The legendary KILLING JOKE are Sunday’s Ronnie James Dio main stage special guests. Cited as an influence by myriad bands from Slipknot to Napalm Death, Lamb Of God to the Foo Fighters, this band of creative visionaries led by the inimitable Jaz Coleman have been preaching wisdom and bringing the fire for over four decades. Jaz tells us, “Can’t wait to play, always loved BLOODSTOCK festival, looking forward to it!” Check out the trailer for their ‘The Death & Resurrection Show’ music documentary and wrap your head around the prophetic lyrics of 2015’s ‘I Am The Virus’.
Also grabbing a main stage slot on Friday are California sludge squad, ALL HAIL THE YETI. Having opened the main stage back in 2019, we’re thrilled to see them return in the wake of their latest EP, ‘Within The Hollow Earth’. Check out the tripped-out video for ‘Headless Valley’ taken from that same 7-track collection.
Moving across to the Sophie Lancaster stage, we see deathgrind legends CATTLE DECAPITATION and Swedish melodeath squad ORBIT CULTURE land a Sunday billing. Hotly tipped nu-metal upstarts TALLAH, Swiss extreme metallers SAMAEL and Swedish metal supergroup CYHRA are added to Saturday’s roster, plus Spanish black metal collective NOCTEM join Friday’s list. To round out the announcement, NANOWAR OF STEEL will be bringing their power metal parody skills to Thursday’s ‘opening party night’ line-up.
In other news, BLOODSTOCK’s phenomenally popular ticket Deposit Scheme is ready for sign ups! This year, payments are spread across 6 months instead of 5, making it even more manageable to pay for your ticket in instalments. An initial payment of £31.50 is due upon sign up (which you can do at any point before 26th Feb), then five additional payments of £24.16 will debit your bank account on 25 Mar, 29 Apr, 27 May, 24 Jun, with a final instalment on 29 Jul, which will include any applicable postage and booking fees. Sign up to the scheme here.
The Metal 2 The Masses scheme for 2022 has also begun, with its modus operandi to find the best unsigned and grass roots bands and give them the opportunity to play a slot on BLOODSTOCK’s ‘New Blood’ stage. Bands should get their applications into their nearest regional promoter ASAP, as heats kick off in the coming weeks. Local promoters in regions not yet represented can email Simon Hall (simon@bloodstock.uk.com) for info, if they wish to host the scheme in their local area. Regions announced so far are: SCOTLAND (Edinburgh), NORTHERN IRELAND (Belfast), IRELAND (Dublin), LEEDS, NORWICH, MANCHESTER, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, SHEFFIELD, MERSEYSIDE (Liverpool), LONDON, KENT (Gravesend), STOKE ON TRENT, CHESTERFIELD, LEICESTER, HITCHIN, ESSEX (Colchester), BRIGHTON, NORTH WALES (Wrexham), SOUTH WALES (Cardiff), DEVON & CORNWALL (Saltash), NOTTINGHAM, SOMERSET (Bridgewater) & NORWAY (Oslo). Full details of venues and who to contact to enter in each region, can be found here.
BLOODSTOCK’s 2022 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are BEHEMOTH, LAMB OF GOD, and MERCYFUL FATE. Also appearing across the weekend are DIMMU BORGIR, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS playing their Pantera set, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, GWAR (in a UK festival exclusive), BURY TOMORROW, SACRED REICH, LIFE OF AGONY, SPIRITWORLD, BELPHEGOR, BUTCHER BABIES, VIO-LENCE, BLOODYWOOD, JINJER, LORNA SHORE, DOYLE, LOST SOCIETY, HATEBREED, SLEEP TOKEN, DARK FUNERAL, EYEHATEGOD, DISCHARGE, STATIC-X, THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, ENFORCED, PARTY CANNON, SOEN, HERIOT, BLOOD YOUTH, BLACK TONGUE, HEART OF A COWARD, FEROCIOUS DOG, HEATHEN, and NEKROGOBLIKON as well as many more yet to come. Stay tuned for more band announcements soon.
With tickets selling faster than ever, all VIP packages, early birds, and campervan tickets are already sold out. Weekend camping tickets & child tickets are on sale now at the ticket store.
BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 11th-14th August 2022.
For more info, click to www.bloodstock.uk.com.