Bloodstock 2026: Thursday Review – S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage
6th August 2026
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
Getting the traditional day-before-Bloodstock party started in the S.O.P.H.I.E. tent is Hip-Hop/ Funk infused metallers, Mantis Defeats Jaguar, who manage to get the weekend’s first crowd surfer over the barrier before their intro tape has finished. Their Rage Against the Machine-minus the politics approach is custom-built to get any shindig going. Kick the Wrecking Off feels ideal suited to the situation, inflatables are released and the whole things feels like we’re about to welcome the millennium all over again.
Not to be confused with Hell (minus the definite-article) who have played Bloodstock several times before, The Hell take to the stage all boiler-suited up and continuing the party theme and Nu stylings of MDJ, but with a more abrasive and confrontational attitude. It’s harsh guitars and dance beats, modern British hardcore with an eye on the past; after Heavysaurus’ set on the main stage, this is organised chaos, and I don’t recall the dinos telling their crowd to keep the security staff busy. 66666 has a Slipknot vibe, Do That a funky groove and a soundtrack style; there’s even some chilled out R&B specifically for those with a desire to toot the devil’s lettuce, meaning that The Hell never seemed to play the same genre more than once
Sheffield Hard rockers, Black Spiders make a timely return to Bloodstock and bring with them the fifteen-year anniversary of the debut album, Sons of the North, which they play in full tonight. The festival’s first ‘serious’ band, Black Spiders is full of throwback riffs and a Seventies aesthetic. Stay Down and KISS Tired to Kill Me are full of dirty riffs and catchy moments; fellow Sheffield native, Maisie from Air Drawn Dagger, joins for Easy Peasy’s laid back grooves, Blood of Kings has a Sabbath feel, as does St Peter’s Sabotage-sound. Man’s Ruin revels in a driving riff, taking us into the closing trio of Medusa’s Eyes, Si, El Diablo and What Good’s a Rock Without a Roll? Kudos for choosing a less-obvious AC/DC cover to close the set; Powerage’s Kicked in the Teeth not being a popular go-to tune from the legend’s extensive back-catalogue.
Canadian brutalists Cryptopsy have the unenviable task of following Saxon’s set and take to the S.O.P.H.I.E. while the Barnsley superstars are still playing on the main stage. As it’s thirty-years this year since the release of the seminal sophomore album, None So Vile, the hope was that record would be played in full. While we don’t get that, we do get seventy-five percent of it – only Dead and Dripping and Lichmistress are omitted this evening – and it little matters that it’s played out of sequence.
Opener Slit Your Guts blasts with technical frenzy, Benedictine Convulsions growls and grooves, the big breakdown in Graves of the Fathers feels more powerful than ever tonight, and Crown of Horns is pure hatred in musical form. Although he did not voice the record, vocalist Matt McGachy does sterling work in place of Lord Worm.
Material from last year’s An Insatiable Violence record and the previous As Gomorrah Burns intersperse the None So Vile tracks: Until there’s Nothing Left, Dead Eyes Replete and Godless Deceiver prove Cryptopsy may have been around a while, but they have lost none of their spite and anger.
Crown of Horns begins the run of three-decade old material, which includes Phobophile and the shock and awe that is Orgiastic Disembowelment, leaving only newbie, Malicious Needs to end the set and bring closure to Thursday night.
Photo credits: Tim Finch
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