Bloodstock‘s 25th anniversary celebration just got even more insane with another 27 bands joining the already stacked lineup. We’re talking heavyweights, cult favourites, and rising stars all converging for what’s shaping up to be the festival event of the decade. With approximately 125 bands total set to appear across four days – yes, they’re opening the Ronnie James Dio main stage on Thursday now.
Fair warning: if you’ve been dragging your feet on tickets, early bird, campervan, and VIP passes are already gone, and weekend tickets are 95% sold out.
Thursday kicks off with British heavy metal legends Saxon headlining the opening night. Four decades of anthems and a reputation for blistering live shows – this is how you start a 25th anniversary celebration properly. Joining them are Bloodstock favourites Evil Scarecrow with their eccentric, theatrical brand of tongue-in-cheek metal mayhem, and Heavysaurus – yes, the dinosaur-costumed heroes delivering family-friendly metal fun. Originally slated for the Sophie Lancaster stage, Heavysaurus have stomped their way up to the main stage for maximum roar.
Friday brings the unnerving, true crime-inspired industrial sounds of Skynd, the outrageous brutal slamming death metal riot of Party Cannon, and the serpentine heavy rock theatrics of Battlesnake. Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, expect chaos from German grindcore absurdists Excrementory Grindfuckers (yes, that’s really their name), Australian thrash squad Hidden Intent, UK medieval power metallers Sellsword, Danish death metal beasts Neckbreakker, electro nu-core party-starters Seething Akira, and rising Scottish extreme metal outfit Hammer.
Saturday‘s main stage features thrash-fueled crossover aggression from London’s Inhuman Nature, flying the flag for the new generation of feral thrash. The Sophie Lancaster stage delivers no compromises from UK hardcore institution Stampin Ground, genre-bending heavy hitters Urne, death metal purists Celestial Sanctuary, swaggering stoner rock bruisers Viking Skull, down-tempo brutality from Bound in Fear, technical groove maestros Imperium, and amphibian doom oddballs Froglord.
Sunday closes the weekend in ferocious style with Bloodstock‘s debut of Canadian alt-metal pioneers Kittie. Joining them are occult doom bringers Castle Rat – all hail the Rat Queen – boundary-smashing modern hardcore crew Graphic Nature, and Wild West metal rabble rousers Bootyard Bandits (from Worcester, no less). The Sophie Lancaster stage rounds off the weekend with the masked industrial spectacle of Mushroomhead, soaring alt-rockers Dream State, and blackened extremists Trivax.
More is yet to be announced!
Our Bloodstock. Our scene. Our heavy metal. – RAMzine
