Bloodstock 2025: Sunday Review – Ronnie James Dio Stage
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
It’s somehow suddenly Sunday and the festival is about to enter its final day; barely seems five-minutes since Dead Flesh and FourWay Kill were playing, but tempus fugit I suppose. If the Premier Inn at Ashby-de-la-Zouch was in fact built on an ancient Indian burial ground, the spirts did not disturb my stay, so that’s got to be a plus. One final full English – eggs scrambled today, rather than fried, being now closer to sixty than fifty has given me a more curmudgeonly outlook, and I demand scrambled eggs – and off to site for one final time this year.
From the haunted county of Suffolk, the land that spat forth Cradle of Filth, come symphonic fantasists Ghosts of Atlantis for an early main stage start. It’s big and bombastic and the band play their part, dressed as they are like primeval berserkers. Melodic death metal with a tinge of folk is the order of the day as they heavily plunder their 2023 album, Riddles of the Sycophants. Sacramental and The Lycaon King open the show, False Prophet and Halls of Lemuria come next, sandwiching the band’s new single, Melkin’s Tale betwixt. Melkin’s is a slice of power metal to slake the thirsts of the Bloodstock old school, with yarns of epic historical adventures.
London’s One Machine seem to have been out of the recording studio for an inordinate amount of time, but the inclusion of A New Plane of Existence suggests the band might be headed back to work pretty soon. As it is, today’s set is mostly taken from the two existing studio albums, The Distortion of Lies and Overdriven Truth and The Final Cull, delivering thrashing and big vocal commencement to the day. The title tracks of both records get played, as does Forewarning, Crossing Over and Screaming for the Light; we get some early flames and singer, Tasos Lazaris, comments about the heat. He is wearing a leather jacket so perhaps only has himself to blame on that front. He does have a massive voice, though, and leads the band a series of thrashing, shredding anthems.
My path has crossed Rivers of Nihil several times already this calendar year, and one wondered how their complex death metal basis would translate to an early festival set. The answer: very well, to be honest. The Pennsylvanians use their time upon the stage well and concentrate on this year’s self-titled fifth full-length, exploring the nooks and crannies of half-a-dozen tracks from that record. It’s a combination of big, vibrant chugging guitars with chilled-out, saxophone-led vibes and progressive, even symphonic elements. American Death is dedicated to all the midday moshers- of which there are many – and the only dip the band make into their past in for a colossal version of 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name.
Also in from the great US state of Pennsylvania is metalcore elder-statesmen, August Burns Red, another band Bloodstock would have been reluctant to book a decade ago, but who now slot right into the running order. They take the stage to a System of a Down cover, all punchy riffs and screamed vocals. A circle pit forms around two dinosaurs – not something I ever imagined writing – as Composure bristles with a crips beat and a big beatdown. Vocalist Jake Lurs says Defender is his favourite ABR song, as the hits continue to drop like bombs. It’s brutal musical carnage, until Jake reminds all assembled that the security have “Here to Help” on the backs of their orange polo shirts and urges Bloodstock to put them through their paces. Afterwards, one of the team tells me 140 bodies were counted going over immediately after that request, including both dinos and the pterodactyl. It’s an unstoppable tsunami that would have been declared a national emergency were it not for the training and professionalism of the front of house team. Never generates a huge circle pit, but the band run out of time for what has been a whole heap of fun set.
That Feuerschwanz sing in their native German seems of little consequence to the overall enjoyment of the band’s set. Clad in ancient armour, these power metal warriors are at the polar side of the musical sphere than the band who preceded them, but that they can co-exist in such a manner and be accepted by the Bloodstock crowd shows a heartening diversity of musical enjoyment. There’re lute and flutes and violins, bagpipes, harps and mandolins, an assortment of whistles and, what self-respecting medieval folk band is going to leave the hurdy-gurdy at home?
It's the band’s first UK show, and they attract a big crowd, ready to raise ancient plastic weaponry in the air. There’s a whole lot of fun to be had jigging about to Bastard von Asgard, Knightclub and Berserkermode; and could they really not have a song called Valhalla? No, they couldn’t – they do- and they close the set with it. I don’t think Bloodstock needs to pick sides, or sweep away its legacy, as bands, whose sound is more traditional can easily fit in with the new guard, and vice versa.
US melodic death metal old-guard, The Black Dahlia Murder were scheduled to follow up their 2012 Bloodstock appearance with a return a decade later. Sadly, charismatic vocalist and original member, Trevor Strnard unexpectedly passed away in May 2022, throwing the whole of the band into uncertainty.
Trevor formed BDM with guitarist Brian Eschbach in 2001, and it was Brian who stepped up to fill the vocal shoes because who knows The Black Dahlia Murder better? Another band who delve into the whole of their back-catalogue, Miasma’s title-track opens the show, followed by the slow introduction to oldie, Contagion. Bloodstock is ready to party with Michigan’s finest and Brian wonders how many of us were here the last time they played Catton Park; “Old bastards” he laughs when hearty cheers are sent back to the stage.
There’re a few technical difficulties, but nothing to derail the show; Cursed Creator is the first if two from the singular post- Trevor record, Servitude, the other, Mammoth’s Hand comes later and demonstrates the band have further evolved their technicalities. Brian warns that A Vulgar Picture is “a fast motherfucker, so try to keep up” and asks to see muscles during Statutory Ape. He even states that security have been training all year just for when the band play On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood, provoking a further swell of bodies at the front.
Warborn finishes the set on a high as The Black Dahlia Murder finally fulfil the promise of 2022, coping with their tragedy and coming through the other side, as strong and as resilient as ever they were.
With almost twenty-years behind them, things are suddenly falling into place for Hamburg’s dark metal sextet, Lord of the Lost; not only were they main tour support on the UK leg of Iron Maiden’s The Future Past shows in 2023, they also represented their homeland in the Eurovision Song Contest the same year.
With ten studio records from which to select songs, Lord of the Lost quickly find they have the Bloodstock crowd eating from the palms of their hands. Early tunes, Moonstruck and I Will Die in It come over like a less gothic version of Sisters of Mercy, and it’s obvious that the infectious grooves and tunes are being felt in the photo pit, as security and medics can be seen tapping their feet along with the beats.
A cover of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy is surprisingly faithful, and at several points during the show, main man Chris Hams can be found standing on the barrier, desperate security holding onto his ankles for dear life. He thanks the crowd for “letting them have the best job in the world”, gets the whole audience to jump up, and invokes the one-person circle pit.
It’s been an absolute triumph of a show, which ends with the huge singalong of that Eurovision number, Blood & Glitter; and even a seasoned and hardened Heavy Metal crowd, three days in, can’t help but be swept along with the buoyant atmosphere the Lord creates.
In an odd inversion of the Saturday bill of 2016, headliner Mastodon and their special guests that day, Gojira, have traded places this year. It’s our first chance to see that Atlantan without original member, guitarist Brent Hinds. The experienced solo artist, Nick Johnson is filling Brent’s shoes and João Nogueira continues to be the band’s touring keyboard player.
Tread Lightly and The Motherload begin the set with a one-two from Once More ‘Round the Sun, with the second song being particularly well received. Troy and Brann share vocal duties equally as Bill seems to have settled quickly with his new guitar partner. Pyros accompany Crystal Skull, Black Tongue has The Hunter’s more-sludgy feel, while Megalodon ramps the tempos right up again.
The third and final visit to Once More ‘Round the Sun comes in the form of the classic rock-oriented Ember City’s catchy riffs, Hushed and Grim’s More than I Could Chew comes next, and Remission would feel left out if Mother Puncher were not included somewhere.
There’s no mistaking the introduction to Blood and Thunder and, although there’s hardly a fez in sight, the calls of “White whale, holy grail” fill the field. As Brann is wearing an Ozzy shirt, and Troy a Back to the Beginning one, it seems fitting that the set end with a Sabbath cover; here, as at Villa Park last month, Mastodon pay tribute with Supernaut, only this time, there’s the added poignance of Ozzy having left us in the time between that show and this.
And so time has caught up with us and there’s but one more performance on the Ronnie James Dio stage before Bloodstock 2025 slips into history. It’s French mega-stars Gorjira’s fifth time at Bloodstock, and their second as headliner following the 2018 show. They made their debut in 2010, billed between GWAR and Bloodbath, playing again in 2013 between Kataklysm and Sabaton on the day headlined by Lamb of God. Sadly, I imagine this fifth show will be the band’s last as they are destined for huge things and have probably already grown too big for Bloodstock.
But if it is the final time we’ll see Gojira at Catton Park, the band will certainly have gone out on a high, with what must be one of the best Bloodstock headlining shows ever. 2018 was good, no doubt about it, but this was better.
Only Pain and The Axe fire the starting pistol, accompanied by flames and smoke, it’s a show for the eyes as well as the ears. Backbone stomps like Godzilla, Stranded revels some killer guitar and a eyeful of fireworks and confetti and Flying Whales sounds as fresh tonight as it did back in the day. The slowly setting sun and the smoke from the stage partially masks the peaks of the new Blood stage, giving it an eerie gothic appearance across the crowd.
Magma material, The Cell and Silvera mix with Another World and From the Sky; the invitation to play the Paris Olympic opening ceremony was clearly an offer they couldn’t refuse, and Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!) seems to be permanently affixed to towering pyrotechnics and a defiant French pride. Regardless of the lateness of the hour, Bloodstock intrepid crowd surfers are still finding the energy to keep going over, as Amazonia brings the show to an end.
The encore of L’enfant sauvage and The Gift of Guilt is split by Gojira’s own tribute to Ozzy and to Sabbath, with Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes, the song they played at the Villa Park celebrations. The main stage evening ends with flames and firework lighting up the Derbyshire skies and, though Joe insists they’ll be back, one wonders whether Gojira have outgrown Bloodstock once and for all. Hope I’m wrong on this one.
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
