Bloodstock 2025: Friday Review - S.O.P.H.I.E. Stage
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
The S.O.P.H.I.E. stage’s upgrade comes into its own from today, especially with those big-name bands at the end of the evening. In the meantime, Cardiff atmospheric black metal collective, Ofnus have been given the 10:30 slot on Friday morning to weave their dark and morose spells of epic grimness. Combining some doom-death and dedicating a track to Ozzy, the Welsh quintet creates a bleak and icy vibe, regardless of the slowly rising temperature outside. Having dropped the This is prefix, north-west blackened deathcore mob, Turin make their third appearance at Bloodstock and waste no time in laying down a whole heap of flailing riffs and grunting pig squeal vocals. It’s brutal considering the sun is barely over the yard arm, but the inclusion of clean singing, cosmic guitars and maybe the faintest hint of groove make this show a triumphant one.
Northern Ireland’s progressive technicians, Lock Horns, appeared on 2018’s New Blood Stage and have made the step up in billing; their edgy riffs and jamming vibes bring big rhythms to the tent and a modern approach to an old sound. Belgian trio My Diligence combine catchy harmonies with a heavy psych element to take Bloodstock 2025 on a spellbinding trip to the outer limits of experience. Whereas Sheffield’s Rough Justice’s metallic hardcore finds them playing the biggest show of their career to date, bamboozling the tent with some two-stepping rhythms.
Finns Shade Empire arrive with a host of bombastic blackened death compositions which, after seeing the brutality of Paleface Swiss over on the Ronnie James Dio stage, acts as something of a more erudite performance. Don’t be fooled into thinking the aggression and attack of the band is somehow blunted by the subtle approach: they’ll still kill you, but in more devious and devastating ways than you thought possible. Ragnarök has finally arrived and is heralded in by the tribal folk trance of Eihwar’s pagan ritual. More of an invocation than a concert performance, this French duo focuses heavily on percussion and ancient, rustic instrumentation. Akin to Wardruna, but closer to Heilung, they mesmerise the early evening revellers, soothing the pain of all of those who’d just witnessed Orange Goblin’s final festival show.
Things appear to be afoot in the My Dying Bride camp – hopefully things can get sorted sooner rather than later – meaning Aaron Stainthorpe continues to promote his death-pop outfit, High Paradise. Dressed in white and acting as the ever-cordial host, Mr S brings his usual acerbic humour to proceedings. He pays tribute to Sophie Lancaster, thanks the crowd for being there, offering alternates such as eating a hot dog or having a shit, and mourns the rise of the digital single: “We all love a 7”” he quips, lamenting the loss of physical media.
Improving even on the Damnation show last November, High Parasite blend a doomy, death atmosphere with post punk vibes, combining those elements with some electronics and a whole heap of talent and creativity to have a sound akin to more gothic version of Ghost. Looking forward to seeing them on the Paradise Lost tour in October.
Not many bands can release a single studio album more than thirty-years ago and still draw such a massive crowd as Max Cavalera’s Nailbomb. The tent is packed and it’s dozens-deep outside to see this rare event. Obviously, the set is loaded with almost the entirety of Point Blank’s early nineties industrial trash, opening with the record’s first two tracks Wasting Away and Vai toma no cú make it feel like Point Blank is getting a front to back airing. It sort of is, with the omission of For Fuck’s Sake, but with the added cover version of Dead Kennedy’s Police Truck.
This was one of those Bloodstock sets that will grow with each telling, like Suicidal’s shift to the S.O.P.H.I.E. tent in 2018, and being made only greater had Alex Newport been a part of the performance. One wonders whether as to the chap who had his dinghy confiscated during the set managed to reclaim it? I saw that it was still there on Sunday, so perhaps not.
Montreal death metal machine, Kataklysm is no stranger to these grounds, having played here as long ago as 2008. They are long enough in the tooth not to have upstarts like Trivium take the limelight and set about making sure theirs is the name on people lips at the end of night.
Two-thirds of the band’s extensive back-catalogue gets paid a visit for tonight’s headline show, with opener The Ambassador of Pain coming from the twenty-one-year-old Serentiy in Fire album. Newer tracks Bringer of Vengeance and Goliath rub shoulders with older, more established songs At the Edge of the World and Push the Venom ensuring a death metal masterclass and confirming the genre spread beyond the fetid Floridian swamps.
Although Kataklysm’s sound may hay adopted a more melodic stance as the band has grown, it doesn’t remove any of the power and sheer aggression blasting from the PA system. In Shadow & Dust and The Black Sheep bring the set to an end and the curtain down on Bloodstock’s first full day.
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
