FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Festival 2025

The queue to get into the campsite at this year’s Bloodstock Open Air is astronomical. A line of patch-jacketed fans snakes through the lush Derbyshire countryside, weighed down with camping gear and eager to set up tents and start partying. It’s been two decades since Bloodstock Festival made the switch to an outdoor event and in that time, it’s become a key event on the calendar. Despite the increased profile though, it hasn’t lost any of its accessibility. With a maximum capacity of 20,000, Bloodstock Festival is comparative small-fry next to European giants like Hellfest or Copenhell, but that’s part of the appeal. Everything is in walking distance, and it’s more akin to a massive village fete with blast beats than a grandiose, tented city. This place is big, but it’s retained the cosy, extended-family atmosphere of the early years. And with three of the strongest headliners to date, they have a chance at being the best metal festival of 2025. Let’s put on our 50p gnome hats and dive right in.

Thursday – August 7th

GNOME – The Sophie Lancaster Stage

Should three grown men, cosplaying in garden gnome hats and singing about being eaten alive by Ogres, be this darn good? If riffs, riffs, and even more riffs be something you wish, you might as well flop on the deck like a fish, because GNOME delivers in spades. Despite those first few pints of the festival being downed by punters, the trio of Rutger Verbist, Egon Loosveldt, and Geoffrey Verhulst’s blend of stoner rock and prog metal pops off in The Sophie Lancaster Stage. When the band announces it’s their biggest show ever, with smiles on their faces, the roars nearly drown them out. And speaking of drowning, Verbist’s vocals sometimes get swallowed in the mix, which suggests the sound desk is still waking up after a year’s slumber. Despite this, the likes of Old Souls, Rotten Tongue, and The Ogre still sound absolutely massive in the tent and serve as the perfect warm-up.

Rating: 8/10

ALL FOR METAL – The Sophie Lancaster Stage 

Next up, things get very silly and more than slightly homoerotic. ALL FOR METAL are the perfect band for a Thursday night at Bloodstock Festival; they play pounding, high-camp power metal and have two half-naked, musclebound men fronting them. Faced with an increasingly drunk crowd, they lead us through an hour of big choruses, chunky power chords, and good times.
Curiously, the majority of the setlist is pulled from their debut and there’s barely anything from their excellent Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon) record. However, while it would have been nice to hear more of the new material, you can’t argue with the macho pomp of Born In Valhalla or the blatant phallic symbolism of Raise Your Hammer.

Rating: 8/10

ME AND THAT MAN – The Sophie Lancaster Stage 

Nergal’s church might be black and his Christ cold, but the BEHEMOTH frontman’s side project ME AND THAT MAN are hotter than hell as they headline The Sophie Lancaster Stage. Arriving on-stage like a gang of cowboys from hell, it doesn’t take long for their studio Americana to shapeshift into a raucous display of bluesy garage rock.

A sea of whiskey-stained vocals sing in gospel to the gothic hymn My Church Is Black, before the John Porter-replacing, eponymous Preacherman joins Nergal and co., transforming the twangy Nightride into a fully-loaded freight train crashing through the gates of Catton Park. From here on out, it’s hell bent for leather: On The Road, Get Outta This Place, and Surrender’s stomping grooves and celebratory singalongs do nothing to dampen the pace.

As more pints get poured at the stage-wide bar at the back, the more loose ME AND THAT MAN get. There’s always a worry that songs loaded with guest features won’t sound quite right without them, but a mid-set double decker bus of Under The Spell and Burning Churches miss neither Mary Goore (aka GHOST’s Tobias Forge) or Mat McNerney, as the masses jive, mosh, and sing their way through.

As they close out their set with a frantic cover of BLACK SABBATH’s Paranoid, one of infinite tributes to Ozzy Osbourne over the weekend, ME AND THAT MAN prove you don’t need BEHEMOTH’s black magick and pyro to charm a couple thousand for an hour.

Rating: 9/10

Friday – August 8th 

SHRAPNEL – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Kicking the Ronnie James Dio Stage off this year are none other than festival veterans SHRAPNEL. Their recent In Gravity album was a divisive one, but any doubts about how they’d do today are quickly beaten into the dust. They don’t play any of their older, thrashier songs, but new cuts like Breaker get the early risers piling into the pit and they’re an adrenaline-charged way to start things off. Yes, it is a tad disappointing that we don’t get to hear fan favourites like Warhead or Turn Off The Lights, but newer cuts Amber Screams and …So Below are a strong alternative. They’re noticeably heavier live than on record, while frontman Daniel Moran is so excited he’d probably have a panic attack if he stopped moving, and it makes him an endearing focal point.

Rating: 8/10

FAMYNE – Ronnie James Dio Stage

There’s a dramatic shift in the mood next as FAMYNE take the stage. Their slow, Gothic doom is full of melancholy, and if this were a late-night slot, it would be utterly enthralling. However, it’s not even noon and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, so some of the all-important atmosphere gets lost. The deep, thunderous riffs are enough to carry the day though, and in singer Tom Vane they’ve got a charismatic showman. They resemble a band who were politely asked to leave a Eurovision audition, and their music is full of bombastic misery, but this was a case of their scheduled time working against them. It’s hard to feel the full weight of their morose melody when there’s a queue for the ice cream van only a few yards away.

Rating: 6/10

KONVENT – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

KONVENT has been dealt a difficult hand. It’s lunchtime, the sun is shining brighter than it has all weekend, and nobody’s quite in the mood for the Dane’s gothic death-doom. First impressions for the uninitiated would say they’re witnessing a gothic FLEETWOOD MAC, if Stevie Nicks stole Nick Holmes death growls; but fans of the band will be familiar with the likes of In The Soot’s slow-burning, reverb-soaked odysseys. Vocalist Rikke Emilie List sounds as ethereal as she does venomous, yet KONVENT’s decision to mostly sacrifice crowd participation for the sake of atmospherics, leaves them hanging themselves out to dry. Had the Danes been in the shade of The Sophie Lancaster Stage, they’d have had far better luck winning over the Bloodstock faithful.

Rating: 5/10

COMPOUNDS – Timothy Taylors New Blood Stage

Southampton’s Metal 2 The Masses winners COMPOUNDS don’t sound like a band who should be on the New Blood Stage. And judging by the size of their crowd, there’s good odds they’ll show up on The Sophie Lancaster Stage in the not-so-distant future. They throw out their metallic hardcore bangers at breakneck speed, with vocalist Tom flying about the front of the stage like this generation’s Greg Puciato in training. Equal parts COMEBACK KID and WHILE SHE SLEEPS, they waste no time in commanding the crowd they’ve got: ask for a wall of death, and a wall of death you should get. Considering it’s barely noon and half the arena are still trying to shake off last night’s hangovers, COMPOUNDS and their crowd go full pelt till they step off stage.

Rating: 8/10

THUNARWOLF – Timothy Taylors New Blood Stage 

Over on the New Blood Stage next, there’s a rare sighting of a folk metal band. The sub-genre is underrepresented this year, but our hopes are raised when roadies stick antlers to the mic stands, and then fully met when THUNARWOLF walk out. Their set is twenty-minutes of galloping rhythms and manly jigging, and they’re loads of fun. There are four guys in the pit dressed as bananas, a face-painted barbarian playing a mandolin, and it’s very easy to get caught up in all the “woah-oh-ohs” in the choruses. The Friday line up is stacked, but THUNARWOLF are one of the quiet triumphs of the early afternoon.

Rating: 8/10

FLOTSAM & JETSAM – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Back on the Ronnie James Dio Stage, we’re in desperate need of a pick-me-up. The arena has been subjected to a lot of slow-motion doom for the past hour, and while it has been terrific, it’s not quite been the free-wheeling heavy metal party we were hoping for on the drive up. Then a group of men in their sixties appear and the place goes berserk, FLOTSAM & JETSAM giving us a serious, old-school riot. The veteran thrashers are best known nowadays for once having a young Jason Newstead in their ranks, but they also have an incredible fifteen albums to their name and know how to kick some serious arse. They bound across the stage like hyperactive teenagers, blasting out melodic thrash anthems and it freaking rules. New songs like Brace For Impact sit comfortably alongside classics like No Place For Disgrace, and they show all the young whippersnappers backstage how to trigger a mosh.

Rating: 8/10

ROUGH JUSTICE – The Sophie Lancaster Stage 

It’s easy enough to take one look at Sheffield’s ROUGH JUSTICE and shout “we’ve got MALEVOLENCE at home”, but the Bloodstock faithful don’t write them off so quickly and neither should you. As MALEVOLENCE chuck themselves into a cannon and shoot for the mainstream, ROUGH JUSTICE (featuring the former’s Josh Baines on drums) double down on hardcore, choke-slamming The Sophie Lancaster Stage at every turn. Opener Cowards sparks this barbeque up, but it’s the deep-cut Rough Justice that truly lights the flames. As frontman James Tippett announces it’s “by far the biggest show we’ve ever played”, before asking for circle pits, you can’t help but glimpse the grins on all their faces. Hell Is Other People and a cover of HATEBREED’s Tear It Down earn big rewards by way of circle pits and slam dancing, so much so that security have to step it up. UK hardcore is in rude health, and ROUGH JUSTICE live is a big reason why.

Rating: 9/10

DESOLATOR – EMP Stage 

DESOLATOR then prove to be the perfect follow-up to FLOTSAM & JETSAM. Bloodstock’s EMP Stage is so small that it’s easy to mistake it for a bar and walk right past, but the Southampton three-piece turn it into a sweaty thrash party. Despite being significantly younger than their predecessors on the main stage, DESOLATOR sound like they predate them; their music is stripped back and vicious and about as ‘pure’ as thrash can get. There’s no clever gimmicks or fancy effects to be found, just high-speed drumming and bang-head-constantly guitar work. They come across like three lads who think METALLICA sold out after Kill ‘Em All, worship at the altar of VENOM and MOTÖRHEAD and never met a pair of jeans they didn’t rip. It’s not big, it’s not clever, but if you’ve ever wondered what an underground gig in the Bay Area circa 1985 looked like, get yourself to a DESOLATOR show.

Rating: 8/10

PALEFACE SWISS – Ronnie James Dio Stage

Switzerland’s deathcore champs PALCEFACE SWISS‘ stock has fast-risen in the past few years, with 2022’s Fear & Dagger and this year’s Cursed catapulting them into the same conversation as LORNA SHORE and next year’s headliners SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL. And today’s set sees them earn their stripes and then some. As the angst-ridden opening duo of Hatred and …and with hope you’ll be damned creating dust clouds from circle pits and crowd surfers, PALEFACE SWISS come face-to-face with the main stage’s biggest crowd of the day. It’s their first UK festival show, and frontman Marc ‘Zelli’ Zellweger isn’t letting anyone off lightly. He might joke about the rare sighting of the sun leaving him looking like Mr Krabs once their finished, but he’s ribbing no one when he channels pre-That’s The Spirit-era Oli Sykes in baiting the crowd to go faster and harder with every song. The likes of Nail To The Tooth and Please End Me launch you headfirst into the dirt, whilst the call-and-response choruses of I Am A Cursed One and Best Before: Death feel like arena-ready anthems. As Love Burns sees them level the Ronnie James Dio Stage once more, one thing is clear: if PALEFACE SWISS aren’t headlining the Ronnie James Dio Stage in the next five years, something’s gone very wrong.

Rating: 9/10

PROFESSIONAL ELEMENTAL – VIP Stage 

Now, as a rule, we tend not to cover acts that perform in the Serpents Lair because it isn’t open to the general public, or hip hop as it’s not typically in our remit. However, we’ve decided to make an exception in the case of PROFESSOR ELEMENTAL, who puts on one of the more entertaining sets of the weekend despite being the least metal performer on the line-up.

Representing the well-tended and affluent streets of Ipswich, he’s got plenty of experience playing to different subcultures and quickly wins everyone over with his gentlemanly behaviour. He has an exceptional grasp of the Queen’s English, a song extolling the virtues of tea (except herbal), and despite having his fighting trousers on, is most agreeable and not all rambunctious or indelicate. He persuades all the chaps and chapesses in attendance to engage in some playful roughhousing and is the perfect accompaniment to a pint of warm beer and some bully beef and chips.

So, while we do extend our sympathies to the common sort who only purchased general admittance and missed out, we must express our keenest gratitude to PROFESSOR ELEMENTAL. A jolly good show indeed, persuading that one fellow to start a conga line while wearing a rubber horse mask was quite the scene.

Rating: 9/10

RASCAL – Timothy Taylors New Blood Stage 

Here’s a fact: RASCAL play balls-to-the-wall speed metal, whether you want them too or not. Here’s another: Poland’s Metal 2 The Masses winners deserve a better crowd than the one they get. With stoner metal legends ORANGE GOBLIN halfway through their final UK festival show over on the Ronnie James Dio stage, RASCAL were always going to face an uphill battle. It’s a shame, because their youthful take on 80s speed metal is so much fun to witness, as if ACCEPT or ANTHRAX have hopped on stage. The Faster, The Better being a prime example of just how much fun this brand of metal can be, but sadly they can’t get the crowd on their side. When frontman Kacper Pędziszewski finally gets his wall of death, it’s clear the few festival-goers taking part are doing so just to please him.

Rating: 7/10

LACUNA COIL – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

It’s testament to the growth of Bloodstock Festival that the three bands topping its main stage bill tonight have all headlined previously. Having headlined in 2007, gothic metal’s flagbearers LACUNA COIL are no strangers to Catton Park, and know exactly how to warm up the crowd for EMPEROR and TRIVIUM. Whilst a gust of wind derails their colourful streamers, and carries co-vocalists Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia’s vocals off into the sunset at times, there’s no stopping the Italians from storming the stage. Whilst stone-cold classics like Heaven’s A Lie XX and Our Truth arrive to rapturous applause, I Wish You Were Dead and Oxygen from this year’s Sleepless Empire sound like they’ve been setlist staples for years. Their infamous cover of DECPECHE MODE’s Enjoy The Silence never gets old, and nor it seems, does LACUNA COIL.

Rating: 8/10

HIGH PARASITE – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

There’s been some drama around Aaron Stainthorpe of late, the legendary vocalist being notably absent from a tour with his ‘main band’ MY DYING BRIDE and rumours about his future swarming him like bees attacking a hornet. But as he takes the stage tonight, dressed entirely in white and half his face coated in make-up, he’s clearly in a good mood. HIGH PARASITE might deal in Gothic metal, but he’s laidback and full of self-deprecating humour. Not that the music itself reflects this. HIGH PARASITE are the soundtrack to driving modified sports cars around a neon-lit Tokyo shortly after getting your heart broken, and there are decades of anguish mixed into these melodies. They are energetic, epic, and make us all pause to check we haven’t turned into anime characters. They’ve got the chops to evolve into a full-time act and their singer has a lot of life left in him.

Rating: 8/10

EMPEROR – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Like LACUNA COIL before them, black metal icons EMPEROR have previously headlined the Ronnie James Dio Stage. With superfan Matt Heafy’s TRIVIUM to follow, Ihsahn and co. treat their special guest slot as if they’re headlining it anyways. It might be golden hour at Catton Park, but opener Into The Infinity Of Thoughts drags the Ronnie James Dio Stage into the darkest depths of the forest. Despite the band touring their debut In The Nightside Eclipse in full across North America this year, their set today leans heavily on its follow-up, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk. Whilst a late-set run of Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times, I Am the Black Wizards, and Inno a Satana serves as a strong reminder why In The Nightside Eclipse is the go-to album when introducing anyone to black metal.

It’s the all-encompassing, and more progressive, live experiences of In The Wordless Chamber and Thus Spake The Nightspirit that show why EMPEROR can command stages of all sizes whether they’ve spoke a single word to the crowd or not. Their current live set-up, including founders Ihsahn and Samoth, along with on-off drummer Trym Tomson, and live members Secthdamon (bass) and Jørgen Munkeby (who’s band SHINING just got announced for next year’s festivities), sound tighter than ever, navigating the complex arrangements that labyrinthic songs like Curse You All Men! and With Strength I Burn effortlessly. Those in attendance are transfixed, but with Max Cavalera’s NAILBOMB about to arrive on-stage elsewhere, EMPEROR’s thinning crowd feels undeserved.

Rating: 9/10

NAILBOMB – Sophie Lancaster Stage

If the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” needed to be demonstrated with a metal band, look no further than NAILBOMB. The industrial-groove monsters have played a mere handful of gigs since the nineties, but the Sophie Lancaster Stage Stage is absolutely heaving. No, it’s not strictly a proper NAILBOMB show without Alex Newport, but it’s still something special that everyone in attendance will remember for their entire lives. And once Max Cavalera walks onstage with his merry men, the place predictably goes apeshit. The opening Wasting Away turns the space in front of the sound desk into a swirl of bodies and flailing limbs, while the white noise violence of Blind And Lost and Guerillas ensure the carnage never slows. It’s an exhausting, dust-coated thrill ride and even if Max seems to be letting his son Igor handle most of the frontman duties, this one is unmissable. World Of Shit triggers a frankly ridiculous circle pit, there are covers of DOOM and DEAD KENNEDYS songs, and as the final notes of Sick Life fade away, the bar has been raised incredibly high. TRIVIUM are on next, but NAILBOMB might have stolen the weekend.

Rating: 10/10

TRIVIUM – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Ten years is a lifetime in metal, but TRIVIUM’s return to Bloodstock‘s headline slot feels like they’ve never been away. What’s changed, though, is the sheer scale of ambition – this isn’t just a greatest hits victory lap, it’s a statement of intent from a band hitting their absolute peak.

The spectacle hits you first: inflatable mascots towering over the Ronnie James Dio Stage, jets of flame punctuating every breakdown, and a production that wouldn’t look out of place in an arena. But it’s the parade of guests that really elevates proceedings. SLEEP TOKEN’s III appears for a thunderous Throes Of Perdition, fellow headliner Robb Flynn lends his growl to BLACK SABBATH’s Symptom Of The Universe whilst Ihsahn‘s mistimed entrance on In Waves becomes an endearing highlight rather than a mishap.

The setlist strikes that perfect balance between nostalgia and progression. Sure, Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr and A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation remain festival gold, but newer cuts like Catastrophist and The Heart From Your Hate land with equal impact. When The Sin & The Sentence closes the show, it feels like a band confidently looking forward rather than backward. This performance doesn’t just remind you why TRIVIUM became generational leaders, it proves they’re still pushing boundaries. If this is what they’re capable of after a ten-year absence from Catton Park, imagine what the next decade holds.

Rating: 10/10

KATAKLYSM – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

Bringing the day to a close are the self-proclaimed purveyors of ‘northern hyperblast,’ KATAKLYSM. One of the most consistently underrated bands of the metal world, the Canadians have built up a formidable back catalogue over the past three decades and treat Bloodstock to an hour of death metal bangers. The Sophie Lancaster Stage becomes a scene of utter chaos as Goliath, Bringer Of Vengeance, and an utterly fiendish Push The Venom devastate Catton Hall. As per tradition, there’s a marathon of crowd surfers during As I Slither, as well as a welcome appearance of old favourite Manipulator Of Souls. It’s an adrenaline-charged performance that makes you want to charge into the expanding dust cloud and sweat off five pounds. In fact, it’s so good, that it wasn’t until the weekend was nearly over that we realised they didn’t play the classic Like Angels Reaping The Dark. Fantastic stuff, one of the highlights of Bloodstock Festival 2025.

Rating: 10/10

Saturday – August 9th

VNDER A CRVMBLING MOON – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

Doom-drenched post-metal soundtracking the apocalypse at 11am might not be for everyone, but for the few festival-goers gathered in the Sophie Lancaster Stage for Church Road Records-signees VNDER A CRVMLING MOON, the set is nothing short of sheep worshipping at the altar of a cult leader. If you can tap into their spiralling soundscapes, that average 9 or so minutes at a time, the Devonshire band deliver the perfect hangover cure. Sandwiched between mainstage sets from hardcore mob CAGE FIGHT and rising black metal stars THE SPIRIT, there’s something eerily enjoyable about experiencing a band who, for the most part, appear wholly possessed by their instruments. This is doomy post-metal done right, and those who chose to miss it did themselves dirty.

Rating: 8/10

THE SPIRIT – Ronnie James Dio Stage

The sun might be doing its best to blind THE SPIRIT, but alongside the release of this year’s Songs Against Humanity, their Bloodstock debut is further proof of them fast-becoming the leaders of a burgeoning, sci-fi themed blackened death metal scene. The band’s original duo of MS and MT’s experience in bands like ANCIENT CEREMONY, AGATHODAIMON, and MELECHESH, shows as opener Against Humanity is a masterclass in technical wizardry. Suited and booted like a funeral procession, and as quiet as a wake, the few times the live quartet stop to address the crowd, you can spot the shock and awe in their wry smiles at the crowd that’s gathered by the end of their set. Repugnant Human Scum and closer The Clouds Of Damnation feel like entire worlds encapsulating the crowd, many simply basking in their majesty. THE SPIRIT shows that black metal isn’t resting on its laurels.

Rating: 8/10

WARBRINGER – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

WARBRINGER’s Bloodstock Festival debut feels massively overdue. John Kevill and his tattooed, long-haired madmen have been whipping crowds into a frenzy with their hyper-violent, socially conscious thrash since 2004, yet this is their first time here. The wait was more than worth it though, and this early afternoon slot is one of the highlights of the Saturday. Firepower Kills inspires mayhem in the pit while Crushed Beneath The Tracks and Woe To The Vanquished are razor-edged thrash par excellence, where almost every lyric is bellowed back at the band by the enthusiastic crowd. Living In A Whirlwind gives us all a chance to improve our cardio, while newer cuts like The Sword And The Cross are treated like old friends. Best of the bunch though is Remain Violent, which works as a massive singalong and a frenzied fight starter in equal measure. It took them a long time to get here, but American thrash is alive and WARBRINGER are among the best in the game. This was awesome.

Rating: 10/10

HERIOT – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

“Something’s gone wrong,” Debbie Gough chuckles just after HERIOT finish their opening song. The Swindon four piece are playing Bloodstock’s main stage for the first time and there’s a lot of hype around them, but their set is marred by technical issues. Their abrasive brand of metalcore is invigorating, but the stop/start nature of the show means they never quite get the momentum they need. They take it all in good humour and are still smiling by the end, but it must have been a frustrating experience. To give them their flowers though, HERIOT justify the positive press even with things going wrong. The closing At The Fortress Gate in particular, is freaking bad ass, and they win new friends in spite of the difficulties. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that we haven’t seen HERIOT at their best and while this is a victory snatched from defeat, it would be nice to see them at full pelt next time.

Rating: 6/10

THRASHIST REGIME – EMP Stage 

Glancing around the EMP Stage, it soon becomes apparent that everyone who showed up for yesterday’s DESOLATOR show has also turned out for THRASHIST REGIME. Their working-class thrash operates in a similar sphere and the place is packed out with patch jacketed long hairs wanting to do lifelong damage to their neck muscles. THRASHIST REGIME seem happy to provide the soundtrack. Their short set is full pelt metal with both feet on the accelerator. It’s fast, gnarly, and it makes you want to grin like a Cheshire Cat who just inhaled second hand caterpillar smoke. It might be a little rough around the edges and they don’t do anything that a thousand other bands haven’t done before them, but it is a highly entertaining way to spend the early afternoon. Try not having fun while drinking cider and listening to a song about The A-Team, it’s not humanly possible.

Rating: 7/10

CREEPER – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

On paper, CREEPER’s rock opera theatrics should be perfectly suited to Bloodstock Festival, but something’s sorely missing from their mid-afternoon debut. Arriving on stage draped in leather and dripping blood, Southampton’s resident vampires waste no time in sinking their teeth in, giving new single Black Magick (It’s A Ritual) it’s live debut: think BELINDA CARLISLE in bed with BILLY IDOL and MEAT LOAF. Having co-headlined Wembley Arena last year, you’d argue CREEPER should be playing later on, yet they treat it like they are with plenty of pyro, pomp, and power solos. But whatever they do, their theatrical magic feels lost on the Bloodstock crowd, save for those down the front singing their hearts out. It does feel like they’ve missed a trick, as they leave out plenty of big hitters like Hiding With Boys, Annabelle, and Misery to play more from their Sanguivore-era, but at the same time, they sound at their blooming best, with frontman Will Ghould and guitarist Ian Miles doing their very best to steal the show from each other. Still, there’s some disconnect, so maybe second time’s a charm?

Rating: 7/10

KUBLAI KHAN TX – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Just as CREEPER’s theatrical flair had us revelling in gothic drama, KUBLAI KHAN TX storm in with raw, unrelenting heaviness – a reminder that sometimes, pure aggression hits just as hard as elegance. The Texans play the purest strain of metallic hardcore and trigger almost as much violence as the Mongol they’re name after. There’s nothing groundbreaking about them, it’s all chonky breakdowns, barked vocals and macho violence, but they scratch the mosh itch with ease. The songs are short bursts of testosterone and they manage to play almost everything off their recent Exhibition Of Prowess record and still have time for extras. KUBLAI KHAN TX don’t do intellectualism, but for sheer knuckleheaded fun, they more than get the job done.

Rating: 7/10

FORTUNE TELLER – Timothy Taylors New Blood Stage 

There’s a shortage of power metal on the Bloodstock bill this year, but FORTUNE TELLER give us a taste of it over on the Timothy Taylors New Blood Stage. However, anyone that goes in expecting frolicking woodland twats and ballads about lovesick elves receives a rude awakening. FORTUNE TELLER are power metal, but they’re at the heavier end of the genre. When you consider they were started by ex-INGESTED man Ross McLennan, that’s not entirely surprising. There are heavy riffs and hard-hitting drums aplenty, and with Theresa Smith, they’ve got a powerhouse on the mic. It’s fist-pumping and energetic and over too soon, more please.

Rating: 8/10

FEAR FACTORY – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Here lies even more proof of how stacked this year’s lineup is that yet another former headliner has dropped down the bill. Like LACUNA COIL and EMPEROR before them though, FEAR FACTORY treat their teatime slot like it’s a headline show; they’ve even pulled the crowd for it. That’s no surprise though when today’s setlist sees the industrial titans play their iconic second album Demanufacture in full for its 30th birthday. Whilst Milo Silvestro spends the set performing his best impressions of former frontman Burton C. Bell, there’s no skeptics in the crowd – they’re too busy playing karaoke to the likes of Self Bias Resistor and Replica. Introductions for founder Dino Cazares earn the type of roar popstars are used to, whilst the title track and Zero Signal whip up the pits early. If there was any concern that an album front-loaded with its hits would flounder towards its end, the ground-and-pound attacks of Flashpoint and Pisschrist keep the momentum moving, before finishing things up with the devastatingly fun Linchpin from Digimortal. Few bands could drop down the bill and still deliver like this, but it’s no surprise FEAR FACTORY do.

Rating: 8/10

UNDEATH – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

If tonight’s Sophie Lancaster Stage headliners STATIC-X stumbled upon UNDEATH’s set today, they’re leaving it pale knowing the bar’s been well and set high. The New Yorkers are met with a hero’s welcome, as if it wasn’t their first time at Bloodstock, but their fifth. They return the favour with a hat-trick of goals in the first 10 minutes as Dead From Beyond, Rise From The Grave, and Necrobionics lay waste to the tent. Circle pits and crowd surfers are in abundance, but it’s the self-prophetic More Insane that sees the first sight of a Spider-Man-cosplaying toddler crowdsurfing their Wonder Woman-themed mum that really highlights the ensuing chaos. The security on shift are put through their paces, as repeat offenders crowd surf multiple times during the same songs, as vocalist Alex Sason acts as a gruesome master of ceremonies basking in the guts and glory of their zombie-adoring bangers. By the time Lesions Of A Different Kind and Brandish The Blade bring their set to a close, you can’t help but think UNDEATH have loftier slots in their sights.

Rating: 10/10

MINISTRY – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Al Jourgensen being alive and well is one thing, let alone MINISTRY attempting to steal the show from FEAR FACTORY and derail MACHINE HEAD’s upcoming headline set. Sure, not every lyric is sung word-for-word tonight, but does it really matter when a near-capacity Ronnie James Dio Stage shouts them word-for-word anyways? Plucking songs largely from their most iconic run of albums – 1988’s The Land of Rape and Honey, 1989’s The Mind is a Terrible Things to Taste, and 1992’s Psalm 69 – the hits race out the gate at a fast and furious pace. Early oldies such as Thieves and Deity warm up the engines, whilst newer cuts like Lies Lies Lies and Goddamn White Trash throttle up proceedings. Burning Inside, Stigmata, and Just One Fix might as well be nitro for the circle-pitters, whilst Jesus Built My Hotrod has old-time stoners and shoulder-donning youngsters swaying and grooving alike. Consider this crowd well and truly warmed up for Robb Flynn and co.

Rating: 9/10

BREED 77 – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

One of the biggest surprises of this year’s festival is how popular BREED 77 are. Our more long-in-the-tooth readers might remember them as being the perpetual support act of the early to mid-2000s, and a reliable, if unspectacular band who enjoyed moderate success but were never world beaters. But as the hour approaches and the Sophie Lancaster Stage is filled with ever more excited fans, it seems we might have underestimated the lads from Gibraltar. From the opening World’s On Fire to the closing La Ultima Hora, they’re treated like returning heroes. The crowd sings back with hearty enthusiasm, crowd surfers spill over the barrier, and it’s a rousing, uplifting experience. We didn’t have BREED 77 having a renaissance on our predictions for 2025, but here we are. And credit to them, they do a better cover of Zombie than BAD WOLVES do.

Rating: 7/10

MACHINE HEAD – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

There’s no question though that Saturday belongs to MACHINE HEAD. It’s been over a decade since they last graced the Ronnie James Dio Stage, but for all the personnel changes and dodgy albums since then, they’ve never forgotten how to put on a show. Tonight sees Robb Flynn and co bringing their A game, and you can’t help wondering if they saw yesterday’s jaw dropping TRIVIUM set and took it as a challenge.

Kicking off with the wicked double whammy of Imperium and Ten Ton Hammer is a hell of a way to get things moving, and it only escalates from there. Comparative newcomer Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate is treated like an old favourite, Now We Die is pure pit carnage, and there’s a welcome appearance from the standalone hit Is There Anybody Out There?. For all the cast iron bangers in their repertoire though, the highlight of the set isn’t even a song. Ahead of a particularly emotive Darkness Within, Robb makes a short speech about their friend and longtime UK publicist Michelle Kerr, who passed away last year. Describing her as a “bad ass bitch who could drink anyone under the table,” it’s a heartfelt and genuine tribute, and within minutes, there’s not a dry eye in the house.

And having made everyone’s hearts swell, MACHINE HEAD proceed to kick all manner of ass in the second half. Bulldozer triggers a fresh wave of mosh violence, From This Day gets all the dads in the audience fighting down the knee pain to bounce like teenagers, and the ever-reliable Davidian brings one almighty shout-along. There’s also a spectacular light show and enough fireworks to make the Olympics opening ceremony look shy and demure. We haven’t decided if they outdid TRIVIUM yet, but taken purely on its own terms, MACHINE HEAD’s headline slot was killer and if the festival were cancelled first thing in the morning, we’d still go home happy.

Rating: 9/10

Tool Shed – VIP Stage 

If STATIC-X isn’t your cup of tea, and you’ve shelled out for VIP camping, tribute act TOOL SHED’s headline set is the perfect tonic. Sure, there’s no elaborate instrumental set-ups, no industrial-sized lasers, and no lookalikes—but there’s a blue paint-era Maynard James Keenan, and a setlist most TOOL fans would sell their souls to see the real deal perform live. TOOL are by no means an easy band to emulate. It’s admirable enough that anyone’s even tried. Yet TOOL SHED really does feel like the closest you’ll get unless it’s Messrs Carey, Chancellor, Jones, and Keenan in front of you. An early outing of 10,000 Days’ Vicarious is as ironic as it gets, and the crowd only gets bigger as more and more STATIC-X detractors arrive loaded with pints, vocal chords, and their dancing pants; because literally everyone is grooving in their own trance-like states throughout. TOOL SHED, like TOOL themselves, aren’t for everyone. But for those who do love the source material, there’s no better way to party away Saturday night at Bloodstock.

Rating: 8/10

Sunday – August 10th

GHOSTS OF ATLANTIS – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

It’s not even eleven, and with three days of heat exhaustion and hangovers to contend with, you could forgive the attendees for sleeping in. An impressive number of people are up first thing though, and GHOSTS OF ATLANTIS get a respectably sized crowd as they open the Ronnie James Dio Stage. With a set drawn largely from their Riddles Of The Sycophants album, their melodic death metal is an inspiring wake-up call and starts things off nicely.

Rating: 7/10

BARBARIAN HERMIT – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

It’s a bittersweet performance from BARBARIAN HERMIT on the Sophie Lancaster Stage next. The Manchester metallers recently announced that they’d be calling it a day and today’s set is one of their last. It’s a real shame because they’re terrific, their “party doom” being way more fun than you’d expect. With a singer who looks like he should be presenting a BBC2 documentary about restoring historic steam trains, the HERMIT give us a surprisingly upbeat take on the usual SABBATH shenanigans. Their mid-tempo, blues-heavy metal is more sunshine than damnation and it climaxes in one of the most colossal breakdowns ever to hit Catton Hall.

Rating: 9/10

RIVERS OF NIHIL – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

A saxophone being sound checked can mean only one thing; it’s time for RIVERS OF NIHIL. Having undergone something of a reset of late, the Pennsylvanians have a lot to prove today, and they do a stirring job. The vocal harmonies are on point, the new material is powerful, and they manage to encourage mosh violence and intellectual musings in equal measure. They also benefit from having that crucial “difficult to pigeonhole” factor that so many of the greats do. Like MASTODON and GOJIRA before them, RIVERS OF NIHIL have a distinctive identity and while they don’t yet have the sheer, arena-filling chops of tonight’s headliners, it’s not hard to imagine them evolving into the main event one day. The likes of The Sub-Orbital Blues, Dustman, and Where Owls Know My Name are classics in waiting.

Rating: 9/10

AUGUST BURNS RED – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

RIVERS OF NIHIL walked, so AUGUST BURNS RED could run. The metalcore veterans have no flights of fancy, no grand musical statements: they just play wall-to-wall bangers from the moment they walk-on stage to when they step off it. Opening with SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s Chop Suey whipped up the pits quicker than a baker does cream, a dose of Guardians-era cuts keep the pace up, before throwing more fuel to the fire with big hitters Meridian and Back Burner. AUGUST BURNS RED may not have intended to school acts on nailing a festival set, but White Washed’s wall of death is way too wild not to feel like it. If they’re not invited back in the near future, it’s Bloodstock’s loss.

Rating: 9/10

DOGMA – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

Somebody should’ve told DOGMA it’s dinosaur day at Bloodstock. Not that these heavy metal nuns would’ve taken much notice, and nor should they. Most acts like this are straight-up gimmicks that don’t deserve a tent so packed you’ve got to breathe in just to squeeze into it, this convent proves they’re the real deal. Combining 80s glam theatrics with power metal pomp, the likes of Made Her Mine and Carnal Liberation see DOGMA simultaneously showcase their serious musical chops and slightly less serious stage presence. Despite the tent starting to thin out a bit after a few songs, their cover of MADONNA’s innuendo-filled Like A Prayer converts the non-believers to their cause, and the sing-along strong Father I Have Sinned leaves all in attendance fed and then some.

Rating: 8/10

FEUERSCHWANZ – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

We’ve already mentioned that there’s a shortage of folk metal this year, but Bloodstock make up for it by giving FEUERSCHWANZ a lengthy afternoon slot. The Germans have never played the UK before, but they make a powerfully silly first impression. Refusing to take themselves seriously, they turn Catton Hall into a big, drunken party and reinvigorate the exhausted crowd. It’s an hour of biceps, bagpipes, and barbarian backing dancers from a band who looked at KORPIKLAANI and thought they were too subdued. Knightclub is the surprise hit of the festival, and inherently danceable cuts like Berserker Mode keep the good times rolling. The purists might roll their eyes, but this was the metal equivalent of the frat boy toga party from National Lampoon’s Animal House and it was a freaking blast.

Rating: 9/10

LOWEN – Sophie Lancaster Stage 

Stepping up as last-minute replacements for SPIRIT ADRIFT, who pulled out due to a serious medical situation in frontman Nate Garrett’s family, rising stars LOWEN feel like the perfect Sunday afternoon treat to indulge in. Last year’s Do Not Go to War With the Demons of Mazandaran, alongside their willingness to hop on every tour from here to Timbuktu, has made them an indomitable live force. Their otherworldly blend of death, doom, and prog metal with traditional Middle Eastern instruments and vocalist Nina Saeidi’s powerhouse pipes command a level of attention few live arenas are suited to. Like TOOL or SLEEP, LOWEN need you locked in and transfixed. Whilst there’s a whole heap of people here having the time of their lives, worshipping at their mythic altar, there’s plenty of people either sitting down disengaged, chatting to their mates at the bar, or leaving entirely for something else, with their faces failing to mask confusion. It’s a shame because they sound blooming brilliant on the Sophie Lancaster Stage today.

Rating: 8/10

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

Back in the sun-drenched in-field, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER brings things down to Earth with their no-frills death metal. Brian Eschbach is visibly pleased by the carnage they unleash, an early appearance of Kings Of The Nightworld and the primal foolishness of Statutory Ape being especially awe-inspiring. Given how vicious their music can be, it’s also notable how good-natured their career-spanning set is. Sure, they might make ferocious, gore-spattered death metal with titles like On Stirring Seas Of Salted Blood, but this is a life-affirming way to spend a summer afternoon. The closing duo of Everything Went Black and Warborn send everyone away happy, and while the loss of their beloved singer Trevor Strnad is still being felt, today was a celebration above all else. We’ll see these boys again.

Rating: 8/10

LORD OF THE LOST – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

There’s something of a reality check next as LORD OF THE LOST take the main stage. They’re best known in these parts for their Eurovision appearance, but they had an extensive career prior to that and at their heart, they’ve always been a metal band. Blood And Glitter closes the show, but for the preceding hour, they go into darker territory than you might expect. There’s plenty of pomp and melodrama, but there’s also a plethora of heavy guitar riffs, pounding drums, and gnarly vocals. Drag Me To Hell in particular, is one massive roar of industrial anguish that dashes hopes for an hour of high camp partying. That being said, while LORD OF THE LOST clearly have their fans, they haven’t caught the attention of as many people necessary to justify their placement on the bill. There’s a decent number of folks dancing and singing along to their Gothic anthems, but they’d have been better suited to going on after FEUERSCHWANZ and swapping places with THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. It is a decent show, but we’re rapidly approaching the end of the weekend, and they didn’t have enough of an impact for this late in the day.

Rating: 6/10

MAATKARE – EMP Stage 

There are still enough hours left for us to squeeze some extra metal in before the headliners, and over on the EMP Stage, we’re treated to one of the smaller triumphs of the fest. Death metallers MAATKARE raised a few eyebrows with their debut Rise To Power last October, and their material loses none of its intensity in the live setting. Singer Janneke De Rooy has a voice that’s unholy even by Bloodstock standards, growling lyrics about ancient warfare as if she’d actually witnessed the collapse of the Assyrian Empire first-hand. Long Live The Queen is heavier than a twenty ton concrete gorilla being thrown into a black hole singularity, and while their set is brief, it’s a hell of a rush. They deserve to be higher up the bill next time, and not just because their name gets mispronounced during the introduction.

Rating: 8/10

MASTODON – Ronnie James Dio Stage 

If MASTODON had played even half as good when they headlined the Ronnie James Dio Stage back in 2016 as they do today, a very different history might’ve been written for the Atlantans. Despite having a back catalogue bulging with muscular hits, the quartet’s live reputation has left a lot to desire. When your first five songs are Tread Lightly, The Motherload, Pushing The Tides, Crystal Skull, and Black Tongue, you’d wager you’ll win the crowd over. MASTODON do that and then some, with grins across all their faces – especially the usually more reserved guitarist Bill Kelliher, who’s so animated he’s playing rock, paper, scissors during riff-offs with Nick Johnston. But it’s the banger-after-banger-after-banger mentality merging with the red-hot sun and the biggest crowd a special guest slot has pulled all weekend that really makes this set shine. The likes of All The Heavy Lifting, Spectrelight, and Steambreather score sing-alongs a-plenty, whilst early cuts Megalodon and Mother Puncher see pits and crowd surfers coalesce. If that wasn’t enough to crown them champions of the weekend, the dust from mega-hit Blood & Thunder’s pit’s enough to transform Bloodstock into Tatooine, before closing out with their mesmerising cover of BLACK SABBATH’s Supernaut.

Rating: 10/10

GOJIRA – Ronnie James Dio Stage

When technical death metal’s leading stars GOJIRA formed nearly 30 years ago, few would’ve had them down as an Olympic-opening, Grammy-winning, festival headliner – but here we are. Seven years on from their debut headliner at Bloodstock, the French quartet return home to Catton Park a bigger band with an even bigger production.

Let’s be real: there’s still no new music since 2021’s Fortitude. But there’s enough pyro to put both RAMMSTEIN and the local fire department on red alert. There’s confetti, there’s flames, there’s even fish and chips for £10 – thanks to drummer Mario Duplantier’s Love Actually-esque cardboard sign routine. Visually, it’s a spectacle made for stadiums. It’s almost as if they watched TRIVIUM and MACHINE HEAD, and said “hold our beers”.

Luckily, GOJIRA have got the setlist to soundtrack such a show. Anthemic opener Only Pain is merely the shape of things to come, before launching into a jaw-dropping five-song run of The Axe, Backbone, Stranded, Flying Whales, and The Cell. Whether you’re in the pit, singing your heart out, or air-guitaring your way through, few bands can pull such a run. The arena-shattering Another World and Olympic centrepiece Mea Culpa – introduced by frontman Joe Duplantier declaring “I’m not advocating violence, but sometimes you’ve got to spill a little blood” – feel larger than life. The Chant feels transcendental, with 20,000 people humming the chorus as the stage screens show nothing but the adorning crowd.

However, it feels like something’s missing from tonight’s set. Maybe it’s the fact GOJIRA ignore their pre-From Mars To Sirius output, or the missed opportunity of playing the iconic album in its entirety for its 20th birthday. Or maybe it’s the sinking feeling that these beloved members of the Bloodstock family might well be outgrowing the festival. Regardless, a grand finale of L’enfant Sauvage, BLACK SABBATH cover Under The Sun/Every Day Comes And Goes, and The Gift Of Guilt leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind that GOJIRA will always be one of the greatest live bands to grace Catton Park.

Rating: 9/10

As the sun rises on the Monday morning and turns our tents into sweat boxes, our time at Bloodstock 2025 draws to a close. We’re tired, filthy, and more than a little anxious about the drive home, but this was an incredible weekend. The world of heavy music is thriving, and the sheer variety of bands we saw who can all be categorised as heavy metal was stunning. Roll on Bloodstock ’26.

Words: Tim Bolitho-Jones, Jack Press

Check out our extensive photo gallery of all the action at this year’s Bloodstock Festival from Emma Stone here: 

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