Bloodstock Open Air 2025 – Benter’s Blooders Best Of
Bloodstock Open Air 2025 – Benter’s Blooders Best Of 2025
Catton Hall, Darbyshire
07-10 August 2025
Review by Rory Bentley
Another Bloodstock in the can and what a belter it was! As with last year I saw so much stuff that I can’t honestly be arsed boring is both with a chronological account, or a ranking. Instead here’s about 10 things that I thought were great in no particular order. Sorry if I didn’t list a thing you liked but there’s nothing stopping you from doing your own list, bruv!
Mastodon
This is the second time I’ve seen Mastodon in the space of a month, and they were absolutely sensational. Notoriously prone to turning up at festivals and doing whatever the opposite of playing the hits is, here they looked so bang up for their special guest slot, and they sounded magnificent.
The labyrinthine, Prog odysseys they go on have often struggled to translate to a big outdoor stage, but there are massive riffs in their catalog that always had the potential to thrive in his environment- and that’s exactly what happens. ‘Steam Breather’ is an immense grooving juggernaut, ‘The Motherload’ is a soaring anthem, and ‘Black Tongue’ is a bone-crushing slab of pure evil that detonates the pit.
The vocals are bang on, where once they were a definite weak point, Troy Sanders is chatty and beaming ear to ear, and stand in guitarist Nick Johnston is a face-melting revelation. Capping the set off with another run through of their excellent cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Supernaut’, the Atlantan beasts have just produced the perfect festival set.
It remains to be seen how the departure of the undoubtedly brilliant Brent Hinds will impact their recorded output, but as a live unit they are as good as they’ve ever been and (braces for backlash) possibly better.
https://www.facebook.com/Mastodon
Lowen
If you’ve read any of my scribblings on here you’ll probably be aware the I love, love Love this Progressive/Middle-Eastern/Doom Metal outfit, and although I was gutted about Spirit Adrift pulling out due to family reasons (all the best to the Riff King himself Nate Garrett), this super-sub addition to the bill was just about the only thing shy of adding Charli XCX that could have quelled by disappointment.
This band gets better every time I see them, and in this performance, the likes of ‘Corruption of Earth’ sounded positively soul-shaking as they blasted out of the Sophie stage. The riffs sounded like the colossal fists of an ancient deity slamming down onto desert sands, and the simple but effective use of the band’s evocative album art and imagery on the big screens made the experience all the more immersive.
Nina Saeidi is a force of nature on the mic, and she stopped everyone in their tracks with an ethereal, otherworldly power that transported the audience to a different plain of existence from the dusty beer-soaked fields of Catton Hall. My friend was actually so hypnotised and soothed by Nina’s vocals that she had to go back to the tent for a quick lie down, which I promise is a compliment!
I’m actually begging Vicky to give these guys a main stage slot next time (there surely has to be a next time) as music this unique and soaring would undoubtedly translate to the masses gathered in the arena. An early Sunday call to prayer blasting over the PA could be an iconic Bloodstock moment.
https://www.facebook.com/Lowenband
Gojira
Obviously this was always going to come up. I’m not sure there is a band on planet earth, Metal or otherwise, that has a better-sounding live guitar tone than the Frenchmen. It is so crushing and weighty, yet crystal clear in a way that sounds just as great on a gigantic festival PA as it does in a sweaty indoor dive bar. When you couple this with the hurricane of sophisticated savagery behind the kit that is Mario Duplantier and enough fire and pyro to make Rammstein give you the side-eye, there can only be one triumphant outcome.
Gojira were simply jaw-dropping tonight and the perfect climax to an all-timer Bloodstock weekend, following two flawless sets from the previous night’s headliners with ease. The pacing of the setlist, the intensity of the playing and the band’s clear effort to make this a uniquely special show were everything fans could have hoped for.
Like Mastodon, they gave another run out to their excellent Sabbath cover from Back To The Beginning with ‘Under The Sun’, and their revisit of the Olympic anthem ‘Mea Culpa’ was greeted like the modern classic that it is. They did not put a foot wrong for the entire explosive 90 minutes, and it was impossible to see them as anything smaller than an arena band now. The only sad thing is they may now be too big to play here again in future.
https://www.facebook.com/GojiraMusic
Creeper
Viewed by some as a bit of a risky booking when announced last year, Southampton spooky Punks Creeper were actually quite the opposite. There is nothing more Blooders than a bunch of leather-clad vampires with blood round their mouths playing overblown hyper-camp arena-ready anthems that sound like The Lost Boys soundtrack being played by Jim Steinman and Turbo-era Judas Priest. It also helps that their latest album “Sanguivore” and its upcoming sequel are literally Heavy Metal albums, and the band played the perfect set for the event.
As a Creeper superfan would I have liked to hear ‘Misery’ or ‘Cyanide’ or ‘VCR’? Sure, but this was a set that showed the right side of Creeper to the right audience, and a killer send-off of ‘Cry To Heaven’ made sure I did not leave disappointed. To play a set chock full of newer stuff, missing out so many hits, and still be one of the highlights of a stellar weekend just shows what an incredible band Creeper are.
https://www.facebook.com/creepercult
Static-X
To think I was even considering going to bed after Machinehead’s triumphant headline set. After walking past the Sophie tent, my friend and I could not resist the boatload of spooky bangers being dished out by Tony Campos and the Industrial Nu-Metal mob. What initially felt like a distasteful cash grab when it was initially announced actually turned out to be a heartwarming celebration of the legacy of the late Wayne Static.
The sheer number of absolute ragers in this set, that we knew every word to despite not listening to the band for over a decade, and the subsequent joy on our little old faces that greeted every new song is a reminder that nostalgia doesn’t always have to be a dirty word. This was a little bit of magic, with a killer stage show that had as many campy mascot moments as an Iron Maiden show, albeit one being played in a sleazy underground dungeon.
The tent was absolutely heaving and the party continued on the outside with everyone in the field getting down to spooky bangers like ‘Push It’, ‘Cannibal’ and ‘Love Dump’. Put some respect on the Static-X name because they put in one of the great Sophie Stage performances.
https://www.facebook.com/staticx
Trivium
Trivium and UK festivals go together like Fireball and Cream Soda (trust me on this cocktail suggestion), so I had zero doubt that their Friday headline set would be a slam dunk. Like seriously I would bet my right bollock on them crushing it and sleep safe in the knowledge that I’d be strolling back to my set with a full complement of nuts come 22:50. Somehow, though, they raised the bar even higher with an incredible performance that felt truly special from the moment they tore through “Ascendancy” classic, ‘Rain’, all the way to the final blast beats of brand new set-closer ‘The Sin and the Sentence’.
Matt Heafy was having an absolute blast as the band treated everyone to a career-spanning set of nothing but killer cuts, along with some very special covers. Fans of free Kerrang CDs from the noughties were delighted to hear the band pound through their note-perfect rendition of ‘Master of Puppets’, and guests from Robb Flynn taking the mic for a crushing tribute to Sabbath on ‘Symptom of The Universe’, to Ihsahn gurgling the chorus to ‘In Waves’ made this a really special one-off set.
https://www.facebook.com/Trivium
Kublai Khan TX
The Texas Harcore sluggers specialise in low-IQ, high-testosterone beatdown anthems and believe me when I say every part of that description is intended as a compliment. Not only did they get a massive crowd, but they incited some of the most terrifying pits Catton Hall has ever seen.
It feels like there is now an official slot where a Hardcore band will show up just before the final three main stage bands and just fucking murder everyone on a Saturday afternoon (shoutout Knocked Loose in 2023), and judging by the wall of death that spanned the width of the field (that I immediately regretted participating in) it’s gonna take some following next year. Absolute carnage performed with expert precision by men who know that the dumbest riffs come from the smartest minds.
https://www.facebook.com/KublaiKhanTexoma
Emperor
The clashing sets of Emperor and Nailbomb is a crime against nature and a personal attack on me. But, despite having to hear the last 10 minutes of the set from the other end of the field to get into the crammed tent for Max and his crew, I was still utterly mesmerised by Ihsahn and the lad’s stunning performance.
The sound was crystal clear, the setlist was heavenly and the performance was immaculate. Rocking shades and a purple telecaster Ihsahn is the coolest man in the field, strutting about and unleashing a set heavily geared towards “In The Nighside Eclipse” and “Anthems To The Welkin at Dusk” in a manner so louche he might as well be wearing slippers. It might be a beautiful sunny evening but ‘Into The Infinity of Thoughts’ and ‘Thus Spake The Nightspirit’ lose none of their malevolent darkness regardkess of the weather.
This was my first time ever seeing Emperor live and I refuse to let it be my last as it was everything I wanted it to be. I even saw young Oli Gonzales emerge from the pit looking a little worse for wear and was thankful that I arrived on Friday morning rather than pitching up on Thursday, as the lad had clearly been enjoying a few beverages with his 24 hour head-start.
https://www.facebook.com/emperorofficial
Nailbomb
Max Cavelera’s mythical one and done Industrial Noise project was worth every bit of the 30-year wait for its return. The tent was heaving and many had to settle for standing outside and watching the big screens, but as soon as the distorted beats of ‘Wasting Away’ kicked things off, nobody was complaining. The good thing about only having one album is everything you’ve released is fucking great! ‘24 Hour Bullshit’ is a Hardcore classic and ‘World of Shit’ is the most danceable song Max has put his name to. Chuck in a savage Dead Kennedys cover and a stage show that is straight out of the mind of a first-year sociology student trying to impress his mates (it’s still endearing), and you’ve got a classic set. Would I like to hear more guitar and for there to be a competent sound engineer in the Sophie stage? Sure, but this was still something special.
https://www.facebook.com/MaxCavaleraOfficialPage
Machine Head
Opened with ‘Imperium’ into ‘Ten Ton Hammer’, closed with ‘Davidian’ into ‘Halo’. 10/10 no notes.
https://www.facebook.com/MachineHead
Another beautiful weekend of horrible noise and plenty to look forward to on next year’s sumptuous bill. Apart from the berk who wrestles bears with the naughty tattoo. He can get in the bin!
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley 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.
