Bloodstock: Twenty Years Outdoors - Part 2
by Dan Barnes
There was no announcement for bands at the festival and we had to wait about a month before Bloodstock releases the first 2015 names: Within Temptation as Saturday headliner and Opeth as their special guests. As time ticked on more and more bands were added to the bill and the more added the better it became. On Halloween 2014 it was announced Rob Zombie would headline the Sunday and that was about as good an announcement as Emperor had been. And again, it would be on my birthday.
The trolls were out for Trivium when it was announced they would be headlining Friday night, but by this stage the worst of the infuriated keyboard warriors had become white noise. On the day, however, Trivium delivered the kind of show they were promising ten years earlier when they were touted as Metal’s Great White Hope. You knew 2015 was going to be special when the Friday main stage is opened by Nuclear Assault and features Armoured Saint, Enslaved and Overkill. Sabaton played a huge set and laid claim to a future headliner slot (and I repeat what I said about Amon Amarth, just insert the name Sabaton).
Saturday gave us 1349, Napalm Death, Dark Angel and Death DTA and with all that weight you might have expected Opeth and particularly Within Temptation to feel a little bit light-weight and frothy. No chance. Opeth killed it with a clear and precise set of old and new material and Within
Temptation played it like Sharon was the Queen of the Prom. Even the technical difficulties just seemed to be laughed off as part of the live rock and roll experience.
Sunday would see Rob Zombie joined by Cannibal Corpse, Pro-Pain and Orange Goblin – but especially Sepultura. Marking their first return since 2012, Sep were celebrating their thirtieth anniversary and any notion that the band were finished and limping along in need of a Cavalera injection [stat] was misguided.
Rob Zombie didn’t bring the video screens that had formed his stage show on the 2012 Twins of Evil tour but that hardly mattered as he played with an effortless swagger and knocked out hit after hit. When the industrial pulse of More Human Than Human washed from the Bloodstock PA there was nowhere else I wanted to be.
The S.O.P.H.I.E. tent was choke full of great bands in 2015 too. Conan, Onslaught, Lawnmower Deth, along with headliners Delain and Fleshgod Apocalypse. Hidden in the middle of the day it could have been easy to miss Mordred but that would have been a real shame as they played a superb set of danceable thrash classics. And after the last notes of Rob Zombie had faded and Bloodstock 2105 prepared to consign itself to the history books, only the nihilism of Godflesh could provide the soundtrack to this apocalypse.
Bloodstock 2015 is head and shoulders my favourite Bloodstock show and ranks up there in the top three three-day festivals I’ve ever been to, alongside Hellfest 2009 and Graspop 2008.
Appetites were whetted for 2016 with the announcements of Behemoth, who would play The Satanist album in its entirety, and one of the founding fathers of extreme metal: Venom.
Thursday: ARNOCORPS / Red Rum / Desecration / Metaprism / Reign of Fury
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: TRIVIUM / Sabaton / Overkill / Ihsahn / Enslaved / Belphegor / Armoured Saint / Raging Speedhorn / Nuclear Assault
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: DELAIN / Conan / I am I / Hang the Bastard / Fire Red Empress / Ne Obliviscaris / Re-Animator / Messiah’s Kiss / East / Oaf / Silas
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: WITHIN TEMPTATION / Opeth / Death DTA / Dark Angel / Napalm Death / Korpiklaani / 1349 / Savage Messiah / Xerath
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE / Jettblack / Planet of Zues / Burgerkill / Mordred / Battalion / Godsized / Jasad / Ethereal / Ageless Oblivion / Annahilated / Pist
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: ROB ZOMBIE / Black Label Society / Cannibal Corpse / Ensiferum / Sepultura / Pro-Pain / Orange Goblin / Wolf / Agalloch
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: GODFLESH / Onslaught / Trepallium / Lawnmower Deth / Destrage / Saille / Ol Drake / Alunah / Villainy / Dead Label / The Ixzuna Drop / Triaxis
The first headliner announced for 2016 was Mastodon with Slayer and Twisted Sister to follow shortly. It was a real coup for Bloodstock to get Twisted Sister for 2016 as these would mark the final UK show from one of the seminal metal bands of the 1980s. Some felt that Slayer’s 2013 show was marred by the disruption in the camp and the recent death of Jeff Hanneman a mere matter of months before the August show. Their 2016 return provided the chance for Slayer to deliver something truly devastating.
Some of the announcements for the 2016 show were, on the surface, strange. Misery Loves Co. and Stuck Mojo seemed to come out of nowhere but on the day both bands played blinding shows. The likes of Heart of a Coward and Unearth further promoted the newer bands who played music outside of the normal, accepted Bloodstock genres. Corrosion of Conformity came back after four years, this time as a four piece with Pepper Keenan in tow after his appearance with Down in 2014. Rotting Christ had moved over to the mainstage, and I was lucky enough to be able to watch their show from the wings. Gojira continued their steady climb up the bill and Anthrax repeated their slot as Slayer’s special guests.
2016 seemed to be a nostalgia show as Behemoth, as previously announced would play The Satanist in its entirety. Not to be out done Fear Factory, still on the twentieth anniversary tour for Demanufacture, played their 1995 masterpiece start to finish. It was a beautiful thing to see in Manchester the previous December and in the sun of an August afternoon, filled with festival beer, the nostalgia trip was a blast. Satyricon, not to be outdone, completed the hat-trick and gave 1996’s Nemesis Devina a twentieth-year airing.
The tent saw Diamond Head, Acid Reign and Goatwhore headlining, with Norway’s Shining coming back and giving the kind of blinding and dynamic show they deliver night after night. Some can’t take to the eclectic nature of Shining’s music but, personally, I think they are a perfect festival band.
It would be impossible to mention 2016 without mentioning Lemmy. The great man had sadly passed away the previous Christmas and the metal-world was still reeling at the loss. The number of Motorhead shirts on site matched the number of Slayer shirts and, in tribute, the Bloodstock organisers had renamed the main bar as the Lemmy Bar, a name it still bears to this day. Many of the bands paid tribute to Lemmy throughout the festival, but obviously none more so them Phil Campbell.
His All-Starr Band headlined the S.O.P.H.I.E. tent on Thursday with a heartfelt set. The highlight had to be when Dee Snider joined them and ripped through Born to Raise Hell in tribute. We all laughed, we all danced, we all shed a tear and raised a glass to a man most of us knew only through his music; but it was music that had touched our very souls. Like Ronnie James Dio before him, Lemmy is another God who has been called home.
Thursday: PHIL CAMPBELL’S ALL STARR BAND / Psykosis / Sumer / Kartbdis / Sublime Eyes
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: TWISTED SISTER / Behemoth / Venom / Corrosion of Conformity / Stuck Mojo / Misery Loves Co. / Evil Scarecrow / Gloryhammer / Hark
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: DIAMOND HEAD / Beyond the Black / Beholder / XII Boar / Foetal Juice / The Charm The Fury / Meta-Stasis / Anticlone / Brutai / Boss Keloid / Fury
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: MASTODON / Gojira / Paradise Lost / Fear Factory / Rotting Christ / Akercocke / Vallenfyre / Kill II This / Cambion
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: ACID REIGN / Shining / Bull Riff Stampede / One Machine / Misanthrope / Vodun / This is Turin / The Raven Age / Mage / Heretic Order
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: SLAYER / Anthrax / Symphony X / DragonForce / Satyricon / Metal Allegiance / Unearth / Heart of a Coward / Ghostbath
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: GOATWHORE / Pythia / Memorium / Vektor / Whispered / Derange / Witchsorrow / Divine Choas / Krysthla / Sanguine / Desert Storm
In the interests of full disclosure I think it only right to state from the outset Bloodstock 2017 is my least favourite. And by quite some distance. I like an eclectic bill but this year it seemed to be too much of a mish-mash with no apparent cohesion.
It feels as though the signs were there when the first announcement didn’t take place until November of 2016 and as the announcements were made, they felt just a bit under-whelming. This is all from a personal point of view and you may consider 2017 to be the best Bloodstock in the way I feel about the 2015 show. If so, then that’s great, but this is my view, and this year was just plain uninspiring.
Dani Filth finally made it back to Catton Park, eight years after the gob-stopper incident, fronting Devilment. He made a few quips about dodging flying confectionary and gave us hope that Cradle of Filth’s return to Bloodstock would not be too far off.
It wasn’t a complete disappointment, though. The Saturday line-up on the main stage was a peach, with Ghost topping off a quality day of music. I’m not a Ghost fan particularly but they never seem to deliver anything other than an entertaining show. Kreator brought a full stage show, even bigger than the one they brought to Catton Hall in 2011 and Hatebreed ensconced themselves as being one of Bloodstock’s most reliable bookings.
My 2017 highlight was King 810. Massively divisive when announced but it was King’s booking that shifted my opinion of the 2017 show from being a repeat of previous festivals to being forward thinking. Some people hated them before they took the stage due to their reputation, some people hated them before they hit the stage because they saw them as Slipknot-lite. Some people hated them and had their opinions changed, some hated them and didn’t. King 810 played forty of the most thought-provoking and ferocious minutes of the festival - and were really nice guys in the signing tent too.
I cannot get into Skindred. I’ve seen them a few times at festivals: Damnation 2006 and Hammerfest 2012 and can appreciate their following, but it’s just not my cup of tea, I’m afraid. I only saw part of their Bloodstock set as I moved from the S.O.P.H.I.E. stage to the New Blood, but the field was packed with folk twirling their T-shirts over their heads. It was obvious the band have a massive and fanatical following and were preaching their Sunday sermon to the choir. I’m quite shocked it took so long for Bloodstock to get Skindred to Catton Hall and it can only be a matter of time before their name is at the top of the poster, a position they will have fully earned.
Thursday: BATTLE BEAST / Wind Rose / The Infernal Sea / Gurt / Ramage, Inc
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: AMON AMARTH / Blind Guardian / Testament / Decapitated / Soilwork / Devilment / Whitechapel / Chelsea Grin / Forever Still
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: INQUISITION / Lionize / Shrapnel / Black Moth / Season’s End / Dendera / Morass of Molasses / Corpsing / Endeavour / Internal Conflict / Iron Rat
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: GHOST / Kreator / Hatebreed / Municipal Waste / Annihilator / King 810 / Havok / Winterfylleth / Fallujah
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: MACABRE / Xentrix / Ohhms / Red Rum / Florence Black / Gods / Abhorrent Decimation / The One Hundred / Kroh / Eradikator / Blind River
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: MEGADETH / Arch Enemy / Skindred / Hell / Obituary / Possessed / Brujira / Venom Prison / Broken Teeth
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: WINTERSUN / Bossk / Arthemis / Criminal / Oni / Wolfheart / Puppy / Courtesans / Wretched Soul / Blind Haze / Gravil
During the 2017 show it was announced that Nightwish would be coming back to Bloodstock for the first time in a decade. A very different beast than had headlined in either 2003 or 2008 and now with experience of topping some of the biggest events of the European Metal scene. Also announced to headline were Gojira – a band we’d seen move further up the bill with every appearance since 2010.
For years the call for Judas Priest had been deafening and, early September 2017 it was finally announced that the Metal Gods would be descending on Bloodstock in 2018. Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper, Motorhead and Slayer had already headlined but it was the confirmation of the Priest that solidified Bloodstock as the Bona Fide Metal Event in the UK calendar.
With those headliners in place the rest of the bill came together with more cohesion than 2107. Emperor would return as Priest’s special guests, this time playing Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk record end to end. At the Gates would be back to replicate the Sunday bill of ten years before; and who else but Mr Big to bring some much-needed levity to the proceedings.
Our editor Cat’s constant haranguing finally saw Suicidal Tendencies come to Bloodstock, through flight difficulties meant their main stage slot was taken by Love Bites and they were moved to the S.O.P.H.I.E. stage. In many ways the tent suited Suicidal as their energy became focused in such a smaller area and produced a mass of bodies the likes of which Bloodstock had not seen before. With Dave Lombardo on the kit, finally getting to Catton Hall, ST delivered a short set but probably the best set ever played under Bloodstock canvas.
There was much call for the wearing of Hawaiian shirts to celebrate Cannibal Corpse’s set and their appearance in Ace Ventura. By the time the Death legends took to the stage however, the weather was anything but Hawaiian and the deluge saw people heading for the tents to catch Exhoder’s UK debut, Slaughter in the Vatican and all.
The tents had really taken a step up for 2018 with headliners who had all previous graced the Ronnie James Dio stage over the years. Metal Empress Doro could do no wrong and Watain’s show to close out Sunday was atmospheric and crushing and where Black Metal should be played at Bloodstock.
Thursday: ARKONA / Bloodshot Dawn / Skilltron / Fire Red Empress / Hundred Year Old Man
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: JUDAS PRIEST / Emperor / Kamelot / Lovebites / Bloodbath / Wednesday 13 / Memorium / Onslaught / Reed the Rhino
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: DORO / Bleed From Within / Suicidal Tendencies / Ingested / De Profundis / Reprisal / Sodomized Cadaver / Godrhythm / Fahran / Mortishead / Deity’s Muse
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: GOJIRA / Cannibal Corpse / Alestorm / Combichrist / Venom, Inc. / Septic Flesh / Orden Ogan / Power Trip / Nailed to Obscurity
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: ORPHANED LAND / Exhoder / Voyager / A Forest of Stars / Vola / Conjurer / Dead Label / Weight of the Tide / Limb / Forgotten Remains
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: NIGHTWISH / At the Gates / Devil Driver / Mr Big / Jasta / Fozzy / Amatanthe / Evergrey / Monument
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: WATAIN / Pallbearer / Act of Defiance / Mantar / Demonic Resurrection / Underside / Sangre / Alien Weaponry / King Leviathan / Uncured / Doomsday Outlaw
Controversy stalked Bloodstock 2019 from February onwards after the not-so shocking announcement of Parkway Drive as Saturday headliners. Sabaton had been in situ for some time and Scorpions were a welcome surprise; but it was the Byron Bay act who ignited the forums and triggered many a keyboard warrior.
The animosity got so bad at one point it forced the organisers to make an appearance on social media and calm everyone down. Those controversies of the past, be they Europe, Hatebreed, Trivium, King 810 or Suicidal Tendencies had nothing on Parkway Drive-gate. And all those who scoffed – well come the show they certainly had egg all over their faces
2019 was hit more than any previous year with cancellations for whatever reason. Code Orange withdrew to finish work on Underneath a few weeks ahead of time and they were replaced by The Wildhearts. No secret that Underneath was one of my favourite records of 2019 and I would have loved to have seen Code Orange on the bill. But it was The Wildhearts, so Code… who?
A mere days before the show Dimmu Borgir were forced to pull out, leaving a sizable hole in the Sunday proceedings. Batushka was drafted in but were never going to be big enough to plug the gap. In the end the elements did some rearranging and fixed the problem.
As though 2019 was a warm-up for 2020, Nature decided to intervene in the fun. We pitched camp under blistering skies on Thursday, yet we had flash downpours on the Friday. Campsite security went round to every tent on Saturday morning advising people to lower flags and dismantle gazebos as there was a storm coming in. A look at the cloudless sky made that possibility a long-shot but security was adamant the flags would be gone if they weren’t lowered.
All started swimmingly enough. The Wildhearts played an awesome show as expected and we were all expectant for Cradle of Filth’s return to Catton Hall after ten years away. Then nothing. The industrial lighting riff used the previous night by Sabaton was lowered to stage level as the wind picked up. And picked up.
And picked up.
Concern was being expressed as to whether the rest of the show would go on. Generation Kill’s S.O.P.H.I.E. appearance already cancelled due to ferry issues. Cradle were to be delayed by twenty-four hours and would now play Sunday, pushing Queensryche in the Special Guest slot and moving Batushka into a more suitable slot in the tent.
And then we waited some more.
It was getting to the point that we feared the rest of the day would be cancelled but, kudos to the crew who grafted as soon as it was safe to do so and allowed Anthrax to take the stage for a truncated show and Parkway to consolidate their place at the summit of modern metal.
Sunday saw the wind having gone only to be replaced by rain of Biblical proportions. Aborted’s Death Metal assault drove though the wall of water while the campsite was awash with debris and I’m sure I saw a couple of lads marking out the cubits need for an Ark.
The rain eventually abated but remained to make a few guest appearances throughout the rest of the day. Cradle of Filth’s return was triumphant, as was Queensryche’s, who played all the tracks from the back catalogue this long-time fan feared they wouldn’t.
Which brings me to the Scorpions. The first Bloodstock band to have a vanity ramp at the front of the stage, there was something of the cabaret about the German legends. Still Loving You, The Zoo, the obligatory Winds of Change and, of course, Rock You Like a Hurricane.
As the last notes faded into the chilly Sunday night thoughts turned to 2020. With the biggest announcement yet made at the festival we could already look forward to Sacred Reich, Voi-Lence, Skindred, Butcher Babies, Dark Tranquillity and The Black Dahlia Murder.
Thursday: ROTTING CHRIST / Ten Ton Slug / Footprints in Custard / Blind River / Barbarian Hermit
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: SABATON / Powerwolf / Tesseract / Children of Bodom / Soulfly / Metal Church / Death Angel / Xentrix / Incite
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: GRAND MAGUS / Raging Speedhorn / Countless Skies / Suplher / Karybdis / Damnations Hammer / Bong Cauldron / Def-Con-One / Blasphemer / Control the Strom / Zealto Cult
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: PARKWAY DRIVE / Anthrax / The Wildhearts / Thy Art is Murder / Evil Scarecrow / Swallow the Sun / Cancer Bats / Krysthia
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: TAAKE / Skeletal Remains / 3 Headed Snake / Hellheim / Dust Bot / Red Method / Guardians of Time / Lotus Eater / Odd Crew / The Parallax Method
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: SCORPIONS / Queensryche / Cradle of Filth / Dee Snider / Hypocrisy / Soilwork / Ross the Boss / Aborted / All Hail the Yeti
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: ELUVEITITE / Batushka / Blood Red Hourglass / Vioblast / Crescent / Resin / Boss Keloid / Wheel / Solitary / Witch Tripper / Harbinger
*While these seem to be the official line-ups found on the interwebs, I do remember seeing – and reviewing – both Terror and Napalm Death, so the exact running order is unintentionally spurious. Sorry.
As time progressed Bloodstock had constructed one of the best line-ups for 2020, with the return of Judas Priest, Behemoth and Devin Townsend as headliners and additions to the bill in the shape of Life of Agony, Paradise Lost and Orange Goblin.
Then someone ate a bat, and the world fell apart...
The power-that-be teased us throughout the early months of 2021 as to whether live shows would be able to go ahead and from what date. Come June and the capacity-restricted Download Pilot happened at Donington, bringing a plethora of UK acts together in a reminder of what we’d been missing.
Frank Carter, Enter Shakari and Bullet for my Valentine topped the three days, with the bill being made up of many artists who would find their way onto the Bloodstock Open Air show a few months later.
The organisers gave an extra day for the 2021 iteration, starting things off on the Wednesday with a S.O.P.H.I.E. tent line up topped by Onslaught. The five-band bill was essentially Thursday done early, and the following day was the real extra.
Again in the S.O.P.H.I.E. tent, Thursday’s ever-increasing crowds, like groundhogs popping our noses out of hibernation to sniff for an oncoming spring, were entertained by an eclectic bill, including Seething Akira, Urne and Famyne among others and headlined by Nottingham’s favourite thrash jokers, Lawnmower Deth.
If 2021 was anything – other than the triumph it was – it showed the truth that necessity was indeed the mother of invention. Such was the protean nature of the bill, with bands cancelling due to travel restrictions and members coming down with the lurgy, it must have been impossible for the organisers to finalise the running orders. As for getting that merchandise printed up! It’s a minor miracle that the tees are as accurate as they are.
Out of the necessity of the situation, Bloodstock looked rather different that it had previously. Before the pandemic I couldn’t have imagined bands like Wargasm, While She Sleeps or Higher Power treading the boards of the RJD stage. Yet, came they did and contributed to the event rising from the ashes.
Due to Jinger’s cancellation, a little band from Sheffield called Malevolence stepped up, and damned-near cemented their position as the festival’s post-pandemic house-band.
In the tent, it was largely business as usual, with stalwarts and alumni bands like Napalm Death, Raging Speedhorn, Conan and Evil Scarecrow playing a blinder. In the end, 2021 was the year we all get back together and were reminded what live music means to us. Regardless of the line-up, this was Bloodstock entering a brave new world.
Wednesday: ONSLAUGHT / Beholder / Raised by Owls / Ward XVI / Anakim
Thursday: LAWNMOWER DETH / Punk Rock Factory / The Crawling / King Witch / Famyne / Forlorn World / Urne / Seething Akira / Luna’s Call / Ashen Crown / Thunderous Jones / Mother Vulture
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: DEVIN TOWNSEND / Skindred / The Wildhearts / Venom Prison / Higher Power / Acid Reign / Svalbard / Divine Choas / Foetal Juice
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: NAPALM DEATH / Conan / Evile / Raging Speedhorn / Sharpnel / Primitai / Gargantua / Dog Tired / Agrona / Defied / King Creature
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: KREATOR / Cradle of Filth / Paradise Lost / While She Sleeps / Malevolence / Wargasm / Conjurer / Borstal
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS / Memorium / Ramage, Inc / Winterfylleth / Visera / XL-Life / Bailer / King Goat / Terra IV / Video Nasties / Netherall
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: JUDAS PRIEST / Saxon / Gloryhammer / Therapy? / Orange Goblin / Bleed From Within / Diamond Head / Bloodshot Dawn / Seirblot
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: EVIL SCARECROW / Black Spiders / Necronautical / Green Lung / Black Tongue / Wolf Jaw / Vexed / Pist / Liberty Lies /Grave Lines / Internal Conflict
Such was the impact of the pandemic that its aftershocks were still being felt a year later. Props to the organisers in assembling as much of the proposed 2020 bill as possible and righting the ship, still with an eye on charting into fresh new waters.
It was a balancing act that was mostly successful, with bill-toppers Behemoth, first-wave black metal legends, Mercyful Fate, and NWoUSHM flag-bearers Lamb of God as headliners. Dark Tranquillity and The Night Flight Orchestra played top-billing in the tent, with Sleep Token headlining on the Friday – and in just three years they would be topping Download – and Hatebreed scheduled for Saturday. Events conspired to result in their late cancellation, so up stepped Malevolence for another show.
These lads had been relentlessly touring in the intervening year: after the 2021 show I saw them at Slam Dunk, Download and Outbreak before meeting with them again at Catton Park.
Friday was Thrashtastic with Testament, Exodus, GWAR and Heathen on patrol; Sunday even witnessed the debut UK show of Eighties survivors Vio-Lence. The new voices were out in force with Cage Fight, Pupil Slicer and Orbit Culture; and there was even a punk presence from Doyle, Discharge, Ferocious Dog and Killing Joke.
Mystery abound with the rumours of a surprise act swilling through the forums in the months prior to the event. Folks were guessing bands like Machine Head, Metallica, Machine Head, Bolt Thrower, Machine Head, Arch Enemy and Machine Head. It was Machine Head who cooked the rammed tent to perfection in the mid-afternoon heat.
The unexpected passing of Black Dahlia Murder frontman, Trevor Strnad, in May of 2022 meant a slot opened for Venom, Inc, who turned up and slew the baking field with the Black Metal album in its entirety for the fortieth anniversary; the last-minute withdrawal of Life of Agony found Skarlett Riot with a change of venue and an early stage time.
The inclemency of the weather back in 2019 was reversed as the sun blazed on Bloodstock with an infernal ferocity. Made a change to go home red due to the sun, rather than wind burn.
Thursday: DARK TRANQUILITY / Nekrogoblin / Nanowar of Steel / Mother Vulture / Thurum / Basement Torture Killings
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: BEHEMOTH / Testament / Exodus / GWAR / Doyle / Bloodywood / Sorcerer / Heart of a Coward / Red Method
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: SLEEP TOKEN / Avatar / EyeHateGod / Heathen / Discharge / Machine Head / Party Cannon / Thrown into Exile / Inhuman Nature / Crepitation
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: MERCYFUL FATE / Dimmu Borgir / Bury Tomorrow / Jinger / Sylosis / Lorna Shore / Spirit World / Lost Society / Baest
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: MALEVOLENCE / Ferocious Dog / Ingested / Blood Youth / Samael / Defects / Cyhra / Cage Fight / Pupil Slicer / Mastif / Sister Shotgun
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: LAMB OF GOD / Killing Joke / Dark Funeral / Cattle Decapitation / Venom, Inc / Vio-Lence / Butcher Babies / Vended / Skarlett Riot
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA / Belphegor / Soen / Ill Nino / Orbit Culture / Heriot / Noctem / Guilt Trip / Desert Storm / Pelugion
The Friday band announcements before Behemoth suggested Bloodstock 2023 was to see the festival moving in a more commercial direction. Megadeth, Devil Driver and Decapitated were acknowledged regulars, but Knocked Loose, Fit for an Autopsy and a headlining Killswitch Engage received lukewarm reactions from some corners of the field.
As the confirmations were made public it became apparent that Bloodstock 2023 was to be a transitional time, with a combination of those old-school B-O-A acts: Sepultura, Crowbar and In Flames, alongside Heaven Shall Burn, Ugly Kid Joe and Gatecreeper.
A long-overdue return to Bloodstock saw Meshuggah melting brains as Saturday headliner and thrash legends Sacred Reich finally made to it Catton Park, though even that wasn’t as easy as it should have been with them and Gatecreeper having to switch places due to… stuff, I suppose.
It had been a while since a B-O-A bill was so hit with high-profile cancellations. Saturday special guests, Anthrax withdrew to be replaced by Triptykon, who promised and delivered a Celtic Frost set; Devil Driver dropped out, with former Immortal frontman, Abbath taking their place. Another S.O.P.H.I.E. headliner would bite the dust when Whitechapel were unable to play and Swedish masters of doom, Candlemass, would return to the festival for the first time since 2009.
However, the biggest casualty was Helloween, whose shock departure came so late in the proceedings that the shirts were back from the printers. A suitable replacement came in the shape if KK’s Priest, Mr Downing having joined Ross the Boss for a blast through of a few numbers back in 2019. Ripper on vocals and a whole host of metal anthems, old and new, and though we would have loved to have been able to reunite with the pumpkins, KK and co turned disaster into triumph.
Thursday: SKYND / Visions of Atlantis / King 810 / Frozen Soul / The Violent Inzident
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE / In Flames / Heaven Shall Burn / Fit for an Autopsy / Sacred Reich / Gatecreeper / Hate / Wytch Hazel / Witchsorrow
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: CANDLEMASS / Bossk / Gaerra / Fury (UK) / Pest Control / Zetra / The Enigma Division / Black Coast / Wolfbastard / Bloodyard
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: MESHUGGAH / Triptykon / Abbath / Knocked Loose / Crowbar / Employed to Serve / Royal Republic / Urne / Seething Akira
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: BROTHERS OF METAL / Trollfest / Gutalax / Dakesis / Skin Failure / Casket Feeder / The Grey / Tribe of Ghosts / Torture Demon / Ambruis
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: MEGADETH / KK’s Priest / Sepultura / Ugly Kid Joe / Decapitated / Tribulation / All Hail the Yeti / Uuhai / Dead Label
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: BIOHAZARD / Zeal & Ardour / Embodiment / Church of the Cosmic Skull / InVisions / Cobra the Impaler / Tuskar / Stengah / Overthrone / Phoenix Lake
If the first whiffs of change were in the air in 2023, then 2024 was the moment those changes were confirmed. The Rock Society, having been a Bloodstock staple since 2002, was being closed, and the line-up was taking on a more expansive and eclectic look.
Returning headliners Opeth and Amon Amarth brought their A games and closed their respective days with aplomb; S.O.P.H.I.E. headliners Satyricon and Korpiklaani did the stages proud, as did French avant garde outfit, Igorrr, whose combination of black metal and baroque bemused and entertained in equal measure.
It was the announcement of Brighton metalcore monsters, Architects that had the forums ablaze. The usual subjects being brought up but, on the day, the band solidified their status as one of the country’s premier bands and justified their positioning on the bill. They also had a field full of people hanging on their every word; what more can be asked of a headliner?
Clutch played it cool, Deicide finally made it to Catton Park, albeit a dozen years late, Whitechapel and Hatebreed made amends for missing the parties over the past couple of years and the burning heat of Sunday was forgotten as Flogging Molly turned the late afternoon into a huge Irish jig.
Malevolence, now Architects’ special guests, had a circle pit that went right the way around the sound tower, Raised by Owls dressed as vicars for their Sunday sermon, bringing mum in a habit out for one of the best sets of the weekend, and Xentrix celebrated thirty-five years of their Shattered Existence debut by playing the whole damn thing.
But it was the decade-long wait for Carcass’ that was the icing on the cake for me. It was an hour or so of extreme music perfection that, for all Amon’s pyrotechnics and theatricality, just couldn’t beat.
Times are a-changing at Bloodstock Open Air, but 2024 was a real good time.
Thursday: EVERGREY / Hellripper / South of Salem / Tailgunner / Acid Age
Friday Ronnie James Dio Stage: OPETH / Clutch / Hatebreed / Enslaved / Rotting Christ / Grand Magus / Green Lung / Nervosa / Desert Storm
Friday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: IGORRR / The Vintage Caravan / Eternal Champion / Darkest Era / Wolf / Haliphron / Exist Immortal / Death Collector / Burner / Haxan
Saturday Ronnie James Dio Stage: ARCHITECTS / Malevolence / Whitechapel / Deicide / Unleash the Archers / Forbidden / Crypta / Ignea / Deitus
Saturday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: KORPIKLAANI / Sylosis / Combichrist / Asomvel / Red Rum / Mimi Barks / Ludovico Techinique / Enemies Everywhere / Unpeople / Cauldron
Sunday Ronnie James Dio Stage: AMON AMARTH / Carcass / Flogging Molly / The Night Flight Orchestra / SepticFlesh / Beast in Bllack / Soen / Cultura Tres / Raised by Owls
Sunday S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage: SATYRICON / Infested Rain / Xentrix / Sadus / Ankor / Grove Street / Osiah / Moon Ripper / Awake by Design / Black Lakes
So, that just about brings us up to date with the last twenty-years of the festival. We’ve all got treasured memories from the show, like-long friendship developed from camping next to someone one year and getting chatting, or just slinging a drunken arm around someone in the pit and singing along to your favourite bands.
Summing up twenty-year in twelve-and-a-half-thousand words has been a blast, a walk down Memory Lane, through some of the weekends I hold most dear. Like the festival we’ve all changed too: grown older, grown increasingly more grey; maybe even lost some friends along the way. But music has been the constant, the soundtrack to your life, and as long as we keep making those memories, the further Memory Lane will stretch.
Missed Part 1? Check it out here.
Another brilliant summary of good times had at BoA. Thanks, Dan.