Someone said all good things must come to an end, and sadly it is the final night of Bloodstock Open Air for another year. On the plus side, tonight sees the mighty Megadeth return after headlining the festival last in 2014, this time as part of their Dystopia World Tour. The LA thrash idols fronted by Dave Mustaine, known for their political commentary and lyrics, are sure to have something to say about the current events in America unfolding this week – adding to the overwhelming anti-Trump sentiment coming from many of the bands both last year and this.
As the giant screen backdrop explodes into the Megadeth logo, the band enter with an eardrum shattering blast of pure thrash metal for ‘Hangar 18’. Again BOA have absolutely nailed the sound this year, every note is perfect and Megadeth just keep rolling through a rock-solid set. The likes of ‘The Threat is Real’ and ‘Wake Up Dead’ have the entire arena going nuts, the pit is jumping and you can’t move without being thrashed in the face by someone’s wild headbanging hair.
Backed by an absolute wall of Marshall stack amps, the band stop for nothing, not even for a giggle at the guy crowdsurfing the inflatable ducky getting unceremoniously bounced into the pit. The screen visuals are also pretty interesting and topical, with despotic world leaders and killers flipping over and over during ‘Sweating Bullets’, but it’s the incredible acoustic intro to ‘Conquer or die!’ performed by Kiko Loureiro that has us in utter awe. Bathed in orange light centre stage, Loureiro picks alongside strange disembodied hands doing the same on screen, it’s unnervingly incredible to actually be able to see what he’s doing from anywhere in the arena.
It’s the sense you get with this whole show – these are just people who are incredibly good at what they do, and there’s no stage set, costumery or amount of pyrotechnics that can come close without that level of mastery that comes with years of practice. Oh and as any good metal band should – everyone gets a turn, there’s a chance for drummer Dirk Verbeuren to do his thing from his lofty height mid-stage and everyone else takes turns at dueling guitars during ‘Poisonous Shadows’.
Finally on pause, Mustaine calls out “Good evening, are you feeling good? See I didn’t wanna waste your time tonight by talking a lot…” as the crowd jubilantly chant “Me-ga-deth” back at them. Following this he says “…they told me tonight was the biggest Bloodstock ever. Thank you for breaking that record… hopefully we'll beat that next year, and it'll get bigger and bigger and bigger” which, at least for the second half, doesn’t garner much reaction. I think there’s an unspoken hope amongst the crowd that Bloodstock remain a smaller festival, one which is well run and for the most part, avoids the trappings of the larger festivals. It’s why people come here.
Of course ‘Symphony of Destruction’ was going to be huge, but there is nothing like the wallop hearing something so iconic, so anthemic, up close and personal, in the flesh. Oh and if ever there was a more poignant time for this song, I don’t know it. The AV depict bombs exploding, guns, the American flag aflame, and a lot of fat white men sitting around with cigars laughing and to be honest it’s all a little too real right now. Heading into the encore of ‘Peace Sells’ we spot two very happy Megadeth fans in furry clothing who have a primo view of the show, I mean, if you can’t headbang to Megadeth on top of a bin, dressed as a carpet at Bloodstock… when can you?
Closing out with an insanely heavy ‘Holy Wars… The Punishment Due’, Mustaine takes one last chance to address the crowd “Drive home safe tonight… as always you’ve been awesome… and we've been Megadeth!” and with that, it’s over for another year. Megadeth absolutely brought the house down, ending BOA 2017 in a blaze of glory.
It’s Friday night, we’re all wearing black and the arena smells strongly of rum and beer. Let’s do this.
Twice now, the Swedish vikings have hit the second-from-top billing at Bloodstock Open Air and tonight they finally get to bring their full fire-fuelled show to the hallowed ground of Catton Park. There is nothing about the stage set that suggests Amon Amarth intend anything less than a completely immersive show tonight, with the drum kit set atop a giant viking helmet, sporting two insanely huge upturned horns. It’s Iron Maiden levels of crazy.
Burning straight out with ‘The Pursuit of Vikings’ and some very synchronised headbanging, they draw the remaining stragglers from around the arena into their fold with their melodic yet heavy sound. Yelling out “Bloodstock! Welcome to our little Viking feast… for the first time we are headlining this motherfucker… are you ready to feast like Vikings tonight?” they throw themselves headlong into ‘First Kill’ and the crowd follows suit, there are a lot of people with incredibly long hair here, and they are windmilling it with wild abandon.
Joined on stage by a couple of battling vikings in full gear, flanked by an obscene amount of pyrotechnics in the form of fire cannons (which can be felt even at the back of the arena, they’re damn hot!) as well as an almost constant blast of smoke between bursts of strobe lighting, Amon Amarth are absolutely killing it. They are hands down one of the best headliners BOA have ever booked, and it’s been a long time coming.
Vocalist Johan Hegg yells out “You guys are loud! I’m not surprised though… this is the true metal country” and pushes the pride button inside every British metalhead, we just bloody love being told we’re the best at this – especially as for many, Bloodstock is the only time of year you get to be surrounded by kindred spirits. Following up with a tradition for the band which was apparently started here, he calls for the crowd to sit down “…and show the world how it’s done… this is Viking fucking rowing!”. Now if there’s one other thing the British love, it’s the chance to re-run some cheesy childhood memories, and this bares an extraordinary similarity to Oops Upside Ya Head at school discos… Aaaanyway, a huge portion of the arena is given over to seated metallers pretending to row-row-row their boats. We are such a strange country.
‘Deciever of the Gods’ and ‘Destroyer of the Universe’ go down a storm with the already hyped up crowd, and a Loki-esque character takes to the stage to stomp about a bit, but mainly he seems to be getting in everyone’s way. Being very literal with their song-to-décor ratio is a good thing in my book, I appreciated the face melting amount of fire during ‘Death in Fire’ and the torched rune during ‘Runes to My Memory’, I mean you really know what they’re trying to convey. Vikings like fire. Taking to the front of the stage armed with an array of drinking horns, the band take a moment to toast their main stage debut “We want to take this opportunity to raise our horns to you… skol! Or cheers!” eliciting a huge roar from a crowd who in turn are thrusting their own drinking horns high into the air.
‘Guardians of Asgaard’ is bone shatteringly heavy and the sound quality here tonight is absolutely top-notch, but it’s finale ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’ that rocks us to our core. During a simulated (thankfully, no rain here) thunderstorm with lightning and a rainy backdrop, a giant serpent/wyrm from the album cover, is wheeled on stage and it’s just one of the most amazing sets we have ever seen here at Bloodstock. Targaryens would feel right at home. As they play the song out and call “Stay safe, row hard, and most importantly, raise your horns!” there’s a sense the crowd here would have easily gone in for two more hours of Amon Amarth, and that’s really what a headliner should be, right? A vaccum where nothing else matters outside of the moment. I reckon they achieved it.
Time is zipping past and there are now just ten more weekends before BLOODSTOCK! Have you planned your travel and dusted off your tent? BOA HQ is busy with preparations, site visits are underway and we’ve confirmed nine more bands and a whopping 26 more club nights!
Lining up for a Sunday slot on the Sophie Lancaster stage are PUPPY. Freshly signed to Spinefarm, the hotly tipped band were recently chosen to open for CKY on their comeback tour. The band tell us "We're beyond excited to be playing Bloodstock. Every year we're in awe of how good the line up is, so for them to ask us to jump on board is a real privilege. See you guys in the pit for Megadeth!" Check out their recent video for ‘Beast’ here – https://youtu.be/r8LvjC26pfw.
Grabbing a Saturday Sophie slot are much lauded Londoners, THE ONE HUNDRED. Their new album ‘Chaos + Bliss’ comes out on 2nd June via Spinefarm. Watch their latest video for ‘Monster’ at https://youtu.be/hP_nIAVAKbE. Frontman Jacob tells us, “BLOODSTOCK is one of the finest heavy music festivals on the circuit and we are excited to be joining an already amazing lineup. See you in August!” Also appearing on Saturday are Welsh rockers, FLORENCE BLACK. Get a handle on their sound with the video for ‘The One’ – https://youtu.be/29gpEAHm58E – and check out their new ‘EP II’ at iTunes or Spotify. Midlands thrash animals, ERADIKATOR also join the Saturday bill. Check out their lyric video for ‘Astral Body’ – https://youtu.be/iUSQ265xorw – taken from their 2015 album, ‘Edge of Humanity’.
Last seen at BLOODSTOCK on the Jagermeister stage in 2015, Reading stoner/sludge squad MORASS OF MOLASSES bring their swamp and groove filled riffs to the Sophie stage on Friday. Get to grips with ‘My Leviathan’ at https://youtu.be/F_cTjECbvZA.
We’ve also locked down the undercard for Thursday night’s party night bill, below that night’s headliners, BATTLE BEAST. We welcome back ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ alumni, RAMAGE INC. to open the weekend’s proceedings! Check out the tech metallers’ ‘Within Circles’ over on their YouTube channel – https://youtu.be/v_bC0L4Lc1g. Party doomsters, GURT also land a slot. Get a taste of their sludge via this fan-filmed footage from their Edinburgh show late last year – https://youtu.be/8Zm0qCYCiHs. THE INFERNAL SEA will bring their black metal noise to the bill. If you’re not already familiar, watch the ‘Plague Herald’ video over at their record label Cacophonous’s YouTube – https://youtu.be/O4dyiNtIIfA. Lastly, Italy’s WIND ROSE round out the Thursday bill with their ‘Lord of the Rings’-inspired dwarven folk metal. Hear their track ‘To Erebor’ here – https://youtu.be/-qF1EQXIG1c.
The second phase of BLOODSTOCK club nights start on 2nd June! Get along to one of the following events, bang your head to some tunes from BLOODSTOCK bands old and new, and be in with the chance of winning weekend tickets or related giveaways. Expect fun ways to win – previous year’s events featured the likes of bucking broncos, endurance tests, and air guitaring! Check your local club for details, as dates may be subject to change. Events for June/July run as follows:
Fri 2nd Jun – Nottingham – ‘Tactical Assault’ at The Level, NTSU (featuring Evil Scarecrow) Sat 3rd Jun – Hanley – ‘Devil’s Night’ at JJ’s Sat 10th Jun – Glasgow The Cathouse Sat 17th Jun – Coventry – The Phoenix Sat 24th Jun – Sheffield – The Corporation Sat 24th Jun – Norwich – ‘Meltdown’ at The Waterfront Sat 24th Jun – Birmingham – Eddie’s Rock Club Mon 26th Jun – Reading – Sakura Thu 29th Jun – Exeter ‘TPT’ at Timepiece Fri 30th Jun – London ‘Voodoo’ at Elektrowerkz Fri 30th Jun – Camberley – The Agincourt
Sat 1st Jul- Hanley – ‘Devil’s Night’ at JJ’s Sat 1st Jul – Brighton ‘Apocalypse’ at Envy Sat 1st Jul – Wolverhampton Civic Hall Fri 7th Jul – Leicester ‘Feedback’ at Firebug Fri 7th Jul – Woking – Schism Fri 7th Jul – Reading – ‘The Pit’ at Face Bar Sat 8th Jul – Coventry – The Phoenix Sat 8th Jul – Southampton – ‘Apocalypse’ at The 1865 Fri 14th Jul – London ‘Project Mayhem Pirate Party’ at Electric Ballroom Sat 15th Jul – Burnley – Sanctuary Sat 22nd Jul – Norwich ‘Meltdown’ at The Waterfront Sat 22nd Jul – Birmingham ‘Uprawr’ at Asylum Sat 22nd Jul – Middlesbrough ‘SUMO/Holy Shit’ at Medicine Bar Sat 29th Jul – Birmingham – Eddie’s Rock Club Sat 29th Jul – Sheffield – The Corporation
With just 100 days to go, BLOODSTOCK is delighted to welcome Manchester bruisers BROKEN TEETH, as Sunday’s Ronnie James Dio main stage opener. Signed to Nuclear Blast last year, the hardcore youngbloods are set to wake everyone up and pummel your hangover into submission! Check out ‘Show No Mercy’ from their debut full-length ‘At Peace Amongst Chaos’ at https://youtu.be/Cppa15f4sFw.
Four more talented bands are joining the Last.fm-sponsored Sophie Lancaster stage bill. Maryland, USA rockers LIONIZE (www.facebook.com/LIONIZEMUSIC/) bring the groove & funk to the party, and have been hard at work on their next record for new label The End (out this Summer), so expect a few new tunes! Are you familiar with BLACK MOTH (www.facebook.com/themothpit/) yet? If not, you soon will be! Hailing from Leeds, Kerrang! describes them, “like Electric Wizard meets Band Of Skulls, in a dungeon.” Finnish metal outfit WOLFHEART (www.facebook.com/WolfheartRealm/) swoop in to showcase their new album ‘Tyhjyys’, released in March via Spinefarm. And if black metal blended with doom and punk catches your interest, don’t miss Nuclear Blast’s brutal German duo MANTAR (www.facebook.com/MantarBand/).
After last year’s huge success, the 100%CA strongmen competition returns to the arena even bigger and better, and 2017 adds the women getting involved too! Friday sees the ladies battling it out for England’s Strongest Woman, boasting an impressive line up of 8 Arnold's and 5 World's competitors as well as Jenny Todd (the reigning middleweight Arnold's champion) and Donna Moore (the current open weight Arnold's champion and World's Strongest Woman)! Sponsored by XPLOSIVEAPE, there’s a £1200 prize up for grabs, a first for the women's sport. Saturday brings the return of Europe’s Strongest Man u90kg. Will reigning champ Rob Ward keep his hands on the title or will Tom Hibbert, Calum Evans, or Davy Wallace knock him off his throne? Sunday’s finale offers a tiered prize pot of £2500 for the top 5 in XPLOSIVEAPE’s Strongest Man. See some of the UK’s best athletes, including Graham Hick (current British log press holder, World's Strongest Man competitor, and third at Britain's), fast-rising demon Mark Steele, and current England's Strongest Man, Paul Smith. Come along, cheer, and snap a photo with the strongest men and women in the country!
If that leaves you in need of refreshment, head over to KRAKEN’s Freaky Tiki black spiced rum bar, where you can indulge in dastardly concoctions amongst black palm trees, tiki torches, and shrunken heads. Adorn yourself with a black lei and keep an eye out for the KRAKEN Hunters patrolling the arena. Look for the totem pole, you won’t be able to miss it.
BLOODSTOCK’s also pleased to announce the return of the very popular JAGERMEISTER Stage, showcasing some of the hottest up’n’comers in heavy music. Bands performing will be revealed in the coming weeks!
If bourbon revs your engine, you’ll be thrilled to hear that BULLEIT are cruising in with their classic Studebaker truck bar, offering their infamous frontier whiskey, along with a host of other BULLEIT goodies! They might have a hair-raisin’ surprise up their sleeve too…
Prepare to be dazzled! Bringing their full production, BLOODSTOCK's three headliners for 2017 are AMON AMARTH, GHOST, and MEGADETH. Also already announced are ARCH ENEMY, KREATOR, BLIND GUARDIAN, HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, OBITUARY, KING 810, BRUJERIA, WHITECHAPEL, SKINDRED, POSSESSED, ANNIHILATOR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, HELL, DECAPITATED, SOILWORK, CHELSEA GRIN, MACABRE, INQUISITION, KING PARROT, SCARAB, WINTERSUN, ONI, DENDERA, KROH, ABHORRENT DECIMATION, COURTESANS, WRETCHED SOUL, BOSSK, WINTERFYLLETH, GODS, BLIND HAZE, ARTHEMIS, SEASON’S END, BLIND RIVER, ENDEAVOUR, BLAAKYUM, DAKESIS, NORDJEVEL, and TORQUED. Many more are still to come! Stay tuned to BLOODSTOCK’s social media at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock and https://twitter.com/bloodstockfest for the latest!
BLOODSTOCK has six more bands lined up for the Sophie Lancaster stage and four lucky bands win slots on the New Blood stage to celebrate the start of the ‘Metal To The Masses’ finals.
Landing slots on the Sophie Lancaster stage are Leeds metal trio BLIND HAZE (www.facebook.com/Blindhazeband), Italian power/classic metal outfit, ARTHEMIS (www.facebook.com/arthemis.official/), sludgy groove beasts GODS (www.facebook.com/therealgods), symphonic goth outfit SEASON’S END (www.facebook.com/seasons.end), Bristol progressive rockers ENDEAVOUR (www.facebook.com/EndeavourMetal) and classic rock n’ rollers, BLIND RIVER (www.facebook.com/pg/BlindRiverUK).
We’re also thrilled to welcome back Last.fm as sponsors of the Sophie Lancaster stage for 2017. Check out their Spotify playlist of bands on the Sophie stage and get excited for August! https://play.spotify.com/user/lastfmofficial/playlist/2mbVU7viKYgRh5CPhhOwl8.
BLOODSTOCK’s ever tenacious search for the best breaking bands culminates soon with the kick off of the ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ finals on 22nd April. The festival’s incentive to give up-and-coming acts a break by offering slots on the bill at Catton Park has helped give many acts a career launchpad and the finals see the M2TM team narrowing it down and picking their winners for 2017. This year, M2TM ran in 29 UK regions, plus events in Ireland and Norway to find bands for the New Blood Stage. Attendees at the finals can also win weekend festival tickets or prizes from our sponsors, Kraken rum and Hobgoblin ale. The lucky bands winning a slot on the New Blood stage will also be in with a chance of landing extra goodies from our friends at Gibson Guitars, Studiomaster & Carlsbro or recording time with Russ Russell at his Parlour Studios in Northampton (http://www.parlourstudios.co.uk/).
Having won a slot on BLOODSTOCK’s New Blood stage in 2016, the Northern Irish band, THE CRAWLING are announced as winners of Metal 2 The Masses’ prize of a slot at the Slovenian festival, Metaldays. Congratulations to them!
BLOODSTOCK is also proud to announce the first bands landing a slot on the Hobgoblin New Blood stage, hand picked from CD and online applications. Hailing from Beirut, Lebanon are BLAAKYUM (www.facebook.com/blaakyum). The band’s blend of thrash & groove metal is infused with crushing Middle Eastern percussion and oriental guitars. Check out ‘Baal Adon’ live – https://youtu.be/6KwsoLIHKVE. British power-proggers DAKESIS (www.facebook.com/dakesis) also land a slot. The band’s sound ranges from powerful metal anthems to expansive, progressive instrumental and orchestral soundscapes. Check out ‘The Great Insurrection’ here – https://youtu.be/a_rcIORrxFo. Norway’s NORDJEVEL (www.facebook.com/nordjevelofficial) will bring some black metal to the New Blood bill. Featuring ex-Ragnarok and Marduk members in their ranks, their pedigree is second to none. Check out their video for ‘Djevelen I Nord’ here – https://youtu.be/zS1YAM7KdvQ. Lastly, British groove metal animals, TORQUED (www.facebook.com/Torquedband) also win a slot. They claim they’re here to ‘rip faces and blow gauges’. Decide for yourself by checking out their set at in August!
Bands still wanting to throw their hat in the ring for a New Blood slot can apply via the Hobgoblin video upload platform – https://www.wychwood.co.uk, or by contacting [email protected] for further details.
Already announced for 2017 are our three headliners AMON AMARTH, GHOST, and MEGADETH, plus ARCH ENEMY, KREATOR, BLIND GUARDIAN, HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, OBITUARY, KING 810, BRUJERIA, WHITECHAPEL, SKINDRED, POSSESSED, ANNIHILATOR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, HELL, DECAPITATED, SOILWORK, CHELSEA GRIN, MACABRE, INQUISITION, KING PARROT, SCARAB, WINTERSUN, ONI, DENDERA, KROH, ABHORRENT DECIMATION, COURTESANS, WRETCHED SOUL, BOSSK, and WINTERFYLLETH. Many more are still be announced! Stay tuned to BLOODSTOCK’s social media at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock and https://twitter.com/bloodstockfest for the latest!
BLOODSTOCK are very excited to announce GHOST as their Saturday night headliner!
This will be GHOST’s first ‘ritual’ at BLOODSTOCK and watching their amazing stage show after dark is sure to be quite the religious experience! Check out a taster of what might be in store via this clip from Hellfest 2016 – https://youtu.be/JNCbvDIOeT4
A Nameless Ghoul informs us “We are absolutely chuffed to finally be playing at the classic BLOODSTOCK. Over the years we have heard so many great things about it and now, to be able to headline one of the nights, is a great honour and we are very much looking forward to it. Thank you all and see you there!"
GHOST, who are hot off the back of their Popestar UK tour, channel the early sounds of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate, as well as elements of prog and late '60s psych rock, so couldn’t be more at home on Catton Park’s hallowed turf. Papa and the Ghouls current album, ‘Meliora’ spawned the Grammy Award-winning track, ‘Cirice’, the video for which has clocked up almost 16 million views on YouTube – https://youtu.be/-0Ao4t_fe0I. ‘Meliora’ was followed in September 2016 by their critically lauded ‘Popestar’ EP, featuring the hugely sticky ‘Square Hammer’ – https://youtu.be/VqoyKzgkqR4. We can’t wait to welcome them to Catton Park in August!
Already announced for 2017 are Friday’s headliners AMON AMARTH, Sunday’s headliners MEGADETH, plus ARCH ENEMY, KREATOR, BLIND GUARDIAN, HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, OBITUARY, KING 810, BRUJERIA, WHITECHAPEL, SKINDRED, POSSESSED, ANNIHILATOR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, HELL, DECAPITATED, SOILWORK, CHELSEA GRIN, MACABRE, INQUISITION, KING PARROT, SCARAB, WINTERSUN, ONI, DENDERA, KROH, ABHORRENT DECIMATION, COURTESANS, WRETCHED SOUL, BOSSK, and WINTERFYLLETH. Many more are still be announced! Stay tuned to BLOODSTOCK’s social media at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock and https://twitter.com/bloodstockfest for the latest!
As 2017 settles in, four more brutal bands are locked in for August’s best metal weekender; BLOODSTOCK!
Swedish metal marauders, SOILWORK are confirmed for a main stage slot at Catton Park.
Frontman Björn ‘Speed’ Strid tells us "We are really thrilled to return to UK soil after a killer mini-tour with Arch Enemy last year. That ended with one of the most spectacular and sweatiest shows to date at The Underworld in London. BLOODSTOCK is always a riot and we cannot wait to hit the stage this summer. Bring it England!!!" Check out their ‘Death In General’ video, taken from 2015’s ‘The Ride Majestic’ album here – https://youtu.be/kme-sxY2pAQ.
‘Murder metal’ outfit, MACABRE are set for a headline slot on the Sophie Lancaster stage. The Chicago-based band blend elements of true crime, math rock, punk, thrash, folk melodies, death metal, jazz fusion, black metal and more. Guitarist/vocalist, Corporate Death tells us “We haven’t been back to the UK in several years but BLOODSTOCK is exactly where MACABRE should play if you know our music.” Don’t miss this rare opportunity to catch this unique band on UK shores!
Metallic Finns WINTERSUN are also lined up to headline the Sophie Lancaster stage. The band are hard at work on new album, ‘The Forest Seasons’ which is set for release this Summer via Nuclear Blast. The band tell us “It’ll be great to come back to the atmospheric BLOODSTOCK. We had a blast in 2011, but this year is extra special since we’re going to play new music for you guys! See ya in August!" In the meantime, remind yourself of their epic sound with a clip of ‘Time’, taken from 2012’s ‘Time I’ album – https://youtu.be/alo7A0NLmxU.
Keen to include bands from less obvious parts of the world too, BLOODSTOCK is delighted to welcome back Egyptian death metallers, SCARAB, to the Sophie stage. Warm up your neck with the title track for current album, ‘Serpents Of The Nile’ – https://youtu.be/uI6k2oAiGYM, and follow all their latest news at www.facebook.com/Scarabegypt. The band are currently recording their new album, ‘Martyrs Of The Storm’ so expect some new material at Catton Park this August!
BLOODSTOCK is excited to kick off the New Year by announcing MEGADETH as their Sunday night headliner!
MEGADETH’s mainman, Dave Mustaine tells us “We kick off 2017 by announcing we'll be headlining Sunday night at Bloodstock, one of my favourite, purely metal, British festivals! Megadeth had a blast last time and I can't wait to bring the Dystopia World Tour to Bloodstock this Summer. See ya at Catton Park in August!"
MEGADETH were recently nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Best Metal Performance’ category for the title track of their current critically acclaimed ‘Dystopia’ album. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK95lWHl7js and grab a copy of ‘Dystopia’ here
Also available now is the very popular ticket deposit scheme! The payment plan helps ease the ‘big lump’ shock of paying for your standard weekend ticket by breaking it up into five smaller, more manageable sums. You can sign up in the ticket store at any time from now until 28th Feb, with an initial payment of £34.80 payable on sign-up. Thereafter, four additional instalments of £27.80 will debit your bank account on 1st April, May, June and July respectively. Get full details over at http://bloodstock.seetickets.com/content/ticket-options.
If you have Scuzz TV, check out GOJIRA's incredible full set from BLOODSTOCK 2016 which is being broadcast regularly on the channel! Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/yLZT5Ao7o8M. The show will be repeated on the channel all through January.
Already announced for 2017 are Friday’s headliners AMON AMARTH, plus BLIND GUARDIAN, HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, OBITUARY, BRUJERIA, WHITECHAPEL, SKINDRED, POSSESSED, ANNIHILATOR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, HELL and DECAPITATED. Many more are still to come! Stay tuned to BLOODSTOCK’s social media for the latest!
BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to announce a bumper batch of Ronnie James Dio main stage bands for 2017, including their Friday night headliner!
Prepare your drinking horns!! Swedish overlords, AMON AMARTH will be sailing their Viking longboat on to the Catton Park shore as Friday night’s headline band! Chief berzerker Johan Hegg declares, "What's up UK! On August 11th 2017, we are invading BLOODSTOCK! It's going to be a fucking awesome party, with immense bloodshed and you better be there!" Get ready for battle and raise your horns with us via their latest video at https://youtu.be/Ndu33Uv7Aco.
Landing the special guest slot on Friday are power metal kingpins, BLIND GUARDIAN. Their set will be a UK exclusive for 2017. BLOODSTOCK prides itself on being by the fans, for the fans, and are pleased to welcome one of the fans most requested acts to the lineup. If you’re not familiar, you’ve three decades of music to investigate, but why not start with the more recent ‘Twlight Of The Gods’, at: https://youtu.be/Ep1B_aIFPDE.
Bay Area thrash beasts, TESTAMENT are set for a Friday slot. With their crushing brand new album, ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’, released just a week ago by Nuclear Blast, check out the awesome video for new song ‘The Pale King’ at https://youtu.be/wkHT86Ei7DY.
Hardcore kings, HATEBREED make a welcome return to Catton Park on Saturday. Check out their video for ‘Looking Down The Barrel of Today’ from current album, ‘The Concrete Confessional’ here. Expect firebrand frontman, Jamey Jasta to play ringmaster to some epic circle pit activity, so get your pit skills honed in preparation!
Also landing a spot on the Ronnie James Dio main stage over the weekend are Tennessee deathcore beasts, WHITECHAPEL, seminal death metallers, POSSESSED and flying the flag for English heavy metal, BLOODSTOCK favourites, HELL.
It’s that special last month before Autumn sets in, the high summer sun shines down on the most inappropriately weather-attired crowd of the entire year, yes, It’s Bloodstock Open Air. I will never stop being equally amused and proud that the metal community rocks black tshirts, heavy denim, sticky leather and a mass of metalware regardless of temperature, or indeed comfort.
Though this year’s Bloodstock line-up has been the topic of much forum debate and there are some rather under-represented groups (female musicians on the main stage anyone?) this year, you can’t deny there is first-class metal on offer this weekend. Friday sees a beautiful site-wide crab-athon (Crabulon) with Evil Scarecrow, and Corrosion of Conformity tear up the Ronnie James Dio stage with their gritty bluesy metal, to a decent crowd having overcome some mishaps on the route here. “In case you guys don’t know, we lost our guitars in fucking Paris… we’re kind of winging it” the guys let us know, before a calling Donald Trump a dickhead and dedicating the beautifully relevant ‘Vote With A Bullet’ to him.
Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, the comedically named Foetal Juice hailing from Manchester, sound pretty much exactly as you’d expect – extreme but a little bit silly. Everyone in the tent seems to love them though, which is pretty good going for group of mates who started this for fun.
Heading over to the Kraken Rum garden for a spot of black ice-cream (good work guys, you know this is exactly the crowd to appreciate a gothic dessert) we take the opportunity to check out the merch stall and pop into Lemmy’s Bar to raise a glass (well, plastic cup) to the man, the legend. Back on the Sophie stage XII Boar are absolutely killing it, yelling out “You’re here! You’ve made it to the party” to us latecomers joining them mid-set. It’s a bit of a shame about the noise-pollution next door, the music on the fairground rides is offensively loud and unnecessary. No-one needs to hear Sweet Child O’Mine more than once in half an hour.
Home grown heroes Venom are a massive Friday highlight with their thrashy, wild child behaviour and obvious love of what they do. Calling out “It’s great to see the fucking UK legions” to a roaring crowd, it’s nice to see a proper homecoming. Demon-faced Behemoth are kind of a BOA staple now right? The band are over from Poland, presumably to promote Satanism and murder… *snigger* and for a band who’ve done every trick in the goth manual to seem dark and gloomy, they look like they’re having a pretty amazing time.
Last up is the final ever (yes really, EVER) UK Twisted Sister show on their ‘Forty & Fuck It’ tour, and it’s an absolute blinder. Playing 15 minutes over the curfew, with every single hit you wanted to hear, and a gigantic crowd singing alongside them – Twisted Sister go out with a bang. Like the music or not, you can’t deny they’ve got amazing showmanship and the ability to engage with a crowd on a funny and personal level. They will be hugely missed.
Saturday sees the likes of The Raven Age, off the back of their supporting role in Iron Maiden’s Book of Souls world tour, carving out a name for themselves on the Sophie stage, and Rotting Christ have the main stage under a veil of darkness with their unique melodic metal and some synchronized headbanging. Fear Factory pull in a huge crowd and those 90’s sounds are just so nostalgic it makes us want to buy some of those huge jeans again, you know the kind with safety pins all up the seam and one of those giant ball-chains attached to your wallet.
Grabbing some grub is much more difficult than we had anticipated, this festival has come a long way on the food front since it’s early days of scary burger vs. scary hotdog options. We opt for a Bi-ella (It’s not sexual, it’s just both kinds of paella – meat and veggie. Actually I take it back, that is pretty sexual.) and chilli-inna-bun, which is much less Dibbler than it sounds. Both were awesome and actually worthy of high price tag we’ve come to expect from UK festivals.
Paradise Lost playing in the late evening sun is an absolute treat, but the stunningly beautiful guitars ring out across a sleepy crowd, there are a lot more people sitting down in a post-dinner sun-drenched haze. Only the astoundingly tall Kraken diver is dancing around like a lunatic, presumably taking an in-suit bath in his own sweat.
Over on the Sophie stage One Machine are throwing down hard, their sound is interesting and fresh and there’s a pretty decent crowd in there enjoying it. In the Hobgoblin New Blood tent, Warwickshire band The Face of Ruin have In Flames vibes and we are loving their rowdy set. Let’s hope they return to BOA soon… next year even… on a bigger stage…
On the main stage it’s time for the truly incredible Gojira, and judging by the sheer size of the crowd that has turned out to see them, they could just have well bumped Mastodon from tonight’s top spot. There’s something so strangely hypnotic about Gojira, it’s hard to put your finger on it, but as the sun sets on day two of BOA it’s clear they’re one of the true highlights of the festival already, and ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’ is the anthem. Shouting out “Are you having a great day at the festival? Are you drinking enough beer? Are you happy?” It’s kind of adorable that they care about our festival welfare, and everyone is more than appreciative of the brand new tracks from Magma.
In comparison it’s hard to watch Mastodon’s entrance onto the main stage, with dodgy sound and a do-the-job attitude, the magic dwindles a little. Sure, they’re musically strong but there’s less of the awe and more of the ought about them. However, as the night pulls on Mastodon appear to get comfortable and the last half an hour is considerably, thankfully better.
As the hungover masses drag their butts outta bed (well, sleeping bag) for one last day of metal mayhem, the Sunday lineup sees the likes of Satyricon, complete with forked mic stand and altogether too much white face powder – makeover the main stage with their black metal in the rather overcast afternoon. It’s sort of appropriate. On the Sophie stage, Derange deserve a bigger crowd than they’ve got – I mean, no their sound is nothing exactly new, but they execute well and vocalist Cat Pereira is commanding centre stage.
Outside after a bloody (literally, one guy had his head cut open) battle reenactment, it’s time for the final challenges of the Bloodstock’s Strongest Man competition, and get this… the trophy is Thor’s Hammer! Amazing. After a lot of grunting, sweating and swearing, a little crowd participation and some free tshirts being thrown about, a champion is crowned. It’s been a brilliant little event, hope to see it back bigger for next year.
On the main stage there’s a kicking of heels as we wait patiently for Dragonforce to appear. Technical difficulties are blamed and it’s a blistering, albeit short show from the power-metal heroes. Despite the crowd chanting ‘Herman Lee’ rather than Dragonforce before they came on, it really doesn’t seem to have phased the rest of the band, and frontman Marc Hudson yells “We are Dragonforce from London England, and it’s nice to fucking play at home for once”. ‘Cry Thunder’ and ‘Through The Fire And Flames’ have the entire crowd wailing along as crowd surfers flail overhead, which is pretty great considering that’s all we got. Five songs seems hardly enough.
Symphony X are somewhat underwhelming but New Blood’s Valous, immediately followed by amusingly named Footprints in the Custard – are anything but. Both bands are energetic and enthusiastic, an atmosphere that spills over into their rowdy crowds who are loving it.
As the many… many Judges circle the site telling you not to take photos of them, or pretending to terminate delinquents, they can only herald one band. Anthrax hit the stage with all the raw power you’d expect from a band twenty years their junior, they just make it look easy. ‘Antisocial‘ has the entire arena thrashing, and as they close out with ‘Indians’ shouting “This is the war dance, bang your fucking heads! Everyone move ok?” it’s unsurprising to see the BOA crowd comply, hard.
Following up with another of the ‘Big Four’ thrash metal bands, Slayer are here to re-conquer Bloodstock and with a stage top to bottom bathed in real actual fire (how they sustained playing in that direct heat, I have no idea) it’s almost as if they’ve come out to prove they’re children of the underworld. Last time Slayer topped the BOA bill was just after the death of Jeff Hanneman, three years later we see a fresher, stronger Slayer with a giant Hanneman tribute flag, and something to prove. With the massive and iconic riffs of ‘South of Heaven’ and ‘Raining Blood’ reverberating around Catton Park, it’s hard to imagine a better way to close Bloodstock 2016. Here’s to 2016, and wondering what the next lineup will bring…
