9. Urne – Ronnie James Dio stage - Saturday, August 12th, late morning.

If you made me narrow it down and tell you the one band that you should not miss at this year's Bloodstock I would with complete certainty answer Urne. They are the most exciting new band that this country has produced in absolute ages.  They exist in every genre of metal and in none. They don't just leap perceived boundaries; they see them as inconsequential and irrelevant.

Their 2021 debut “Serpent & Spirit” was an astounding journey through sonic oscillation. They combine with ease prog’s thirst for experimentation with death metal's heft and grit. The up-and-coming second album (which will be with us by the time Bloodstock rolls up) promises to take everything further and faster. 

Produced by metal royalty Joe Duplantier, it is a deeply personal treaty on mortality and the loss of being. It shows the depth and fragility that is possible with metal and proves once again how affecting an art form it is in sound-tracking despair and grief. 

This is the one band that I will spend my weekend urging people to go and see, because I think they are that special. This is metal as a cathartic tool for self-healing. This is metal at its most potent as a source of evocative storytelling. This will be one of those moments.