BLOODSTOCK 2025- PART 1
Bloodstock Open Air 2025 – Part 1/2
Catton Hall, Midlands
6th-10th August 2025
Live Review by Oli Gonzalez
The pilgrimage down the pathway towards the holy grounds of Catton Hall park. This yearly custom in August has now become an annual tradition for me. Only this time I was carrying not just my camping chair but also a tent, a rucksack full of clothes and other supplies to get me through the 5 days as this would be my first time camping here. I’m sure there were first timers as well as regulars as they hauled their wheelbarrows and rucksacks to join the queue that had formed outside the arena on this Wednesday morning. The sun was beating down and it was only 10.30am! A few beers were getting chugged already; do thirsty metalheads at a festival need a better reason to? Some others had stolen our idea of getting to the festival early to grab the best camping spots but once we were through security and finally able to pitch up in party central that was Midgard.
This is my recap of the events, recounting my favourite bands small and large whilst tackling the grand questions across this two part segment such as:
Are the headliners strong enough for next year?
Why did I end up missing Trivium?
Did Bloodstock really ban chairs from the arena?
How was camping in Midgard?
And many more. So, let’s get into it…
Thursday
Despite arriving on Wednesday, the band’s only started on the following evening at around 6pm (a point I’ll discuss later). The heavens had opened and threatened to turn the sacred grounds into a waterlogged field of shattered dreams and despair. Luckily the bands were all inside the Sophie Lancaster tent then, and this was only a temporary rain shower. Though we still ran over to the stage like scalded weasels and took a perch at the barrier for the first band of the festival…
Deadflesh
New Blood Stage graduates opened up proceedings in style as they had the place moving within only a few songs. The pits to hell had opened, our first crowd surfers of the festival went through the air! This is a statement about the genuine progression path that Metal To The Masses offers to bands!
https://www.facebook.com/DeadFleshUK
Gnome
Ready for some pointed hat bastardery? Not a question you’ve been asked previously, I’m sure. The tent was full of them. The pointed red garden gnome hats, as well as Doom-infused riffs that will make your bowels shake, head bang, and hips sway in equal measures! The Belgian trio are on an upward trajectory, you can sense, and many will say “I saw them at Bloodstock” when they’re inevitably playing bigger stages!
https://www.facebook.com/officialgnomeband
All For Metal
The cheesiest of cheesy Power Metal…but that’s why it’s so cool and why they’re so entertaining. Two vocalists added an interesting dynamic as they worked the crowd so well. The Power Metal ballads and fun sing along choruses filled the Sophie tent and added a real good feel factor to the festival.
https://www.facebook.com/allformetalofficial
Friday
I was flagging at this point and smelt worse than Satan’s jockstrap! Luckily I was up early, before 7am, and we were camped a few hundred yards only from the festival’s showers. Bah god it felt good to get washed up ready for the day, slowly followed by an overpriced bacon baguette! A day that would begin for me at the main stage…
Famyne
Another example of progression as the band have risen through the ranks after a New Blood Stage performance in 2016. They looked and sounded like a main stage band with a delightful blend of crushing hypnotic Doom with a melodic twist, provided largely in part by the stellar and blistering voice of vocalist Tom Vayne! Another unexpected yet delightful find for me at this year’s festival and a testament to the UK’s fiercely stacked Metal scene.
https://www.facebook.com/famyneuk
My Diligence
There’s something in the water in Belgium as this is the second power trio from this nation to play the festival this weekend! Offering more of a psychedelic and melodic element helped them to stand out on this lineup, but for all the right reasons. I was fortunate to get to the barrier for a set by a band that really carbed perfectly to my music tastes!
https://www.facebook.com/mydiligence
Rough Justice
A stop-gap band perhaps as I was waiting at the barrier for Shade Empire’s set, but Rough Justice were anything but filler on this lineup! Within literally seconds of their set beginning, something that looked more like a bar room brawl than a traditional mosh pit had erupted and wouldn’t stop until that last note rang out. Some members sported Malevolence merchandise, and the band’s style was a similar Hardcore blend with a more refined technical edge. I heard calls among spectators that they should be back on the main stage in the future. I can’t argue with that sentiment!
https://www.facebook.com/roughjusticesheffield
Shade Empire
My first must see of the day, I thank Bloodstock for introducing me to Shade Empire months before the festival! Hailing from Finland, they bring that Melodic Death Metal edge that’s become synonymous with the Nordic nation which has produced genre heavyweights such as Insomnium, Wintersun, Wolfheart, and many more! Although the temperature was well above 20 degrees Celsius, there was still an icy feel and presence to the band’s sound as they delivered furious riff after instantly memorable riff! Hearing ‘Anti Life Saviour’ was much needed and serves as the magnus opus for a band that deserves to be on much larger stages!
https://www.facebook.com/shadeempireband
VMBRA
The Manchester Metal To The Masses champions took their rightful place on that New Blood stage and looked totally at home there, filling the whole arena with their blistering Progressive Rock energy. Vocalist Ai performed like her life depended on it, and received more than enough support from her band mates Pete, Jack, and Keiren, who all excelled in their respective instruments. They’re becoming more and more familiar with being on big festival lineups, as they had opened Radar’s main stage only a few weeks prior. Lacuna Coil were playing on the main stage at the same time… and something tells me VMBRA may well be on that same stage in the future!
https://www.facebook.com/VMBRAUK
2026 Line Up Announcement
As promised and as is tradition, a taster of the 2026 line up was given immediately after Lacuna Coil’s set. Well, I use the word ‘taster’ loosely as a huge 25 bands were announced on the main stage big screen, including ALL Sophie and main stage headliners! Whereas the previous year’s announcement left people physically shaking with excitement, this time the general sentiment was that of being slightly underwhelmed. Nobody can deny Lamb Of God’s headliner credentials and they tore apart the main stage in 2022 as they closed the Sunday evening. But therein lies the problem as 4 years between appearances is borderline too repetitive. Is 5 years any better? That’s when Judas Priest also closed the main stage, during the ‘covid’ Bloodstock of 2021 when (basically) only British bands were available (barring some exceptions). Plus a 25 year anniversary for the festival means you gotta bring in the big guns… and they don’t come much bigger than Priest! What about the Saturday headliners, Slaughter To Prevail? A controversial booking not just for the band’s political views, but namely because they may be too green to take such a prominent spot on a 25th anniversary. They can overcome the logistics of their scheduled Grizzly Winter UK/EU tour in early 2026 and take a full year to prep their stage production for this slot. I think I’ll be heading over to the Sophie tent for the always entertaining Leprous that evening! What are your thoughts on next year’s lineup?
Emperor
I’ve been a Black Metal fan for years now. Yet I had never laid eyes on Emperor’s live show. And what a live show it is! See, frontman Isahn has over 30 years of experience to draw upon and is no stranger to large festival sets. Their sound was absolutely flawless, the mix as close to perfect as you can get!
https://www.facebook.com/emperorofficial
Kataklysm > Trivium
I love Trivium. Always have an always will. Ascendancy” is one of the finest Metal records in history. I was there in Manchester this January as they played it in full. But I’ve seen them 4 times already. I had been listening to Kataklysm since I was 17 but just never had a chance to see them. I wanted to be at the barrier for the Canadian’s set, so it made sense to miss Trivium in order to get a prime viewing spot, right? Well that’s what I did…
Kataklysm
There’s not many words to describe how incredible this was! 16 years in and I finally got to see a band that 17 year old Oli discovered and had adored for many years. Their blend of crushing brutality yet irresistible crunching melodic guitar riffs was everything I had hoped for and much, MUCH more. The band claimed a desire to set a new crowd surfing record for their song ‘As I Slither’, but rather seemed more keen on causing absolute mayhem and carnage in the Sophie stage! Either way, the security staff certainly earned their wages that evening as a barrage of bodies came firing towards the stage during ‘As I Slither’! A major MAJOR bucket list band, and as I’m typing this, I’m genuinely feeling sad that it may be a while before I see them again.
https://www.facebook.com/kataklysm
Whereas I would have been horizontal in my tent 24 hours prior, I had a frightening burst of energy. Frightening as it was past midnight… and I very rarely am awake past midnight! Luckily Bloodstock caters for the children of the night and those who wish to party way into the wee hours of the morning, so we sampled some of the night’s entertainment. Kataklysm may have delivered a masterclass in Technical Death Metal in the Sophie tent but an hour later it was a full on nocturnal rave! Eventually, the tireds and the back pains caught up with me and I retired to my tent in order to do it all again the very next day…
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Oli Gonzalez and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
