It's raining. Not much rain, but it's still raining. Cauldron kick things off in the Sophie stage. Those who hope the name conjures up sword and sorcery inspired power metal will be bitterly disappointed. This is classic early-era metal core with an emphasis firmly on the core. Hailing from Birmingham they have gone for the nostalgia vote hard.
Read MoreThere is a wonderful sweet spot about the Saturday morning of a festival. You have been there enough time to bed in and become familiar with the surroundings, but it is all yet to become a slog. Also, there is the delicious realization that you still have two days to go. Ambrius have the honour of kicking off proceedings on the Sophie stage and prove to be an interesting and enticing mix of power and progressive metals.
Read MoreSo after the "help I’m melting" desert-fest of last year, there is a distinct feeling of business as usual about this year’s Bloodstock. Whilst arid festivals are probably an unavoidable truth, this year mother nature very much behaved herself and provided what can only be described as almost perfect festival conditions. Even the drizzle on Sunday morning that seemed intent on embedding itself in actually dissipates before it manages to dampen any spirits.
Read MoreSo how hot off the press are we? We have ditched our long sprawling monologue about how wonderful Helloween are (because they are and that's not up for debate) and we have replaced it with an equally subjective treaty on the wonder of KK Dowling's incarnation of Priest.
Read MoreLet's leave the downright extraordinary to last. Our final entry, our final band you cannot miss is one that is rewriting heavy metals DNA before our very eyes. Zeal & Ardor sound like nothing else you will hear this weekend.
Read MoreThere are few bands that have been as chameleon-like as Swedes In Flames. During their lengthy career, they have been many things to many people. Melodic Death Metal, Groove Metal, Metalcore, Alternative Rock, you name it they have dabbled in it. What is extraordinary about them is that they have done all those various genres impeccably well.
Read MoreIt’s amazing the specific memories we store from our childhoods. I can remember the cover of “Surf Nicaragua” intricately in all its simplistic glory even though I never bought the damn thing. It stared out at me from the pages of Kerrang and made me decide that I was a die-hard Sacred Reich fan even though I had never heard a darn note of their music.
Read MoreI’ve been pretty fanboy gushing over our three headliners, but if I am honest I am much more excited about the trio of special guests that will grace the stage immediately before them. Celtic Frost were a big deal and remain quintessentially influential.
Read MoreIf there is one act who deserve their placing at this year's festival then it is Hampshire's finest Witchsorrow. For 15 years they have diligently and without much fanfare produced some of the finest doom metal you will come across.
Read MoreThursday night is party night at Bloodstock Manor and nothing says party more than ethereal Australian industrial-goths singing about serial killers. Okay, it's not the much-requested Vengaboys but with their mix of evocative visuals and ice-cold delivery, SKYND are sure to enthral the masses.
Read MoreIf 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.
Read MoreLet's have another headliner and it's a band making their Bloodstock debut. It's difficult to find anybody who doesn't have a soft spot for these Massachusetts marauders. Stalwarts of the new wave of American heavy metal, next year they will celebrate 25 years of existence.
Read MoreDo you know what the sing-along moment of Bloodstock 2023 will be? It won’t be ‘My Last Serenade’, nor will it be ‘Symphony Of Destruction’, ‘Eagle Fly Free’ or ‘Roots Bloody Roots’. It will be, by a country mile, the point where twenty thousand voices merge as one to scream along with ‘Everything About You’.
Read MoreThere is always a contingent of the Bloodstock community that bemoans the drift away from power and symphonic metal. The musical demographic has shifted on its axis over the years but the booking of Vision of Atlantis proves there is still room for a bit of bombastic pomp and circumstance.
Read MoreLet's go with a biggie, because you really can't call yourself a metal fan if you’re not planning on catching Megadeth. There isn’t even going to be anybody else on at the same time, so you have no excuse.
Read MoreDecapitated are essentially Bloodstock’s house band. Omnipresent (I gave up trying to count how many times they have appeared) they are the last word in muscular, well-oiled death metal.
Read MoreAll hail the Godfather of true Nordic Black Metal. Abbath is a larger-than-life cartoon character brought to life. The architect of widescreen symphonic black metal, his persona burns off the stage.
Read MoreGaerea are a ferocious incendiary device of a live act. They don’t play their instruments, they attack them like they are possessed by ancient demons. Clad in matching threads and shrouds they look as intimidating as they sound.
Read MoreWe all like a bop but let’s be honest, as wonderful as metal is (in all its various forms and flavours) it isn’t particularly designed for shimmying around the dancefloor. Well, Stoke-upon-Trent’s finest Black Coast want to change that.
Read MoreWelcome to the point where future, past and present collide. Zetra feel like nostalgia for a time to come. A Time Capsule from a dim dark future where synthesizers and samplers have become sentient and black metal is now the dominant religion.
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