FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Bloodstock Festival 2019

Bloodstock Festival is one of our favourite festivals of the year. You could maybe even push that to all time. Being built from the ground up, the massive heavy metal weekend has become a bastion of not only the alternative music scene, but for niche festivals in general given Bloodstock’s incredible reputation of getting better and bigger with each year. This year, the line up features first time headliners next to legends of the industry, and as we struggle to manage our excitement, we wanted to give you guys a preview of the weekend to come.

Ronnie James Dio Stage

Named after the eternal talent himself, the Ronnie James Dio Stage always hosts some of the most vital, respected, and downright whacky acts that inhabit our alternative scene. This year, with headliners like SABATON bringing with them enough firepower to probably start a war themselves and SCORPIONS simple proving why they have earnt their legend status, there isn’t a day of the weekend that doesn’t close out in epic fashion. PARKWAY DRIVE are the talk of the party this year. Their first UK festival headline slot will be a moment for the history books as the Australian titans look to prove themselves as the next colossus. This will be the set everyone talks about, so make sure you at least experience the fiery PARKWAY DRIVE production.

Alongside these immense headliners, there will be a plethora of talent to fill your boots with. The Friday sees INCITE and SOULFLY bring the Cavalera name and trademark sound to the festival, with both also bringing sufficient carnage along with them. For the power metal aficionados, POWERWOLF will be a gloriously ridiculous time paired with enough riffs and guitar solos to send everyone home happy. TESSERACT will scratch the prog itch that so many punters feel, and if the weather permits it, could well steal the weekend.

Death metal is in rude health this year as well. THY ART IS MURDER will be on the form of their career following the release of the brutal and brilliant Human Target, where as HYPOCRISY will decimate all with their Swedish death metal excellence. The latter was one of the most talked about announcements of the festival so expect a huge crowd for them. Similarly, expect nothing but ridiculous riffing from ABORTED, who despite easily being the most extreme offering on the line up still fit beautifully into the weekends diverse tapestry of a line up.

THE WILDHEARTS and CANCER BATS represent the punk contingent better than most, and whilst appearing out of place on such a meaty line up, both acts will be huge draws, and both come loaded with enough party fuel for the entire weekend. Name a better cover than that of the BATS rendition of Sabotage then we will happily eat our wellies during their set.

Sophie Lancaster Stage

Still poignantly named, and still home to one of the most diverse and rich line ups of the year, the Sophie Lancaster Stage will host a number of the best sets of the Bloodstock weekend. ROTTING CHRIST closing the Thursday night is an obvious highlight, as well as the evil sounds of TAAKE that juxtapose quite nicely to the stoic riffing of GRAND MAGUS and the epic folk musings of ELUVEITIE. From the biggest bands to the smallest, groups like LOTUS EATER will use this as a chance to highlight why they are so hotly tipped as one of this generation’s best bands. Similarly, HARBINGER will be looking to make an even bigger impact following on from their epic latest album. WHEEL will also be capitalising on an epic debut, and their TOOL influenced prog will go hand in hand with the progressive sensibilities of the BOSS KELOID stoner sound.

The international scene remains firmly represented here as well, with bands like CRESCENT representing often forgotten territories like Egypt. ZEALOTS CULT serve as ambassadors for the always excellent Irish metal scene, and VIOLBLAST bring some Mediterranean flair to their thrash metal assault. With so many bands on one stage it can be difficult to truly stand out, but for our money, DUST BOLT, SKELETAL REMAINS, and BLASPHEMER are sure fire potential sets of the weekend, so don’t miss any of these. If something a bit more aethereal is what you need then COUNTLESS SKIES will have you covered, as opposed to the brutish pedigree of acts like RAGING SPEEDHORN.

Hobgoblin New Blood Stage

Arguably one of the most well-known things about Bloodstock Festival is their Metal 2 The Masses competition, and the billing of a stage entirely made up of unsigned and eager new talent. The Hobgoblin New Blood Stage has a plethora of fresh new sounds for you to sink your teeth into, and this year the line up is one of the best.

Straight off the bat, if PARKWAY DRIVE don’t tickle your pickle, go and check out MASTER’S CALL. They are a brutal new death metal band who will definitely provide a harder edge to round off the Saturday night. Similarly playing the Saturday will be GRIEF RITUAL and VOIDLURKER, two very different but equally brilliant bands. The former brings a blackened hardcore maelstrom whilst the latter lays out thick sludge like it is nobodies’ business.

TOMORROW IS LOST will provide massive choruses tinged with a heavy NWOBHM vibe, something very far removed from the bludgeoning noises of BASTARD, but that highlights the joyous diversity Bloodstock Festival promotes and actively books. For a band like FEAR BOUND, boasting classic melo-death riffs and vocal patterns, there is a group like LOST IN LAVENDER TOWN who bring instrumental prog to all those eager tech-heads clamouring for something a bit more nuanced. There is so much to choose from at this years New Blood Stage that there is an argument to be had that you could spend your entire weekend there. Closing the weekend with DAMIM has every potential to echo the triumphant headline set by FOOTPRINTS IN THE CUSTARD a few years back. FOOTPRINTS have now been promoted to bring the silliness on the Thursday this year, so it’s clear the Bloodstock powers that be are always watching!

It would be an understatement for us to say we are merely ‘excited’ for this years Bloodstock Festival. This is truly one of the best festivals in the UK, and indeed the whole world, and represent an event actively pushing the newest talent in the scene. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated with what we’re up to, and we can’t wait to spend the weekend with you all!

Bloodstock Festival takes place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2019. Standard weekend tickets, priced £145, are on sale now and can be purchased here. A limited number of day tickets, priced at £65 (+ fees) for adults and £20 (+ fees) for children aged 4-11, are available from May 30th and can be purchased here.

For more information on the festival like their official page on Facebook.