Bloodstock 2025: Thursday Review
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
Bloodstock 2025 is finally upon us, and with the car loaded I head out to Catton Park; the Met Office is calling fine weather all weekend, but my journey beings through a downpour of Biblical proportions. And, although Noah might have had his work cut out shovelling dung for forty days, Genesis 7 does not mention him having to navigate the Ark through the nightmares of the M6’s constant speed restrictions and tailbacks which, if I’m being totally honest, can F right off!
Finally got to the hotel – I’m fifty-five and my camping days are well and truly over – checked that the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Premier Inn hasn’t been built on the site of an ancient Indian burial ground – unlikely, but not impossible – as I’m ultra-cautious after watching a documentary on the subject – well, it was The Shining, but you ignore these warnings at your own risk – got a quick change, then headed off to Catton Park for the weekend to begin.
I’ve been doing Bloodstock long enough to remember when the Thursday night bands were smaller acts playing in the beer tent to entertain the early arrivals. From the humble beginnings in 2008, with Marshall Law and Conquest of Steel, to the first proper use of the S.O.P.H.I.E. stage in 2013, headlined by Tragedy, to presenting some big-name headliners like Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band and Rotting Christ. Post-pandemic, the S.O.P.H.I.E. has hosted some eclectic headliners, ones who might not been at the top of a person’s wish-list but have proved themselves to be worthy of their billing.
Kicking off the whole shebang that is Bloodstock Open Air 2025 is Stevenage Deathcore brutalists Dead Flesh whose unforgiving approach is anything but subtle and reanimates this year’s iteration of the festival. Fierce beats and ripping percussion are the order of the day, deathcore screams filling the tent as some of the early revellers decide to give the front-of-stage security a pre-game work-out and begin their surfing adventures.
A new addition to the S.O.P.H.I.E. this year is the back and side of stage screens which brings an even more intimate feel to the performances. It’s hard-hitting and a foreshadowing of the fury to come. The band seem to be enjoying their moment in the sun, as smiles as big as the screens are seen plastered across their collective faces.
There was a time when FourWay Kill were set to be the British Pantera; survivors of the indoor shows in 2003 and 2004 – and the inaugural Damnation show in 2005 – it all fell apart following a show at Manchester’s Music Box in 2007. But, bygones be bygones and the Kill is back, twenty-years after opening the main stage at Bloodstock Open Air 2005’s final day, to show the new generation what they’ve been missing and remind us old bastards of what might have been.
Three-quarters of the line-up responsible for the 2004 EP 24 Hours to Die are back for this and the very recent release of their debut full-length, Pacifying the Aggressor. The time away has not dulled the band’s cutting edge as they enter immediately with hard-hitting groove-infused riffs. Chris stalks the stage as though he’s making up for lost time, as guitarist Jay, one time Blaze Bayley axeman and current guitarist/ vocalist of Xentrix, cranks out those old riffs like they are part of his DNA.
Old and new material mix together seamlessly; there’s a cover of Motorhead’s Iron Fist, and the set closes with the title track of the EP that – in all honesty – still holds up to this day. 24 Hours to Die kills it and all memories of that last show are excised. It’s great to have you back, lads!
Our very own Matt W raved about Gnome when I bumped into him at Bewitcher back in the spring, so I thought it only right I give them a go this evening. Knowing Matt’s preference for a more stoner/doomy vibe I readied myself for some heavy hitting chilled out riffs – and found I wasn’t too far off the mark.
The Belgian trio are exactly what Thursdays at Bloodstock is designed for, and the massive turn out for their show is proof positive that punters have embraced the eccentricity. Donning crazy red head gear the band crank out hypnotically mesmerising psychedelia in front of a spellbinding rear-screen projection.
Heavy, timeless classic riffs, epic vibes and infectious grooves make me regret no longer spending Bloodstock’s Thursday flattening beers in the camp site; massive basslines from Geoffrey Verhulst tie everything down and allow those big desert riffs to form. There’s a huge Sabbath influence – ovs – and plenty of swings and grooves to dance along to. Matt was again proved right.
When I saw All for Metal supporting Lordi last year I imagined them being an absolute sure-fire winner for Bloodstock; their show with Unleash the Archers a few weeks back confirmed that thought and the proof of that particular pudding is shown to all here tonight.
The German/ Italians are everything the original Bloodstock brand us built on: bombastic choruses, over the top production and a camp sense of fun, all the while maintaining the most Metal it’s possible to get.
Born in Valhalla rouses all the Thursday berserkers; All for Metal (the song) has fists pumping from the very beginning, and Raise You Hammer regales with epic tales of prehistory. It’s an unstoppable sermon of the devout to the followers of the religion of Heavy Metal, and for all the ever-so slightly absurd visuals of the band, there is something unifying about the performance. Plastic swords are raised into the air and chests are beaten as a vast commonality fills the tent. For one weekend we are all united in our love of this music and become brothers and sisters-in-metal.
When Monsters Roar, Year of the Dragon, Goddess of War; all raging metal anthems that fire up the blood, stiffen the sinews and make you cry “Satan” for Ozzy, Bloodstock, and Saint Lemmy.
Like Synyd in 2023, Me and That Man might not be the first name to conjure when thinking of a Thursday headliner, but Behemoth’s Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski is no stranger to this location, and having been enraptured by the band’s Songs of Love and Death debut back in 2017, it was a show I was looking forward to as much as anything else this year.
Based around a largely electric/ acoustic dark folk and Americana sound, heavily loaded with the blues, the band set out with building an atmosphere as ominous as anything Behemoth have created in their three appearances over on the Ronnie James Dio stage.
Run with the Devil opens, before a one-two-three of songs from the debut: My Church is Black has something of a Nick Cave vibe going on, while Nightride and On the Road brim with the dust of the America west.
There’s a host of tunes from the two-part New Man, New Songs, Same Shit duo: Blues & Cocaine carries an insatiable swing, Burning Churches is in the mode of Johnny Cash, and Got Your Tongue has an unstoppable chorus that cannot but make your body move in something akin to dance.
The events of the past few weeks were obviously going to overshadow any metal event, and the first of the many Ozzy tunes covered this weekend come in the form of Paranoid; it’s a simple, but effective acknowledgement of the great man’s passing, and a fitting reminder that even our heroes are only human.
So ends the Bloodstock preface for 2025. Five bands, all of whom killed it, and set up the next three days in style. As predicted – I’m reluctant to use the word “forecast” – the weather stayed dry, though a chill wind did start to blow across the site as the sun went down.
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
