Live Review: A Bloodstock 2025 Experience (Thursday)

On Friday 9th August 2024 the first twenty five bands were announced for this years incarnation of Bloodstock Open Air Festival and it instantly became the hottest ticket it town. Three names stood out like a hammer smashed thumb in Trivium, Machine Head and Gojiria making it the most talked about event of the year and with tickets flying out of the door faster than s*** off a shovel they had the audacity to announce Mastodon in the second wave. A year later and here we are, preparing to head out for a weekend of blood, sweat and beers at a sold out event. After a long drive accompanied by “The Burning Red“, “Through The Ashes Of Empires” and “Unto The Locust“, we arrive at midday and true to their word, there is extra security at the gate with sniffer dogs and bag searches meaning long queues to get in. Fortunately everyone’s got a queue beer in hand and someone is blasting a few tunes on their Bluetooth speaker to get us through.

As ever on the Thursday night only the Sophie Lancaster stage is open and from 18:00 to midnight it’s packed as the first five bands set the standard for the rest of the weekend while the crowd start enjoying themselves with more than a few beers. Opening the event are Dead Flesh [10/10] who have been promoted from the last years New Blood Stage. Visibly honoured to be given the opportunity, the five piece deliver a skull crushing set of down-tuned riffs with KoRn flavours as they paint their portrait in Death Metal. The crowd chant “Bodies! Upon Bodies! Upon Bodies!” along with vocalist Rich Stevenson mid set and it’s a serial killers dream as they bring it home, new singles like “D.N.R” surrounding material from their self titled debut EP. They’ve had a fantastic couple of years and the band are in top form, loving every second.

After such a thunderous opening band, you could have forgiven the organisers if they wanted to slow it down a bit but instead they bring back Groove orientated Death Thrash brutes Fourway Kill [9/10] a band who graced the main stage twenty odd years ago. Re-activated last after seventeen years in the wilderness, they have a new bassist in Rob Boston and armed with a new album in “Pacifying the Aggressor” they waste no time in raising hell. Older cuts like “24 Hours to Die” and “Deadweight” mean they’re treated like returning heroes and throwing a few t-shirts into the crowd while screaming their bloodthirsty anthems only fuels that fire.

There are a lot of people wandering around in red garden gnome hats and that’s because Gnome [7/10] are making their presence felt, the Belgian Stoner Metal trio having plenty of tales to tell, “The Ogre” and “Kraken Wanker” being particularly well received. They bring a different kind of energy and a real sense of fun so its little wonder they seem to be a guilty pleasure of so many. Between the bands we wander the main arena and see a giant billboard for Rabidfest alongside ones for upcoming arena tours from the likes of Slaughter To Prevail, Atreyu and Parkway Drive. The main stage has been devoted to Ozzy Osbourne tonight with three still images on black and white across the three large screens and a selection of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne solo tunes blasting on the PA as people enjoy some of the food offerings. He has been a legend and his presence will be missed, the Metal community at large mourning his loss with a sense of disbelief. A founding father of Metal as a whole, for that if nothing else we pay our respects.

Flipping the script on the genres All For Metal [7/10] bring the Symphonic Metal to the Catton Park with two frontmen who look like they belong in a Viking wrestling ring and a pair of female guitarists dressed as Valkyries. They may not be everyone’s cup of tea but they win over more than their fair share as they blitz through a set of uplifting tunes including “Raise Your Hammer“, “Legends Never Die” and “Goddess Of War“. An impromptu set of Black Sabbath bass lines from their mask wearing five string merchant Florian Toma is a nice touch as the others towel down between songs, the crowd loving every moment.

The Southern Rock fuelled Blues of Me And That Man [9/10] is a wonderful way to finish the opening night, their collection of murder ballads only interrupted by a fleeting rendition of “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath in tribute to the Prince of Darkness. “My Church Is Black“, “Burning Churches” and “Got Your Tongue” are all particularly special, the Southern drawl in their voices nailed perfectly and the laid back nature of the performance is reminiscent of that from Opeth on the main stage last year. As the frontman of Behemoth, it’s not Negral’s first dance with the devil at Bloodstock and he goes out of his way to thank the crowd for making him feel welcome whenever he returns.