, then you'll have a good shot at even the most brutal bands . when i saw cannibal corpse two years ago (or so), the pit was so big and crazy that i had to watch the concert from the side, but i was close to the stage. this year it got very crazy when children of bodom started to play. some people cried for help to get out of one of the craziest pits i've seen. anyways, you can always get close to the bands, especially if you don't mind the occassional kick in the butt or suffocating in the dust.
Thanks, that was just the type of reply I was hoping for.