BLOODSTOCK 2025: PART 2
Bloodstock Open Air 2025 – Part 2/2
Catton Hall, Midlands
6th-10th August 2025
Live Review by Oli Gonzalez
Saturday
“Trivium were sick last night”
“What do you think of next year’s line up?”
Some of the comments I heard amongst the otherwise indistinct festival chatter among attendees, whether it was the day ticketers looking fresh in their Machine Head t-shirts, or those looking worse for wear after a few too many festival pints and/or the carnage from Nailbomb’s pit the night before! My third night in Midgard meant that the fatigue was creeping in but today was to be all about bucket list bands and new discoveries, so slamming a Red Bull helped me to power through. With that temporary boost of energy, I made a bee line for the Sophie tent…
Vnder A Crvmbling Moon
Some crushing Progressive Doom first thing on a Saturday morning sounds like a great idea, right? If it’s Vnder A Crvmbling Moon delivering said flavour of Doom, then yes, it is and was an excellent idea! My head banged more than it should have done at that time of the day! I blame their exquisite crushing riffs topped up with a psychedelic seasoning! It was good. Very good. A wonderful start to the day!
https://www.facebook.com/vnderacrvmblingmoon
Ba’al
One of the most anticipated sets for me personally, especially after listening to their blistering album “The Fine Line Between Heaven And Here”. Though there are no clear lines between their music boundaries as they blend the cutting edge and innovation of Post-Metal with the traditional intensity and atmosphere of Black Metal. Not many bands can pull this off, but Ba’al certainly did on this early Saturday slot. It seems like they’re doing all the right things and performances like this will only mean they’ll ascend the ranks of the UK’s black metal scene!
https://www.facebook.com/baalbanduk
Kublai Khan TX
Almost exactly a year to the day, Malevolence tore apart the main stage in a memorable performance. Many will be talking about Kublai Khan’s blistering set in the same way for years to come! This was absolute carnage. Nowhere felt safe at the main stage, especially when the wall of death spanned from barrier to sound desk, threatening to consume any unwitting and unfortunate bystanders! Fortunately I wasn’t in any of those pits, so I can say that I didn’t watch Kublai Khan, but rather I SURVIVED Kublai Khan!
https://www.facebook.com/KublaiKhanTexoma
Fear Factory
A 30th anniversary celebration for their seminal work “Demanufacture”. This line up would feature only one original member (guitarist Dino) from when that album was released, though they did the album justice, especially front man Miro who has been given the unenviable task of filling previous vocalist Burton’s huge shoes! Singing ‘Replica’ out loud in that field was healing for my soul, especially given that it had been 23 years since I had first that song! A huge bucket list band ticked off!
https://www.facebook.com/fearfactory
Arena Chair Ban?!
The message was on the screens:
“Please remove all chairs from the chair free zone in front of the main stage immediately, or chairs will be banned from the arena entirely for Sunday.
Thank you for your cooperation”
It seems harsh. Some people genuinely struggle to be stood up for long periods and having a chair available can be a dealbreaker in attending the festival or not. As a guy with back problems, I fully sympathise. The reaction on social media didn’t go down well. Though there needs to be a solution as it felt like an obstacle course of chairs from 5pm onwards every day, having to navigate through a stream of poorly placed chairs, making the arena an accident waiting to happen. So I’m with Bloodstock on this one in that there needs to be a solution to this, as well making the area of chairs clearer.
What solution would I propose? Here’s one; get rid of the EMP ‘fourth’ stage and have that as a shaded seating area! It sounds crazy. It’s taking away roughly 12 band slots and vital opportunities for bands. But the issue of sound bleeding from there as other bands are performing in other nearby tents has been raised. Surely the cost of running this stage could be invested elsewhere – like having more drinking water stations? Plus let’s face it, the festival is now basically 5 days since the advent of the Wednesday tickets. The Thursday could be extended to an all-dayer, giving bored metalheads something to do on this loooong day, opening the New Blood Stage to accommodate these extra slots lost from the closure of the EMP Stage. What do you think?
Breed 77
Isn’t it a rare yet wonderful feeling? Singing along to a band’s infectiously catchy and instantly memorable choruses despite never having listened to them prior. That was my experience of the Flamenco Metallers Breed 77, turning the Sophie tent into a wonderful beacon of nostalgia for those who remembered the band from ‘back in the day’. They certainly did not seem like washups though but instead looked and sounded like a band who have done their reps and used their veteran instincts to provide the most entertaining show they possibly could! The band advised that they were in no way complacent about living in this era but instead seemed very grateful to be given this slot, a slot they felt they had earned. Personally, I’d be very happy to see them return in a similar slot!
https://www.facebook.com/breed77
Static X
A fairly rare UK appearance for the Nu-Metal icons as they closed the main stage in style this evening! They invested a lot in their stage props – including a 20foot zombie Wayne Static – but it made the whole performance feel all the more special. Singing ‘Black And White’ and ‘Cold’ out loud was good for the soul and another healthy dose of nostalgia!
https://www.facebook.com/staticx
Sunday
The big lamp in the sky was showing its vengeance, beating down on our camp early in the morning turning the once luscious green grass to a defeated shade of yellow. Some were packing down their tents and migrating towards the car park to load gear. Likely to make an early exit once the evening’s entertainment had come to a close. Given said heat and the pain in my feet, this meant I had to be tactical in choosing only the truly unmissable acts for me on this day. This would include tonight’s headliners Gojira, as well as a sampling from a certain group of Metalcore magicians also gracing the main stage…
August Burns Red
It’s summer of 2013. I’m an undergraduate Psychology university student and laying in my dorm bed one brutally hot evening. An endless YouTube rabbit hole leads me to an album. Not just any album. “Rescue And Restore” was its name. This was my gateway to August Burns Red. While they may not have played any songs from that record, being perched at the barrier and watching the band burn through their set brought back all these wonderful memories. Although it was 30 degrees Celsius now, I felt a different type of warmth. A comforting nostalgic warmth. While those in the pit and those in the seemingly endless conveyor belt of bodies tossing themselves over the barrier likely would have felt anything but comfortable. The band’s sound was a perfect throwback to the early 00s era of Metalcore, delivering empathetic choruses and an exciting blend of melody and blunt force heaviness. Another major bucket list band ticked off this weekend, but one of the more sentimental ones.
https://www.facebook.com/augustburnsred
Surya
It was simply a matter of when, not if, Surya would grace the New Blood Stage. They stormed through the competition of Burnley’s Metal To The Masses, and took that same energy with them this afternoon. Vocalist Mark isn’t new to this stage having played here in his previous band. As such, he made all the experience count as he stirred up circle pits, crowd surfers, and even ballroom dancing later in the band’s set! Their Melodic Deathcore style surely would have won a few new admirers, and deservedly so.
https://www.facebook.com/Surya.band.official
KOBA
An accidental discovery, I was simply in the right place at the right time when KOBA hit the stage! Whilst simply being in the New Blood tent to escape the sun, their Post-Metal sound blending Doom and Psychedelic elements made me stand up and take notice. It was hard to ignore. It sounded huge! I need to delve deeper into the band’s back catalogue and find out more.
https://www.facebook.com/KOBA.fb
Gojira
The sun was setting, the arena becoming darker and darker by the second. The late great Ozzy Osbourne’s face appeared on the big screen as his music began playing over the speakers in a fitting tribute to the Prince Of Darkness. A good old fashioned sing along ensued and got the place locked in and ready for what was to become. Arguably the most anticipated set of the weekend. Arguably the reason the day and festival had sold out. The band that played the Olympic opening ceremony. Undeniably the finest Metal export from the nation of France. Gojira.
Whether it was ‘Silvera’, ‘Flying Whales’, or ‘Stranded’, every song was delivered with punishing precision and atomic emotional weight. Every note was as crucial as the last with their being zero room for filler or waste. Their stage presence and production values were through the roof, blowing anybody else out of the water for the weekend. They are absolute masters of their craft and have set a standard that others should now be compared to. I feel honoured to have finally experienced this.
https://www.facebook.com/GojiraMusic
Closing Thoughts
Monday morning. The dreaded pack down. The post-festival blues were starting to creep in as I dissembled my tent and attempted to cram my polyester palace into its comically small carry bag. Though there was still time for me to compare thoughts with my campmates about our collective and individual experiences of the festival.
Camping in Midgard was…alright! Sure, it was noisy at night but it has the reputation for being the party camp. Still, I managed a reasonable 6 hours sleep a night with some headphones and ear plugs! A double sleeping bag and the extra sprawl space was an ideal investment for me and helped get the sleep I needed. Any regrets? I wish I had seen Mastadon, but I was simply too tired and aching to do so, and didn’t want to miss Gojira. Other than that, I saw every band I had wanted! I still feel as though other festivals in the UK and Europe have lineups that are more suited to my tastes and are better for me. Though the vibes at Bloodstock can’t be replaced by those festivals! It always feels like an opportunity to catch up with friends I haven’t seen for months, and although I spent parts of it by myself, I never really felt alone. Us metalheads are often marginalized in society. We were picked on in school for the way we dressed and for listening to all that ‘screamo crap’. At Bloodstock though, these qualities are celebrated and it’s somewhere I always feel like I can be my weird self and never have to put on an act or mask. Being in Catton Hall for 5 days allowed me to escape from the usual BS of life, leaving me with only easy decisions for the day, the most difficult being ‘which band am I seeing next?’ and ‘when am I eating?’. I’ll be back for more next year! Weekend tickets sold out in October of last year, so make sure you’re quick if you want yours.
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.
