Review and Images by Dave Martin
Catton Park played host to 20,000 metalheads for a for day weekend of music and mayhem that many will never forget. From those who had already battled to play at the festival through the metal to the masses program to the headline acts, the crowd were treated to some of the best metal has to offer. The acts much like the audience were a mix of seasoned veterans and first timers and this melting pot just added to the overall feel of the event. I have always been taken aback by how friendly and supportive the festival is whether it’s the security team handing out water to all the crowd surfers coming over the barrier or the management team allowing a mother and her young children sit in front of them in the pit to Trivium (event supplying them with ear defenders), Bloodstock is run for the people by those that love live music.
The festival hosted 5 stages The Ronnie James Dio Stage, The Sophie Lancaster Stage, The New Blood Stage, The EMP Stage and The Serpent’s Lair Stage.
Friday
With the music of the Rockfit class wafting over the crowd, Shrapnel took the main stage. Early in the day you may have expected a malaise from the tired/hungover audience but there was no evidence of that from the pit that erupted just two songs in. The band were joined by a second vocalist right out of the gate, the band set a breakneck pace. Aarran Turner bassist and vocalist was a whirlwind — sprinting across the stage, hair a blur of motion, and rallying the crowd with his passionate interactions. A massive cheer roared before their third song as they teased material from their new album, proving that early-day slots don’t mean a slow start at Bloodstock.
Later, Famyne brought a darker, doom-tinged edge. By the end of their second song, the crowd was chanting their name, feeding off the Tom Vane’s wild-eyed intensity. Their Tom Ross’s hair-swinging became a hypnotic sideshow of its own, each sweep matching the ebb and flow of their crushing riffs.
Over on the Sophie Lancaster Stage, Turin made their third Bloodstock appearance — veterans of the tent stage who’ve clearly built a loyal following. They worked the crowd with the confidence of a band who knows exactly how to pace a festival set.
Locked Horns followed suit with no intention of pacing themselves. After tearing through their opener, they barely paused before the frontman declared, “Let’s go crazy for this next one.” The audience was more than happy to oblige, the tent floor shaking under the impact.
The beauty of Bloodstock is that it has such a wide range of subgenres represented meaning that there is something for everyone. A colleague of mine and I regularly attend the festival, and both have very different experiences with the running joke that if It was a highlight for me then it wouldn’t be for him and vice-versa.
The Dio Stage hosted a mix of old school and rising talent over the next few artists. Konvent opened their set with haunting choral music, the eerie calm before their Danish death-doom storm.
Then came Flotsam and Jetsam, thrash veterans who wasted no time unleashing a frenzy of circle pits and crowd surfers. It was pure old-school aggression, the kind that leaves you grinning and slightly winded.
Paleface Swiss took that energy and injected it with a fresh shot of youthful chaos. They bounced across the stage with a mix of precision and unfiltered aggression, the air above the crowd a constant stream of bodies as security worked overtime, with some surfers clearly made it their mission to rack up repeat trips during the performance.
And then, Orange Goblin. Their set carried a bittersweet weight — the last ever UK festival appearance for a band that’s been part of Bloodstock since its earliest days. As they neared the end, the crowd broke into a spontaneous “Orange Goblin” chant, a fitting farewell to a true festival institution after 30 years.
Bloodstock’s smaller stages offered their own goldmines. On the New Blood Stage, Rascal strutted out with a coordinated move straight out of the Iron Maiden playbook — a knowingly cliché touch that somehow worked and left me walking away with a big grin on my face.
Back on the Sophie Stage, Eihwar brought a stripped-down but visually striking Viking metal performance: a two-piece act with the singer wearing a skull on her head, draped in leather, pounding a drum like a warlord calling ships to shore. High Paradite painted their faces for a heartfelt set, dedicating one song to Sophie Lancaster herself, clearly moved to be performing on that stage.
Belgium’s My Diligence brought their continental stoner metal to the Sophie crowd, while Rough Justine, in their Bloodstock debut, grabbed the mic to declare they were “going to take advantage and give direction” — immediately demanding (and receiving) a circle pit from those assembled.
One of the day’s most elaborate sets belonged to Lacuna Coil. Arriving in corpse paint, they rolled out a barrage of visual treats: confetti cannons bursting in the colours of the Italian flag during the third song, T-shirt cannons firing during “I Wish You Were Dead,” and multiple nods to Ozzy Osbourne. Cristina Scabbia dedicated a song to the Prince of Darkness, sparking a crowd-wide Ozzy chant.
She reminded everyone of the time Ozzy picked them for Ozzfest back in 2004, before the band slid into “Silence,” the chorus echoing across Catton Park as the crowd sang every word. More shirts launched into the audience before they closed, leaving the Dio Stage coated in paper, smiles, and sweat. The band leaving their mark not only musically but visually as the streamers hung from the stage rafters and littered the photography pit.
The fans gathered following the set to see the band announcements for the 25th anniversary next year with each band being displayed individually to cheers from the crowd. Old favourites Lamb of God and Judas Priest among the announcements.
If Lacuna Coil brought the spectacle, Trivium brought the pure festival chaos. Their set began with a curtain drop and rolled into pyro blasts by the third song. Matt Heafy called for circle pits early and often, urging the crowd to sing along to “Catastrophist” and “The World Goes Cold,” both delivered with the force of a band that knows how to work a festival headliner slot.
The set became a guest-filled celebration. Robb Flynn of Machine Head joined for a Black Sabbath cover, preceded by yet another booming Ozzy chant. Heafy shared that his first-ever metal show was Machine Head, making the moment as personal as it was heavy. Then came bassist III from Sleep Token, adding an extra layer of scene unity before the crowd was led through a Master of Puppets singalong that could probably be heard in the next county.
There was no shortage of theatrics — inflatable props during a drum solo, streams of crowd surfers during “Sin and the Sentence,” and confetti cannons to close. Even Heafy’s knee surgery (he admitted he couldn’t jump after losing 30% of his meniscus) didn’t slow the energy — he simply told the crowd to jump for him. The new track “Bury Me With My Screams” got its live debut, and a run of fan favourites, including “In Waves” (complete with the entire field crouching and exploding upward on cue), cemented the set as one of Bloodstock’s all-timers and the best performance of the seven times that I have seen the band perform. A fitting close to the Friday on the main stage and it left me eagerly anticipating more. For those not exhausted after the days event the festival had more to offer with Raise Your Dead Souls on the Sophie stage and L1nkn P4rk on the Serpents Lair stage.
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