21. Employed to Serve – Ronnie James Dio Stage, Saturday August 12th – around midday

While 2021 was pretty shit wasn't it? Not as bad as 2020, but still pretty miserable as years go. It however had one shining chink of light and that was the release of “Conquering” by Employed to Serve. Our album of the year here at ROCKFLESH, it was a bold and brazen treaty on modern metal. Every track personified what was so vividly wonderful about the musical form we all adore. It was like the band had taken 50 plus years of history and umpteenth splintering subgenres and forged them all into one astonishing 48 minutes and 25 seconds of strident, forthright music .

The band didn't set out to make a quintessential metal album, however the onset of the first lockdown permanently derailed their plans to promote previous record “Eternal Forward Motion”. Confined to their shared abode, band leaders Justine and Sammy busied themselves imagining what the perfect metal album would sound like. When the sirens for all clear sounded, they emerged from their bunker with 11 nuggets of gold.

We are still playing Covid catch up so the campaign to promote the exquisite “Conquering” has been at best spluttering. But now almost 2 years after its release they are ready to parade it in front of your good selves at Bloodstock. These are songs designed for big spaces. These are songs precision engineered to be screamed back at the band by an adoring throng.  It will be wondrous.