Benter’s Best of Blooders
Benter’s Best of Blooders
Another year, another Blooders in the bag and what a belter it was! At the time of writing I’m still pretty burned out from 4 days of utter carnage, but I’m also filled with beautiful memories of some very angry music. Rather than write a blog about everything and reviewing the Gyoza stand (10/10), I thought I’d cover a few highlights of the sets that I saw. I caught 30 bands over the festival and didn’t see a bad set, so this is all just my opinion and no reflection on the quality of everything else, so don’t freak out over rankings. I’ve also put very little thought into it as I’m tired and needed to bang something out for our weekend article, but nonetheless I hope you enjoy it and let us know what your highlights were on the socials!
Evergrey
https://www.facebook.com/Evergrey
Duh. This was obviously going to be an absolute rager if you’re familiar with my writing, but this was my first time ever seeing them live and it was a beautiful experience. The slick Swedish melody machine endured a nightmare travel day just to get to Bloodstock, and even then their gear did not make the journey with them. How astonishing then, that Tom S Englund and the lads are able to blast out a pristine, immaculate headline set of soul-stirring anthems, crunching riffs and liquid solos. Geared towards the band’s more recent output, it’s a set that may leave die hard old school fans hankering for deeper cuts, but it’s difficult to argue that the likes of ‘Falling From The Sun’, ‘Save Us’ and a spine-tingling ‘Distance’ don’t suit a big festival set down to the ground.
Grove Street
https://www.facebook.com/grovestreetukhc
After making my top 10 last year with the awesome “The Path to Righteousness”, the UK crossover crew blew the roof off of the Sophie tent with a set of pure joyous Hardcore. There was an executioner lad running round with an axe and doing backing vocals like a Hardcore Bez the whole way through, rubber dinghy crowd surfing, and some funky HipHop mash ups between songs that really kept the momentum going. The whole set was pure limbs throughout and these songs really come into their own in a live setting, with Mrs B (who got into the band while smashing her PB on the treadmill days prior) losing her mind beside me to the likes of ‘Caught Slipping’ as we got hit with riff after riff.
Satyricon
https://www.facebook.com/SatyriconOfficial
Despite it being a gruelling 4 days thanks to more than a little Jack Daniel’s, I was still pumped to catch Satyricon close a glorious weekend with their Sophie stage headline set. Any post-Amon Amarth fatigue was instantly blown away when the Folky jig at the end of ‘Forhekset’ rang out in the moonlit field. As something of a super-fan who will ride into battle to defend their entire catalogue, it was great to hear such a wide range of songs from all their eras. ‘Now Diabolical’ sounded absolutely huge and got multiple pits started, bringing new energy to tired punters; while ‘Filthgrinder’ saw me sprinting back to the front and ditching my friends to get involved in the melee.
Satyr was on fine form, cantankerously baiting the more static crowd members to give them more energy, and the dual “Volcano” rippers ‘Repined Bastard Nation’ and ‘Fuel For Hatred’ were some of the happiest few minutes I’ve spent this year. Closing on a breathtaking ‘Mother North’ and an ass-shaking ‘K.I.N.G.’, this was the perfect kiss goodbye to this wonderful festival.
Flogging Molly
https://www.facebook.com/floggingmolly
There’s always at least one curveball pick on the main stage every year at Blooders, and the Celtic Punk legends were the booking that raised the most eyebrows. For those in attendance, however, it made perfect sense. For an hour Dave King and his band of Punks turn a baking field of Metalheads into the Temple Bar, with everyone dancing, clapping and shouting along to ‘Drunken Lullabies’, ‘A Song of Liberty’ and a tear-inducing ‘If I Ever Leave This World Alive’. The music might not be typical Metal-fest fodder, but the showmanship, passion and raw power on display is as Bloodstock as an old Saxon t-shirt, and there was nary a soul standing still through the whole set as battle vest warriors, metalcore kids and necro lads all got their dancing shoes on. It was lovely and what Bloodstock is all about.
Night Flight Orchestra
https://www.facebook.com/thenightflightorchestraofficial
I’ve not ranked these performances, but NFO would probably be number 1 for me. 45 minutes of cast iron AOR bangers performed with gusto and the swagger of a thousand Freddie Mercurys by Bjorn Strijd and his 5 star cabin crew. Shapes were thrown, rugs were cut and things ended with a gigantic conga-line, conducted with the help of a group of fans dressed to the nines in airline garb whom Bjorn invited onstage for a raucous gallop through ‘West Ruth Ave’. Unlike Flogging Molly, whose reception was beautiful surprise, there was never any doubt that NFO were going to absolutely destroy their slot, but with the likes of ‘Divinyls’ and ‘White Jeans’ in your setlist, failure is nigh on impossible.
Amon Amarth
https://www.facebook.com/amonamarth
Sunday’s headliners are one of the safest bookings in the game. Armed with hit after hit of Melodeath floor fillers and enough fire and pyro to bring about Ragnarok, Amon Amarth are welcomed as returning heroes and it is clear they are visibly moved by their rapturous reception. The stage show is now Iron Maiden levels of OTT, with battle re-enactments, flaming helmets and longships all adding up to this dorky yet fantastic party of vikings and shield maidens, and on the most flamboyant and jubilant day of the festival, Johan and the boys are still the most joyfully camp thing on the main stage. Horns are raised, pretend boats are rowed, and everyone leaves with a big smile on their face.
Malevolence
https://www.facebook.com/MalevolenceRiff
A huge shout for band of the weekend by popular consensus, the Sheffield Metalcore crew are fully aware of the magnitude of their Saturday special guest slot and they turn up to cause a biblical level of chaos. Honestly, the band are so well loved in the UK that Alex Taylor could hum the Hovis advert and it would start a circle pit, everyone has shown up to give everything for this performance both on and off stage, and man does it show.
The genuinely terrifying circle pit around the sound tower during ‘Self-Supremacy’ will go down in British festival history. I was at the ice cream van at that point in the set and nearly got pulled into the vortex- nobody was safe; and over 900 crowd surfers kept security busier than a kebab van at kicking out time while setting a Bloodstock record. There were bands I vibed with more over the weekend, but this could go down as the festival set of the summer.
With a stellar lineup already confirmed and the post-fest blues hitting me hard this week, I’ve already got my ticket for 2025 in the bag. If you were there this year you’ll know what a glorious time it was, and if you weren’t don’t let this one pass you by next year- Eternal Hails!
Disclaimer: This article 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.
