Bloodstock 2024: Friday Review
Words: Dan Barnes, Tim Finch, Matt Noble, Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
The Gods are smiling down on Bloodstock as, on morning Friday, it’s Sun’s Out Guns Out with the promise of getting a nice tan - or ending up red and blotchy, depending on whichever way the sun takes you. And it’s my birthday… what? I don’t look a day over thirty! Stop it, you - what’re you like?
Anyhoo, fifty-four candle inferno cakes aside, the line up for today is, on paper, the strongest of the weekend, and the main stage starts with Desert Storm.
The Oxford stoner rock outfit have been stalwarts of the scene for many years, releasing album after album to critical acclaim. On a sunny Friday morning they get their chance to shine in front of 20,000 people and shine they do! Opening with 'Astral Planes', the vocal girth of Matt Ryan is soon soaring over the fields of Catton Hall. Ryan Cole's guitars clear the muggy morning heads of the campers and his brother Elliott on drums and bassist Matt Dennett keep that throbbing, pulsing foundation of their sound pounding in our ears.
For just over half an hour the band demonstrate a masterclass in heavy rock and leave us all wondering why they aren;t further up the bill.
Hailing from the same area – both geographically and musically – as early Sepultura, Brazilian death-thrashers are Nervosa who punctuate their show with some classic metal bridges and a whole load of thrashing riffs. Bookended by Seeds of Death and Endless Ambition, from the most recent record, Jailbreak, these four ferocious females play in a frenzied rage, with guitars screeching and howling like Exodus. They look to their roots on their darker material, all the while giving the security an early workout as the first of the weekend’s (many) surfer start to go over the top.
One of the most popular announcements for this year was Seventies Occult Rock meets Stoner Doom mob, Green Lung who have something of a leafy-vibe from the get go. Hypnotic bass and smoke-soaked guitars unveil tales of old Albion, with newest album, This Heathen Land forming the majority of the set. Old Gods has something old English black metal feel to it, especially through the sweeping Hammond organ, giving it a distinctly Deep Purple sound. Maxine (Witch Queen) is dedicated to all the witches at Bloodstock today and Mountain Throne has a groovy Cathedral thing going on. It’s all very pastoral, reminiscent of timeless tales of yore; or of pagan horror movies and heathen sacrifice.
Making their fourth appearance at Catton Park is Swedish power trio Grand Magus. The ever-popular three-piece have been visiting Bloodstock since 2008 and are always greeted affectionately. Probably because JB and company don’t bow to trends or compromise their goals: they are unashamedly and unabashedly a Heavy Metal band. And Bloodstock loves them for that.
I, the Jury opens the show, before the band lead into Skybound, the title-track from the upcoming album. From there on it’s wall to wall fist-pumping, chest-beating metal anthems, from the band’s glory days of the late-noughties: Iron Will, Steel vs Steel and When the Oar Strikes the Water. The show ends with the band’s signature Hammer of the North, showing all who follow on this stage exactly how metal should be done.
The always excellent Greeks, Rotting Christ, also make their fourth appearance at Bloodstock, yet only their second playing the Ronnie James Dio stage. With a new album out this year, Pro Xristou, confirming the band to be on their usual top form, the only new song we get is Like Father, Like Son’s Behemoth-vibes. When it comes to the band’s later era, 2013’s Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy still stands as the standard against which the brothers Tolis will be judged. The title-track, P’unchaw Kachun – Tuta Kachun and the penultimate In Yumen – Xibalba form a third of the show, with their epic bombast.
It's not so much black metal these days, but it is a sort of dark grey, the cavernous beats and ethereal hums give an otherworldly atmosphere about Rotting’s post-Theogonia music, obscuring whether we are attending a concern or a ritual. Eldest and most evil of today’s set comes in the shape of the Thou Art Lord cover, Societas Satanas. Another classy performance by the Greek Gods of Darkness.
When it comes to the progressive and the dark, Rotting Christ are in good company with Norwegian black metal pioneers, Enslaved. I must say whomsoever thought of pairing these together was struck by genius and, even though this is my fourth Enslaved show since November last year, it is always a pleasure to spend time in the band’s company. Last November at Damnation’s Night of Salvation, the band revisited their 2003 album Below the Light, playing it in its entirety and demonstrating that even the deep cuts of that record are wonderful compositions. Move from an Autumnal Manchester to the blazing sun of Catton Park and the pair of tunes from that album on show today, The Dead Stare and the folk-tinged Havenless, are still as powerful as ever.
With such a rich and imperious back-catalogue to choose from, Enslaved have opted to limit themselves to their last couple of albums, Utgard and Heimdal, for the first two-thirds of this set. Following the theme from A Clockwork Orange, it’s straight into Kingdom’s soaring rhythms and chunky riffs – Ice is stripped to the waste, as you would expect, the epitome of the Sun’s Out mantra – followed by the cinematic Homebound. I cannot recall a time when Enslaved have ever done a show that wasn’t a masterclass in musicianship, technicality and sheer emotional content.
Celebrating 30 years of existence, Hatebreed's set is preceded by an intro video tape that shows all sorts of legends, from members of Anthrax and Lamb of God to pro wrestlers, paying tribute to the Connecticut heroes. Playing songs from their first seven albums tonight, they come out all guns blazing with the one-two of 'To The Threshold' and 'A Call For Blood'. Jasta is a rousing frontman, conducting and entertaining the Bloodstock crowd expertly, though the four playing instruments behind him are perfectly locked in and in sync, as solid a unit as you could ask for.
Whether playing bouncy numbers such as 'Destroy Everything' or faster pitstarters like 'Proven' Hatebreed masterfully navigate through an hour of metallic hardcore on what feels like a triumphant, celebratory night for UK fans of the band. Paying tribute themselves to Sick of It All and Slayer (with a cover of 'Ghosts of War'), the excitement is upped even more as the legendary Ball of Death comes out towards the end. Bloodstock doesn't have to be reminded of how powerful Hatebreed are as a live act, but ending on the shout-along 'I Will Be Heard' is a hell of a statement, its lyrics presumably 'heard' throughout most of the county tonight. Here's to the next thirty.
It's been a long time coming, but Clutch finally arrived at Bloodstock Festival in 2024. The enigmatic Neil Fallon walks out onto the Ronnie James Dio stage in the heat of the days sun, dressed in black and adorned with a pair of shades that guarantees no one in attendance can match his cool persona. He's joined by Dan Maines who seeks no shelter from the sun, Jean-Paul Gaster covering his head from the rays in a bandana and Tim Sult who looks like he's dressed for an Alaskan winter in a thick flannel shirt.
Clutch are a strange entity where the festival is concerned, they are not your typical "Bloodstock band" and their sound ventures no where near the likes of Amon Amarth, Hatebreed, or Architects. Instead they are a band that transcends genres and draw fans in from all over.
Opening with 'X-Ray Visions', 'Firebirds' and 'Sunrise on Slaughter Beach', it's a relatively recent opening salvo. Neil throughout visually looks like he is sweltering in the sun yet continues to throw his usual shapes as he commands the stage with his meteoric vocals as the photographers and security grooved away in the pit.
It's a set that leans into the heavier side of the bands catalogue, but highlighted by 'The Mob Goes Wild', 'Sucker for the Witch' and 'A Quick Death In Texas'. Theres no sign of 'Electric Worry', the bands most well known number, a choice akin to Metallica dropping 'Enter Sandman'; and whilst a few would have been looking out for it, ultimately the band put on the show of the weekend (in my humble opinion) and I could not fault a single second of it.
Which just leaves it up to Mikael Akerfeldt and Opeth to bring down the curtain on the mainstage entertainment for the day. It’s been an exceptional day of music on the Ronnie James Dio, with none of the nine bands being any other than outstanding. But, if you’re after the cherry on this particular cake, look no further than the progressive Swedes, who’ve made a career out of hitting fans with cerebral and visceral music, sometimes simultaneously.
For this, Opeth’s third headline show at Bloodstock, they have done a ‘By Request’ poll and selected eight of their most called for tunes. The staccato dance of drums and guitar are met with a massive roar as The Grand Conjuration begins the show. Mixing Mikael’s growls with his cleans, the spotlights halo the stage in brilliant white and blood red beams, giving a treat for both the eyes and the ears. Demon of the Falls, from 1998’s My Arms, Your Herse is the oldest tune on offer and new young drummer, Waltteri Väyrynen, clad in a Morbid Angel shirt, is having the time of his life, smashing out those deathy blasts.
Music is only part of the Opeth experience; the other is the stream of consciousness direction of Mikael’s between-songs banter. After calling Bloodstock “Limey fucks” we get a mediation on Lynyrd Skynyrd and their original drummer, Artimus Pyle. Akerfeldt even introduces the band as Opeth Piledriver before dropping into The Drapery Falls. Images of clouds fill the rear screen as the complex movements of the tune twist and turn.
He teases something off the up and coming The Last Will and Testament album, but instead plays the heart-breaking In My Time of Need. It’s comparison with the following Heir Apparent shows the breadth of Opeth’s compositional range. He calls Ghost of Perdition “fun to play” and invites the crowd to go mental, even commenting on the rambunctious pit during the slow ballad.
From then on it’s Sorceress, introductions and the encore of Deliverance. Opeth are this generation’s Pink Floyd; their music is challenging and uncompromising, but once you attune yourself to it then every chord shift is a banquet waiting to be savoured.
As we all walk away from the main arena, down the field, there’s something even more mind-melting waiting for us on the S.O.P.H.I.E. stage.
Before getting to Igorrr, there’s the small matter of the nine other acts to enthral and entertain in equal measure. First up, and before the main stage had heard a note played in anger, is Häxan, a power trio from South Wales. A fat low end and some chunky riffs rub shoulders with some classic rock sensibilities for a cracking way to start the day.
I had the pleasure of reviewing It All Return’s to Nothing last year, Burner’s debut full length and am very pleased to announce the magic they captured on record is but a splinter of the band’s live show. Their uber-aggressive, confrontational stance is a take on the melodic hardcore, with the two-steppin’ rhythms and big beatdowns. But, add to that grinding guitars and Napalm barks, doomy interludes and even some ethereal moments, all attracting circle pit action and this is a high energy performance before the sun is barely even over the yard-arm.
‘Supergroup’ DeathCollector find themselves sans a drummer after today’s set, for it marked the final show with Andrew Whale behind the kit. The original drummer of Bolt Thrower couldn’t have picked a better show to hang up the sticks, with DeathCollector showing all those speed merchants that Death Metal is a vibe and doesn’t need blistering tempos, rather it’s all about the atmosphere. Introduced as the “best thing to some out of lockdown” this is old school death metal at its finest; lumbering, rumbling, menace filled and evocative of the Morrison Sound coming out of the Florida swamps back in the late-Eighties. A Taste of Ichor builds to a storming conclusion, while Death’s Toll revels in a Bolt Thrower aesthetic. Throughout tunes are stretched like victims on a rack, squealing in pain as they are pulled to breaking point.
Unfortunately, Exist Immortal have drawn the short straw to be playing at the same time as Green Lung on the RJD stage, but their progressive metalcore has attracted a fair few interested parties as the band start with some emotionally charged virtuosity. As with many of the band on this weekend’s bill, their complex song structures and high level of musicianship could be mistaken for obscuring any lack of emotional depth in their music but, like the other bands to whom that might apply, one has only to listen to key into the passion on offer.
This is the debut UK show from Dutch Symphonic Extreme metal band, Haliphron and their combination of sweepingly majestic music and gruff vocals cum powerful screams place the band somewhere at the intersections of Epica, Within Temptation and Arch Enemy. Marloes Voskuil sure knows how to make the most of the musical platform she’s offered and, even though the band have but a few years under their belt, they give a solidly competent performance.
Another band with a long Bloodstock pedigree is Wolf, and another band from Sweden for whom Heavy Metal is the law. Very much in the same vein as Grand Magus, Wolf put their heads down and blast through the likes of Shoot to Kill, Shark Attack, Skull Crusher, and Speed On. It’s Heavy and it’s Metal; it’s all you need to know.
Northern Ireland’s Darkest Era bring the Celtic-laced folk music to the S.O.P.H.I.E. stage. Akin to Primordial and mid-era My Dying Bride, the band had the unenviable task of trying to generation darkness and despair on one of the nicest days of the year so far. As a variation on the music heard so far today then it was a success, and there’s always room for a bit of Romanticised Gothic introspection
Move over Grand Magus and Wolf, for the true warriors of Real Heavy Metal are here: ladies and gentlemen, from Austin in the great state of Texas, Bloodstock presents Eternal Champion. With a name drawn from Hawkwind’s muse, Michael Moorcock, and inspiration from the works of Robert E Howard, Lovecraft and Phillip K Dick, the band embrace the epic nature of the genre. With only two albums from which to draw, the heavy lifting is done by 2020’s Ravening Iron. Skullseeker opens things off, followed by the rapid-fire title-track. Older material from The Armour of Ire shows the roots of the band’s sound, though a little less heavy than the later material. It’s the fertile ground on which Bloodstock set its roots and you just wait for All for Metal in 2025.
Icelandic stoner/prog maestros The Vintage Caravan sub-headlined the Sophie Stage in true, classy style with a set drawing from a range of their albums. Fill in bassist Matti is in fine form, only on his fourth show with the band, effortlessly playing lick after lick and already sounding a part of a well oiled machine in sync with Stefán's tasteful yet flashy drumming. Óskar leads the line with his ever flamboyant guitar acrobatics, his soulful vocal melodies carrying nicely through the tent. They're a little lighter than most bands on this weekend, but provide a real fresh of breath air with a performance brimming with showmanship and musicality throughout its runtime.
What better to close the first day of Bloodstock 2024, than to have your post-Opeth cerebellum to be mangled by the indescribable combinations and mash-ups of French audio artist Igorrr. Taking inspiration from black, death, industrial, progressive and hardcore, an odd D-Beat or two and a whole lotta Baroque music from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, suggests the results of these arrangements are somewhat eclectic.
Early track, Spaghetti Forever opens with a solo mandolin, before going industrial with a death metal vocal, turning choral as an organ and violin take centre stage for a moment, then reversing the order to get back to the mandolin. It’s almost like a five-minute walk through of western music since the 1600s. ieuD from the same Savage Sinusoid record moves in many of the same ways, though its extremities are less defined.
The bulk of the show is from 2020’s Spirituality and Distortion album, which feels like a more even balance to all of the aspects Igorrr throw into the mix. Nervous Waltz and Hollow Tree feel more measured in their combinations, even the insane jazzy cacophony of closer Very Noise somehow feels structured.
In what was probably the craziest Bloodstock headlining performance ever, Igorrr bring the day to an end in the most entertaining, if confusing, way.
A trip over to the New Blood stage on Friday see's a plethora of up and coming artists vying for supremacy. It's a day for Scotland - or more specifically Edinburgh - to take the plaudits with groove/thrashers Disposbale and blast tyrants Hammer taking centre stage.
Essex Metal 2 The Masses winners Reverent Son stake their claim at Bloodstock with a hard hitting set on the New Blood Stage. With lots of 70s metal-inspired passages that sound timeless, duelling guitars and multiple band members sharing vocal duties, they're full of presence and power during their set. Ending their set on the whacky 'Circled by Sharks', which whips the tent into a Jaws-inspired frenzy as a series of inflatable sharks are lobbed around, it's a memorable first appearance for the four-piece.
Final Coil dropped their proggy post-metal stylings into the mix and By Virtue Fall tore up the stage early on. And to close it all out last minute call up Born Zero took to the stage, with the unenviable clash against the mighty Clutch.
It was hell of a week for the band that culminates by headlining the New Blood Stage on the Friday night, when as soon as the Monday afternoon, they hadn't even been booked yet. Yet the boys from Birmingham step up to the plate in fine form, with their hard-hitting alt-metal numbers rousing a great crowd reaction. Frontman Levi is a bundle of energy as ever, translating nicely into some lively moshes and a sea of necks whipping around to each riff. They're razor tight tonight and their timeless sounding heaviness could easily see them a stage higher very soon.
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
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