Live Review: A Bloodstock Experience (Saturday)

There is nothing quite like waking up in a tent on a hot summers morning during a festival, surrounded by the equally sleep deprived and yet… itching to sink a beer and witness some of the heros and heroines you’ve waited all year for. Five hash browns, a can of Monster and a latte chaser later, feeling a little more alive and we’re ready to see Ignea [8/10] on the Ronnie James Dio main stage for a Saturday mornings entertainment. The Ukrainian Melodic Metal band have a frontwoman in Helle Bohdanova who stalks the stage like an apex predator while they hammer out cuts like “Jinnslammer“, “Leviathan” and “Alexandria“. What’s incredible is that despite the size of the stage and the crowd, none of their nuances are lost. They sound just as epically grand here as they do on the recordings.

As with Tech-Fest our experience at Bloodstock has been that members of various notable bands from the United Kingdom Metal Underground scene are wondering around as fans, even if they’re not playing the event this year. It’s great to see members of Imperium and Draconian Reign getting in on the action because they are the future and once you go past a certain point you can’t go anywhere without being recognized.

It feels a little surreal to have Nervosa and Crypta [10/10] playing the same festival given their shared history but the Brazilian Death Metal quartet are a distinctly different beast. A shade more theatrical in not only their performance but their facial expressions, they don’t feel as fast and loose but make up for it in power and presence. Vocalist and bassist Fernanda Lira has microphone stand with more knives in it than there are in Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen and they have a monster of a drummer in Luana Damento who provides the covering fire with tribal style fills as the others do their work. The demonic banshee vocals are nothing short of throat shredding and accompanied by the sinister and menacing riffs they make for an award winning metal combination. “The Other Side of Anger“, “The Outsider” and “From The Ashes” all feel nothing short of venomous in the sunshine today.

Bay Area Thrash Kings Forbidden [7/10] come armed with the instantly recognisable figure of “Burn My Eyes” era Machine Head drummer Chris Kronos and are a band reborn in 2023 after an eleven year hiatus. That came to an end at Alcatraz Festival in Belgium last summer with original members Craig Locicero and Matt Camacho joined by new vocalist Norman Skinner. He may not be Russ Anderson but he does have phenomenal vocal range and handles the bands older material like “Out of Body (Out of Mind)“, “March into Fire” and “Through Eyes Of Glass” very well. As a collective the group are working on a new album for 2025 and this certainly bodes well for that.

Short, sharp shocks of violent aggression that feel like hot needles through the eyes? That will be Death Grind mercenaries Public Execution [8/10] on the EMP stage, who get a raptor Mosh pit going as they absolutely destroy the place. Fortunately the stage is a tent with no sides because they generate so much heat they threaten to start a wild fire. Their debut album “Mullered” is literally 20 tracks in 16 minutes, which tells you all you need to know about the feral riff merchants.

A red t-rex two stepping during Unleash The Archers [8/10] set is good fun, the band nailing their Folk Power Death Metal blend with their flame haired guitarist leading the way. They play striking renditions of “Ghosts in the Mist“, “The Matriarch” and of course “Tonight We Ride” during their energy packed set and it has to be said that vocalist Britney Slayers doesn’t get the credit she deserves for her vocal range. While she might be using a wired microphone for the first time in 7 years, she doesn’t allow it to compromise her energy, swishing her hair around during the bands trademark extended instrumental passages like a beast.

Florida Death Metal pioneers Deicide [8/10] are a lethal dose of American hatred for an afternoon in the hot sun, battering the living daylights out of the drum kit in accompaniment to Glen Bentons Satanic roars. Everything louder than everything else? You bet. Especially when there is a whammy bar drop solo thrown in like a Molotov cocktail. They only get 40 minutes (as opposed to their 70 minute headlining club shows) to deliver us to evil so must cut out a few of their classics. What were left with includes “Carnage in the Temple of the Damned“, “In Hell I Burn” and a barbed “Scars of the Crucifix” to show the young ones how it’s done.

The saw remains the law for American Deathcore Kings Whitechapel [9/10] who surprise everyone by rolling out an old school set that crushes like the caterpillar tracks of a tank. There are zero clean vocals from Mr Phil Bozeman who by his own admission is a man of few words between songs, the band instead decimating the weak one soul at a time. Just one cut in “A Bloodsoaked Symphony” from their current album “Kin” but four from “The Valley” including “Black Bear” mean the bans are a very different prospect to the one we saw opening for Thy Art Is Murder in London, a seemingly renewed hunger and energy about them inspiring crowd surfing all night long.

The Sophie Lancaster stage finds the rejuvenated American Industrial Metal outfit Combichrist [9/10] getting the place jumping with their new album “CMBCRST” making up the entire set but played in an entirely different order. Opening with “Planet Doom” before a smashing their way through “Wolves Eating Wolves” and “Compliance” with mechanised riffs and electronic beats creating a tornado in the mosh pit. All this might have started as the nightmarish vision of Andy LaPlegua in 2003 but as a collective the give piece have been together on and off for most of the last decade and that experience shows through in the performance. They bring the energy the crowd feed off which in turn is fuel for more mosh pit violence incitement from the stage. “D for Demonic” closes the set and brings the blood stained curtain down on what can only be considered a triumph from one of the most underrated bands around.

Sheffield shredders Malevolence [10/10] have travelled three thousand miles to be at Bloodstock Open Air Festival tonight and deliver a set of Metallic Hardcore bangers straight from the soul of the North. “Slave To Satisfaction” goes down like a cold beer on a hot summers day before a melodic break for “Higher Place” gives the audience a chance to breathe. Frontman Alex Taylor manages to get arguably the biggest circle pit of the day, commanding those in the arena to move as the band keep hammering out the heavy hitters, tonight’s rendition of “Keep Your Distance” enough to make the ears bleed. We’re even treated to a 30 second burst of new riffs, offered up with the promise of a new album coming very soon before “Karma” brings in the final trio of calls for crowd surfers to get involved in stage dives and high fives.

Despite technical issues meaning they have to play half their set with one guitar instead of two (which Josh Middleton seems very comfortable in doing by the way) Sylosis [9/10] are given a heroes reception as they perform on the Sophie Lancaster stage for the first time since 2010. From “Poison For The Lost” through to “Deadwood” stopping in the middle for “Altered States of Consciousness” it’s may feel like a short set but it is very much of the sickly sweet variety, front loaded with abrasive riffs and thunderous percussive battery from a band at the height of their game despite the issues. Hopefully it isn’t that long before they return because it feels like they’re overdue an appearance on the main stage.

It’s been a minute since Architects [10/10] were in the United Kingdom and for them to play to a sell out Saturday night as headliners is a very special moment. It’s almost like that Alexandra Palace show all over again. The Progressive Metalcore titans have been busy invading the US and Australia in recent times but have a new album in the works (seemingly with the help of ex-Bring Me The Horizon man Jordan Fish) from which they pull a couple of cuts including “Curse“. As with Opeth last night, the visuals behind the band are incredible but it’s a tribute to the late Tom Searle and Josh Middleton from Sylosis for their unforgettable contributions to their band before an epic rendition of “Doomsday” that really makes the night. They may no longer be part of the band going forward but they are not forgotten. Vocally Sam Carter is on fire, beefing up the bands sound by finishing off vocal lines with Death Metal growled phrasing to give everything a little extra punch, something which works incredibly well, not only on the material from the last couple of albums but on some of the older cuts as well. “Gravedigger” and “Animals” are highlights before the cannons shoot confetti over the crowd and confirm that tonight is another triumph.