If you were to ask any random metalhead, “What is the holy land for metalheads in the UK?”, the majority would say Bloodstock Open Air. Bloodstock takes place far from the prying and judgmental eyes of the world in Catton Hall and hosts 20,000 metal fans all intending to listen to some of the best bands in the world, all while cultivating a family-friendly atmosphere. 

The smaller scale of the compound gives it a more intimate feeling than a massive mega festival like Download, but at no point did it feel overly crowded or difficult to navigate. The whole place was a tightly run ship designed to overwhelm the senses in a way that only heavy metal can and create a space for us metalheads that simply does not exist elsewhere, and it was f***ing magical. 

This is a rundown of every band Lamestream Lydia caught on the sacred grounds of Catton Hall at Bloodstock 2025.

Friday

Shrapnel

Shrapnel were the first band on the Friday on the main stage, and while a number of people were sleeping off a wild night, a sizable crowd still turned out for the Norwich thrashers. Their sound may have shifted a bit towards a more contemporary, almost metalcore sound, but it still felt like a solid compromise between contemporary metal and some of the darker 80s Thrash. 

The majority of the set was made up of tracks from their latest record, In Gravity, which is a much more alternative-leaning record, which may disappoint some thrash fans but the aggression is all there and could be argued that it’s the same old thrash but with a fresh coat of paint. There are only so many thrash riffs you can play before you want to challenge yourself as an artist, and Shrapnel does a great job translating that into a live setting, even if it is a bit early. A brilliant start to the day that woke everybody up faster than a hot cup of coffee. 

Turin

Cheshire-based blackened deathcore band, Turin, took over the Sophie Lancaster Stage and delivered a set of vicious pummeling darkness full of insane blast beats and abrasive vocal gymnastics, although vocalist Darryl Jones does have the ability to create some monstrous sounds. Tracks like ‘The Unforgiving Reality’ in Nothing focus more on the bleak atmosphere than the breakdowns and hostility you’d expect from deathcore, and that makes them a breath of fresh air. 

Their latest album, The Unforgiving Reality In Nothing, is well worth checking out if it flew under your radar back when it was released in 2024. The UK may not be the epicentre of deathcore in the world but there’s a handful of hidden gems to be discovered and Turin is certainly one of them

Famyne

Famyne were over on the main stage and they made quite an impression with their Black Sabbath-inspired brand of stoner/doom metal. There’s a cavalcade of gigantic stomping slow riffs that trudged on with all the indomitable power of a woolly mammoth or something else of equal size that could tolerate the insane heat. 

Tracks like ‘Solid Earth’ contain riffs that could have shown up on Master of Reality, as they continue to pummel an unsuspecting audience with just crushing, borderline slow-motion riffs. Famyne are just a no-brainer choice of support for a Green Lung tour, and once they break into that network of sludgy stoner bands, they’ll be unstoppable. 

Konvent

Konvent are a death/doom metal band from Copenhagen, Denmark and boast an all-female lineup, a unique setup that hopefully more bands imitate in the years to come to the point where it’s no longer notable to point out.

There’s a deep Celtic Frost influence in Konvent’s sound, blended with similar death/doom bands like Asphyx and Incantation, featuring monstrous vocals from Rikke Emilie List that showcase a brilliant range of ultra-low gutturals and high-pitched screams. The studio versions of these songs are fantastic, and Puritan Masochism is a phenomenal record, but the sound on this set wasn’t the best, with bass taking over the mix and leading me to believe that something may actually be malfunctioning. 

A shame, but at least there’s hope that people will be more likely to check out Puritan Masochism (please for the love of God, check out Puritan Masochism). 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Flotsam and Jetsam aren’t the biggest band to come out of the Bay Area, but they’re still a band that has a solid discography and a live show that lives up to the intensity of classic albums like Doomsday For The Deceiver, an album that featured Jason Newsted of Metallica fame. Flotsam and Jetsam may be fairly uniform for a thrash metal band, but they can still muster up a frenzied audience despite the blazing heat. 

Tracks like ‘Hammerhead’ and ‘Dreams of Death’ show off their ability to shred very well with guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley utilising a very tasteful collection of highly skilled guitar solos in between the high-speed riffing. The band also seems to have a sense of humour about itself, with vocalist AK Knutson donning a rather snazzy gladiator helmet/MF Doom mask for the track ‘I Live You Die,’ which also featured blood-curdling screams. 

You’d be forgiven for confusing ‘Primal’ with Sacred Reich’s ‘Independent,’ but that more just speaks to the power of thrash; it all may sound the same, but it just makes you want to dig deeper. 

Paleface Swiss

One of the biggest surprises of the weekend was Paleface Swiss, presumably named as such to avoid confusion with the 1948 Bob Hope movie, The Paleface. Having avoided them for so long purely based on lack of interest, it was time to check out what had inspired the biggest crowd of Bloodstock so far, and they didn’t disappoint. 

The set was almost entirely comprised of their latest album, which may disappoint some, but as someone with limited experience with the band, I consider this a flawless first impression. Even Mr Bean, who was in the audience, couldn’t deal with the destructive power of ‘And With Hope You Will Be Dead’ and the Slipknot-inspired ‘Love Burns’. 

The set ended with the slow, clean guitar passages of River of Sorrows, which featured some beautiful and emotive clean vocals to cap off a glorious set and the final time we’ll see Paleface Swiss until their UK dates in January. 

Shade Empire

Shade Empire were on the Sophie Lancaster stage and made for some much-needed wintery metal. Shade Empire are an ethereal metal band in the same vein as Insomnium or Omnium Gatherum with a bit of a darker black metal edge. There’s some Emperor vibes with the synth that help Shade Empire stand out, and the borderline Folk Metal elements take the band’s sound to unique heights that weren’t present anywhere else on the lineup. 

The set started to empty out a bit for Orange Goblin, but it was worth sticking around for the Opeth-inspired anthems and since a setlist was hard to come by, I’m just going to recommend the 10-minute-long epic, ‘Anti-Life Saviour’. Perhaps they ended the set with it, but Shade Empire were a band that focused less on songs and more about creating an atmosphere, and that’s exactly what ‘Anti-Life Saviour’ excelled at. 

Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin was a historic set as this would be their final UK festival appearance before their retirement. After 30 years of sludgy, fuzzy stoner metal fueled by Black Sabbath inspired riffs, the band were set on making one last run through the UK before a final UK tour in December. Having only experienced them towards the end of their career, I feel like I missed out on a fantastic band, but still caught the tail end of something special. 

This was the last chance for many to experience Black Sabbath-inspired tracks like ‘Red Tide Rising’ and ‘(Not) Rocket Science’ and it was a sombre experience for some, but there was still a whole set left to get through, and it was pretty magical. Orange Goblin may soon be gone, but their impact on the UK metal scene will always be felt whenever a group of kids get together and decide to play their favourite tunes and take the show on the road. 

Helldown

The EMP stage was a strange place. Whenever I’d have downtime on the Ronnie James Dio stage, I would just turn around and watch whatever was going on on the incredibly small EMP Stage. One of my personal favourites was Helldown from South Wales. Helldown are a thrash band in the same vein as Beneath the Remains-era Sepultura or The Gathering-era Testament. 

‘March of the Damned’ and ‘War Is All’ struggle to be contained by such a small stage, but hopefully they return to Bloodstock on a much bigger stage with a much bigger audience. There aren’t many bands writing thrash of this quality nowadays, so check out their latest EP, Thrive In Violence. 

Lacuna Coil

Lacuna Coil are one of the most important gothic metal bands of the 2000s, and their ability to shift genres with the times has been integral to their longevity, but this setlist proves to be their downfall. A largely millennial/Gen X audience would be waiting for tracks like ‘Closer,’ ‘Swamped,’ and ‘Angel’s Punishment,’ but they were all absent in favour of their latest album. 

Their iconic cover of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ being dedicated to Ozzy made for a heartwarming tribute, but that couldn’t save a rather weak set. Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro still have amazing stage presence and chemistry. The edgy aesthetic made the set more visually interesting, but technical problems were also present. 

This just wasn’t their day, but getting to hear ‘Our Truth’ again live after having last seen them in 2011 and the sheer energy the band put made it worth checking out for at least a little bit. 

Emperor 

Black metal is a hard genre to get into due to the harsh and unforgiving tone and the fact that it’s a good idea to screen all the bands you want to listen to in case they’re… Friends of Addie. Emperor is the absolute pinnacle of the genre, and In The Nightside Eclipse could be the greatest black metal album ever made, and the lineup featuring a group of musical geniuses like Jørgen Munkeby and the iconic master of dark prog, Ihsahn, it’s no wonder this set was so highly anticipated. 

This was a masterful set of black metal that actually made it feel colder as the Norwegian troupe blasted through glorious anthemic tracks like ‘Inno a Satana’ and ‘Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times,’ a track which amused me because it sounds like it came straight from an episode of Metalocalypse. 

To the uninitiated, this set also sounds a bit samey, but there are many subtle nuances to pick up in the studio versions of these songs, and even if you don’t pick up on them, the dark vibes are immaculate and create this wonderful sense of oppressive night despite it being 7 PM in August. I also found it somewhat amusing seeing Ihsahn drinks Coke Zero, for some reason. 

The crowd started to empty out close to the end as people made their way to the Sophie Lancaster stage to witness a historic event… 

Nailbomb 

Nailbomb have only played a handful of shows since Max Cavalera resurrected the project, but given that he is a seasoned veteran, it’s no surprise that this show was a brilliant experience, save for one glaring problem. The tent was full to bursting and starting to spill out, and that would be perfectly fine if it wasn’t for the messy sound that made everything sound like an incoherent casserole of noise. 

The whole Point Blank album is an incredible live experience, with tracks like the stomping ‘World of Shit’ and the borderline Sepultura riffing of ‘Cockroaches’ showing that this short-lived but well remembered project can still live up to absolutely preposterous hype. The tent did start to empty out a bit due to how crazy it was inside, and that helped the more die-hard fans get a clearer view of all the abrasive imagery and wild industrial punk craziness on display. Nailbomb may have had sound issues, but this was still a set well worth experiencing, and if you ever have a chance to see it, do it. 

It’s worth noting that fellow Nailbomb creator, Alex Newport, is not a part of this Nailbomb reunion, which seems a bit hypocritical of Max, considering how vocal he is about that other band not featuring its original lineup, but I suppose that’s none of my business. Back over to the Ronnie James Dio stage for the Friday headliner… 

Trivium

Finally, it was time for the first headliner of Bloodstock, and it was off to a fantastic start as ‘The End of Everything’ played through the speaker and with it came ‘Rain,’ a breakneck wrist-destroying thrasher that opened the classic record, Ascendancy. The hits from Ascendancy just kept coming; ‘Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr’ and ‘Like Light to Flies’ gave the false impression that this was going to be an Ascendancy set, but luckily, there was more variety. 

There was a who’s who of metal guest stars throughout the set; Rob Flynn showed up to pay tribute to Ozzy with a cover of ‘Symptom of the Universe’. The highly energetic musings of frontman Matt Heafy decided that Sleep Token were metal as they brought on III to play ‘Throes of Perdition,’ Ihsahn showed up to do backing vocals for ‘In Waves’ and Josh Baines from Malevolence showed up to do ‘The Deceived. ’ They even did a cover of ‘Master of Puppets.’ At no point was anyone ever sure what was about to happen, and it was absolutely incredible. 

It was reported by multiple reliable sources that Trivium were set to play a brand new song and those rumours turned out to be true as they played ‘Bury Me With My Screams’. This absolute rager featured all the same intensity and virtuosity that we’ve come to love Trivium for; it felt like an Ascendancy track that had been left on the cutting room floor for years and slotted into the setlist beautifully. 

The set ended with ‘The Sin and the Sentence,’ arguably one of their best tracks, and it was hard to feel disappointed by any of the set. There were pyrotechnics, amazing metal and a highly positive and hopeful feeling for the future of metal as we welcome what could be a new arena band in the form of Trivium. But the day was not quite finished yet… 

Kataklysm

Headlining the Sophie Lancaster stage was a death metal titan, Kataklysm was here to take that last bit of energy left from the audience and channel it into blind aggression. The Sophie Lancaster tent was a struggle to get to because of the crowds and lights, but once I finally got to the tent, it was smooth sailing. 

The brand new single, ‘The Rabbit Hole,’ fit the atmosphere brilliantly with its syncopated riffing and inspired quite a bit of movement amongst an exhausted crowd. A lot of the older stuff did become a bit repetitive, but that’s the nature of death metal; it’s more about creating an atmosphere, and that’s exactly what Kataklysm excelled at. Tracks like ‘As I Slither’ and ‘The Black Sheep’ balanced groove and power brilliantly and made for a perfect conclusion to a stellar day of heavy metal at Bloodstock 2025.

Saturday 

Cage Fight

After some rest, breakfast and a celebration of not having a hangover, we made our way into the arena towards the Main stage for Cage Fight. Cage Fight is a side project of James Monteith of Tesseract that has gained some serious momentum following the release of their furious self-titled debut, and it’s only a matter of time before it gets even bigger. 

Most bands don’t see crowds like this so early at Bloodstock. The majority were here for utterly insane riffs and pure aggro, and that’s exactly what we got as the band played punishing hits like ‘Eating Me Alive’ connected with every jaw within a 5-mile radius as the kung fu in the pit got wilder. The audience calmed down a bit when a conga line started, but it was still a pretty violent conga line. 

Vocalist Rachel Aspe served deep, destructive vocals and face at the same time as the riffs just kept doing damage. Be sure to check out their new single, ‘I Hate Your Guts,’ for a proper demonstration. 

Warbringer

Warbringer’s first-ever Bloodstock appearance was a memorable one with absolute, unmatched thrash metal power and pure anger. Warbringer are a socially conscious band that deals with political themes like police brutality, corruption and even something as simple as living in a society (we live in one). 

The state of aggression that the average British person lives in is at an all-time high, so getting to experience seething tracks like ‘Living in a Whirlwind’ and the absurdly violent ‘Living Weapon,’ which had some unhinged mosh pits. It was unfortunate that ‘A Better World’ was absent from the setlist, but we still got some ripping guitar solos in the form of ‘Remain Violent,’ and we even got to see Shrek in the pit, which is probably why Shrek 5 is getting pushed back to 2027.

Heriot

Heriot have been a personal favourite since seeing them open for Zeal & Ardor a few years back, and watching them pick up speed and become one of the biggest UK exports in the extreme metal scene has been wonderful to see. There were some minor technical difficulties, but vocalist Debbie Gough kept a cool head on a hot day before they got back into it. 

Heriot raised the energy as high as they possibly could, demanding pits at every moment they possibly could, and they were just as violent and absurd as you’d expect. Their pits for tracks like ‘Demure’ even featured knights that fought valiantly with punishing bass and pounding breakdowns acting as a soundtrack. A truly vicious sight to behold, but one that few will forget. 

Kublai Khan TX 

There’s a Brokencyde album called I’m Not a Fan but the Kids Love It and that’s where I’m at with Kublai Khan TX, but unlike Brokencyde, I can actually understand why people like this. Kublai Khan TX are a very good band that keeps the energy going and inspires some violent pits with their sick, nasty, groovy riffs that make for brilliant background music to dance to while you sink shots and have a little dance. This was my experience at least. 

It’s not an especially deep collection of songs, but it is a fun atmosphere to swing your fists to at “dumb guy” riffs and slow-motion breakdowns, and that’s really all Kublai Khan TX need to do. There’s nothing wrong with being dumb party music and people need to stop acting like being called dumb party music is an insult. I had a blast doing the Monkey See Monkey Do dance from ‘Theory of Mind’ and throwing shapes during the pinch harmonic-laden riffs of ‘Antpile’. 

Fear Factory 

Fear Factory’s Demanufacture set was something I’d been looking forward to since it was announced, and it was set to be an absolute slam dunk had it not been for a messy mix. The guitars were drowned out by drums and bass from where I was standing, but luckily I had enough knowledge of the album to imply everything that was played. 

You could lament the absence of tracks like ‘Edgecrusher,’ ‘What Will Become,’ and ‘Shock,’ but when you get to hear ‘Self Bias Resistor’ and ‘Zero Signal’ back to back, it becomes hard to complain. As always, Dino Cazares is locked in and proves himself to be one of the greatest rhythm players working today, and the recent addition of drummer Pete Webber and vocalist Milo Silvestro adds a level of wild savage power that the machine was sorely missing. 

For a more in-depth look, check out our review of their show supporting Kerry King in Manchester. 

Ministry 

After a bit of a break for beer and pizza, I plonked my chair by the side of the stage and got ready for one of my all-time favourite bands, Ministry. Uncle Al and company were ready for a long-awaited UK show following their cancelled Damnation Festival appearance, and so was I. 

Opening with the groovy thrashiness of ‘Thieves,’ Ministry were set to deliver one of the best sets of the weekend that catered to practically every type of metal fan in the audience. You want thrash? ‘Rio Grande Blood’. Groove metal? ‘LiesLiesLies’. Punk? ‘The Missing’. Rockabilly? ‘Jesus Built My Hotrod,’ it’s all there and it’s glorious. Just ‘One Fix’ still has all the power it had when it first came out, and the brilliant groove of ‘So What’ made for a phenomenal send-off. A personal highlight was ‘Alert Level,’ a track that came out during the pandemic. It was a somewhat emotional moment getting to finally experience this live and reliving some of those moments in my head while repurposing a brilliant song with new memories. Once ‘Jesus Built My Hotrod’ kicked in, all I could do was ding a dang dong my dingalinglong all the way through their set like some sort of enraged Englishman who’d had too much to drink. 

After that magical bit of industrial madness, there was nothing left to do but eat dinner and wait for Robb and company to take the stage. 

Machine Head 

After being treated to a cover of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the Kazoo by the talented musician near where I was standing, it was time for the Machine Head to hit the stage as their entrance was heralded by the speaker system blaring ‘Diary of a Madman’ by Ozzy. As a short, clean guitar section played, we all waited patiently for the magic words and just as Robb screamed “hear me now”, the whole place exploded, and the groove metal riffing of Imperium began.

The one-two punch of Imperium and the skull-crushing ‘Ten Ton Hammer’ hit especially hard and even the newer tracks like ‘Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate’ got the crowd moving. The more accessible songs like ‘Is There Anybody Out There’ and ‘Bonescraper’ translated really well to a live setting and made otherwise unremarkable songs into major events with the assistance of pyrotechnics and fireworks. 

The more recent tracks from Unatoned were decent, but it’s in the deeper back catalogue where all the real ragers lie. ‘Locust,’ ‘Bulldozer,’ ‘Davidian’ and ‘Halo’ were all gigantic mega hits that show Machine Head at the absolute peak of their songwriting abilities and acted as the ultimate test for this lineup and they all pulled through with flying colours despite some minor changes that only the biggest Headcases would notice. 

‘Darkness Within’ came with a lovely tribute to Michelle Kerr, former publicist of Cosa Nostra and a legend amongst UK media. This was a lovely moment that not only helped humanise Flynn but acted as a behind the curtain moment for the public. Many people won’t know much about Michelle, but RAMzine has had many dealings with her over the years and can attest, she was a wonderful person and will be missed. 

After an excessively long bit involving Banana Man, Machine Head got to the final stretch of their set with eternal bangers like the nu-metal infused ‘From This Day’ to the ripping guitar solos of ‘Halo’. Machine Head may be a divisive band, but one thing is for sure: they know how to put on a big show complete with fireworks and explosions. The day was almost over but another heartfelt tribute was waiting elsewhere.. 

Static X

Static X are a band that carried on after the death of a significant figure in their lineup. Frontman Wayne Static was a huge part of the band, and even though he isn’t with us anymore, his presence is felt throughout the set with gigantic props, imagery and iconography and even the new vocalist Xero invoking a cybernetic version of Wayne. This whole set felt like a best of every early 2000s horror movie soundtrack, the only way this could be better is if they randomly flashed clips of Freddy vs Jason or Queen of the Damned behind them while ‘Cold’ played.

The early 2000s vibe was brilliant and all the props and gimmicks made their set an absolute must-see. There were so many tracks that I had no idea were Static X songs, and that increased the hype to preposterous levels. ‘Black and White’ and ‘I’m With Stupid’ were songs that I’ve heard throughout the years, but experiencing them both live minutes apart was life-changing. The night ended with ‘Push It,’ a legendary track that most people will know from the trailer for Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes. It was a cathartic moment finally hearing it live, and it capped off yet another brilliant day. 

If you’re even the slightest bit edgy, respect nu-metal history and want to pay tribute to the godfather of evil disco, then you need to catch Static X when you next can. Rest in peace, Wayne Static. 

Sunday

Barbarian Hermit

Opening the final day of Bloodstock 2025 was Barbarian Hermit, a stoner/sludge metal band from Manchester. The hangover was in full effect for many people in the audience, so a slower band was welcome. Barbarian Hermit may have played slowly for the most part, but they still had a lot of movement on stage with tracks like ‘Battle of Kompromat’ and ‘Burn the Fire’ taking a slow and steady approach and creating the perfect headbanging tracks. Despite the hungover environment, there was even a crowd-surfing pterodactyl, and that’s just awesome. 

There’s a Corrosion of Conformity tone throughout the set, with vocalist Simon Scarlett even imitating Pepper Keenan at times. Barbarian Hermit are a band that would have been on the soundtrack to a Heavy Metal reboot if it were made today, and hopefully that speaks to the kind of fantasy-tinged metal they create. Highly recommended for Conan fans, the band and the books and to a lesser extent, the movie, but not the second one, Conan the Destroyer sucks. 

Rivers of Nihil

Sticking to the main stage for a bit of technical death metal was Rivers of Nihil, one of the most prolific extreme prog metal bands of the 21st century. The band had just released a brand new self-titled record and decided to keep the setlist dedicated to that, which was a bit disappointing, but we still got plenty of hot, steamy sax action on tracks like ‘Despair Church’ and ‘The Sub Orbital Blues’. 

There was a lot of variety on the set from an instrumentalist standpoint, with ‘Where Owls Know My Name’ being an absolute must-see. It’s such a dark and dour track with gorgeous vocals and powerful drumming that never overpower the grim atmosphere but add to it beautifully. The slow crushing atmosphere of impending doom invokes some kind of titan stomping through barren fields of gloom at an impossibly slow pace. 

Having not heard the new album, this set inspired me to listen to the full thing, and I can confirm, it’s a gorgeous masterpiece that will be on so many end-of-year lists. 

August Burns Red

August Burns Red opened their set with a metalcore cover of ‘Chop Suey’ by System of a Down, which was an unusual choice, but it definitely paid off as the feral group of people running the pits were ready to rip each other’s heads off, and it only got crazier from there. 

August Burns Red are a perfect middle ground for the guitar nerds and technically minded, and the group that was savagery. There’s a lot going on in songs like ‘Composure,’ a song that acts as a picture of the state of metalcore in the early 2010s while still feeling fresh and modern. 

The dual guitar work of Brent Rambler and JB Brubaker is still impressive to this day, and it’s even more amazing to see JB in appropriate footwear as he rocks his classic, iconic sandals yet again. 

Frontman Jake Luhrs said, “The world is a toxic and divisive place, but here, these are your people and this is your music,” and this couldn’t be more true. To think such dark and abrasive music could inspire this much positivity is glorious to witness and speaks to just how much our community values each other. A truly heartwarming moment. 

Z Machine

Z Machine was right up my alley, a whole set of sax-fuelled instrumental prog weirdness in shade and right next to a bar. I genuinely don’t know if it’s possible to improve on that, but I’m happy to take suggestions. Bands like Z Machine are less concerned with making structured songs but just creating a general psychedelic weird vibe, and they were absolutely fantastic at it. 

Z Machine were full of weird and wonderful song titles like ‘Myrtle the Turle’ and ‘Big Old Hen,’ which was given the foreword “for this one, I want you to picture the biggest f*cking chicken you’ve ever seen,” and that just spoke to me for some reason. The band was full of amazing instrumentalists and the weird melodies were highly memorable which is incredibly difficult for a band that plays so many notes full of wild jazzy nonsense. 

Feuerschwanz

For those who follow Eurovision news, Feuerschwanz will be a familiar group of Germans, but for everyone else, this was an entirely new experience, complete with knights, swords, wild sorcery and other inherently awesome stuff that metalheads love. 

‘Bastard von Asgard’ is a super catchy track about Norse mythology that really got the crowd amped and ready for a set of incredibly silly power metal. It’s almost impossible to take seriously, and that’s where all the fun lies, picture Electric Callboy if they were a power metal band and you’d pretty much have Feurschwanz. The energy was amazing and we were even treated to a cover of ‘Dragostea Din Tei’ (the Numa Numa song) and ‘Gangnam Style’ before we were all whisked off to Valhalla for one final bit of power metal ridiculousness. If you want well-done silliness, then you won’t find better than Feurschwanz. 

The Black Dahlia Murder

The Black Dahlia Murder were on the Ronnie James Dio stage, and there was a huge turnout, all wanting to pay tribute to yet another fallen icon, Trevor Strnad. The whole band is airtight, including touring guitarist and tech death legend, Wes Hauch, teaming up with the legendary Ryan Knight and vocalist Brian Eschbach, doing a solid job filling in for the most recognisable and beloved voices in death metal. 

It’s a bit disappointing that the set didn’t include some of the more technical numbers, instead focusing on steamrollers like ‘On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood’ and ‘Mammoth’s Hand’. There was still a good mix of technical proficiency with famously fast tracks like ‘Everything Went Black’ and the now infamous ‘Statutory Ape’, which even featured their very own ape on stage, which probably cost quite a bit to acquire. 

The set was unfortunately cut short, which was incredibly disappointing as the playback intro for ‘What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse’ started as the band walked off stage. Hopefully, we’ll all get to hear that song when The Black Dahlia Murder returns to the UK in February with Heaven Shall Burn. 

The Ozzy Osbourne Memorial Wall

While I had downtime, it was absolutely essential for any metalhead with even the slightest bit of respect for history to check out the Ozzy Osbourne memorial wall. Each signature and writing was a story of a person who felt so deeply about Ozzy that they dedicated a massive portion of their lives to celebrating what he helped create. 

What would any of us be doing if it weren’t for this man? The majority of us would be back home, listening to garbage music while dressed like an absolute tool. There will simply never be a way to thank Ozzy Osbourne, but the best we can do for now is to go fucking crazy, just like he asked. 

Mastodon 

After that emotional experience, it was time for Mastodon, who began with ‘Once More Round the Sun,’ a weird opener considering how rarely tracks from that album are played, but it was a welcome addition as it led seamlessly into ‘The Motherload,’ a certified modern masterpiece. 

New guitarist Nick Johnson slots in fairly well but the absence of Brent Hinds is noticeable. His hybrid picking and yarl vocals were a massive part of Mastodon, but Johnson works as more of a shredder, which opens them up to new possibilities and more opportunities to become a sort of jam band. Tell me you wouldn’t want a 15-minute Dream Theatre-esque Mastodon jam. 

The setlist may have been a bit safe with no tracks from ‘Crack the Skye’ present but we still got prog anthems like ‘Megalodon’ and ‘Crystal Skull’ as well as the sludgy yet crunchy ‘Steambreather’. The band were likely aware that the audience were planning on leaving early for 3 Inches of Blood, so they played ‘Blood and Thunder’ before their final song, a cover of ‘Supernaut’ by Black Sabbath. 

‘Blood and Thunder’ is one of the best progressive metal songs ever written, and its frantic guitar work vividly invokes the imagery of Moby Dick. You can clearly see Captain Ahab splitting his lungs as he plunges his harpoon into the white whale. A modern masterpiece that got me ready for some classic metal from the 2000s.

Editor note: RIP Former Mastodon guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds, who died on Wednesday (Aug. 20) in a motorcycle accident in the band’s hometown of Atlanta. Sending our best wishes to all who knew him.

3 Inches of Blood

3 Inches of Blood was one of my most anticipated sets of the festival, considering this was their first UK appearance in 12 years and my first time seeing them since 2011 when they supported Overkill. It pains me to say the sound was really bad during this set and made individual songs hard to distinguish. It took me almost a minute to clock that ‘Deadly Sinners,’ a song I’ve loved since I was 13, had even started. 

The band were on fire and from what I could tell, they still had all the same fire and steel they had from back in the day and the passion made the show at least watchable. The bass and drums really overpowered the mix but from almost every spot in the tent, it was a garbled mess that was difficult to make out. ‘Destroy the Orcs’ and ‘Battles and Brotherhood’ were definitely on the set and when I could make it out, they were brilliant. Hopefully, there are more chances to see them in the future with better sound. 

Gojira

Finally, the sun had started setting, and everyone began moving towards the Ronnie James Dio stage for the most anticipated set for so many people: Gojira. There were rumours around camp that this was going to be the biggest production in Bloodstock history, and it was absolutely true. 

There were pyrotechnics and fireworks all the way through the set, with certain songs like ‘Mea Culpa’ and ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’ being borderline apocalyptic with fire blaring all the way through these songs. Even if you took away all the production, the band was air-tight, syncopated tracks like ‘Backbone’ and ‘Silvera’ sounded like they were synced up to an atomic clock. Drummer Mario Duplantier proves himself to once again be one of the best drummers in extreme metal, and guitarist Joe Duplantier proves once again that simplicity can be more effective than wild technical wizardry if you do something interesting with the rhythm section. 

The setlist was fantastic as always (although I am still waiting patiently for the return of ‘Toxic Garbage Island’), ‘Flying Whales’ is an absolute masterpiece in pacing, riffing, atmosphere and building intensity in a song. ‘Stranded’ helped sell another few thousand Digitech Whammy pedals in the space of an hour, and the primal noises of ‘The Chant’ created an absolutely amazing atmosphere of community and togetherness. You could even see Vicky Hungerford on the screen which was pretty neat. 

For many people, the last song they heard this weekend was ‘The Gift of Guilt,’ a sprawling epic that featured some of the most iconic tapping since the glory days of Van Halen. It’s a deeply emotional and profound song that connects with so many people on just a primal level, which could also be applied to many Gojira songs in general. 

Before playing ‘Another World,’ Joe Duplantier said, “I keep hoping for a better world, another world”, and the metal community at Bloodstock always seemed to try and make that a reality in their own scene. If we can’t make the world a better place, then we make our own little microcosm inside of it, our little piece of heaven. Our Bloodstock. Our scene. Our heavy metal. 

Obituary

To close out Bloodstock 2025, we had Florida death metal titans, Obituary, playing selections from their iconic 1990 album, Cause or Death. It may be insane to say, considering how many punishing deathcore and hardcore bands were on the lineup, but Obituary may have had the heaviest sound of the entire festival. 

The thunderous drumming of Donald Tardy could be felt back in all the campsites and the infectious grooves of modern anthems like ‘The Wrong Time’ were impossible to ignore. The set was full of classics, including ‘I’m in Pain’, which is a primal bit of death metal insanity, and it just kept building up intensity without breaking the speed limit, a skill that Obituary has absolutely mastered. 

The whole festival was building up to this set for me and it did not disappoint, hearing ‘Chopped In Half’ and ‘Turned Inside Out’ was a treat as usual and the grim doomy riffing of ‘Slowly We Rot’ made for an absolutely stellar conclusion to a brilliant weekend full of chaos and mayhem with some of the best heavy metal bands in the world. 

Bloodstock 2025 was my first experience with the festival outside of obsessively reading up on the lineups over the past decade. It’s always been described to me as a closely knit community where everyone thinks of each other as family, and wild shenanigans are found at almost every corner of the compound, and that’s exactly what I experienced. 

The first 25 bands were announced at the festival and while the majority of weekend tickets have sold out, you can still buy day tickets when they go on sale so you can experience the likes of Lamb of God, Judas Priest, Sepultura, Nevermore, Black Spiders, Shining, Death Angel and so many more that haven’t been announced yet. 

Roll on Bloodstock 2026.