My yearly blowout at Bloodstock Open Air Festival is something I’ve done for the past 8 years, and this year’s event boasted one of the strongest line-ups the festival has ever had. Headlined by Trivium, Machine Head and Gojira this year, both Saturday and Sunday were fully sold out, with Friday coming very close.

Over the course of 4 days, I got to see numerous amazing sets. If I were to write about everything, I’d be here until the next Bloodstock Festival started. So, here are a handful of the live highlights that are living rent-free in my mind.

Thursday

For us campers, there was an evening of varying styles of metal. Opening with their slab of death metal brutality was Dead Flesh, demanding everyone’s attention through their fast, evil music. This was the best way to chuck us festival goers into the deep end and wake us up, ready for a weekend of madness.

Bloodstock veterans Fourwaykill returned with their groove-laden music, keeping the crowd nicely warm. They looked like they were having a blast on the stage, and I was having a blast in the audience. A huge crowd arrived for Gnome, some wearing their red pointy hats in solidarity with the fun stoner-prog these chaps dish out.

 The night ended with a special set from Nergal’s project Me and That Man, boasting dark western tones to end the evening on a nice, calm note. With Thursday done and dusted, it was time to get some rest for a full day of debauchery.

Friday

With the sun hammering down rays of light, bleary eyes and a slight thump in my cranium, I ventured to the arena, grabbed a beer and started the day right.

Image Credit: Bloodstock Via Instagram / @bloodstockopenair

There was no doubt in my mind, I had to see Turin on the Sophie Lancaster stage. They’re a great live band with wicked music. They smashed through their set, and I believe some skulls along the way, a sludgy, heavy showcase. On the main stage, the deathly doom of Denmark’s Konvent roared out to the masses. A band I was not familiar with heading in, I stood in awe of the growling abilities of Rikke Emilie List, so seamlessly producing the sounds of the netherworld.

A couple of hours later, Paleface Swiss owned the main stage and its audience. This was one of the best sets of the weekend. It gave me that same feeling I had when seeing Trivium open up the main stage at Download in 2005, knowing I was seeing something special. This was a statement performance.

Image Credit: RockFlesh

Anticipation was rife for Nailbomb, performing on the Sophie Lancaster stage. You could barely get into the tent as they opened fire with their industrial blast. Max Cavalera looked very happy with himself as he mastered the helm. Topping the night off, Trivium took to the stage and gave a performance worthy of everyone’s adulation. They tore through an ‘Ascendency’ heavy set, complete with some guest appearances and keeping the crowd alive. It was all over too soon.

Saturday

Vnder a Crvmbling Moon were decisively heavy, shaking the foundations of the Sophie tent to their core. Doomy post-metal at its finest. If you haven’t listened to their most recent release, you should change that right now. Over on the New Blood stage, young thrashers Exorcism showed that the genre is being kept in very safe hands. Thrash is alive and well in the UK.

Speaking of thrash, Warbringer stole the Ronnie Dio stage for the day, whipping the crowd into a frenzy as the circle pits raged on. I even went in myself and almost threw up a lung. Cardio is not my strong suit these days. Completely worth it.

Image Credit: Louder Than War

Headlining the main-stage to a sold-out crowd was the mighty Machine Head, who can’t have a bad show. They sounded better than ever, and the new material sounds awesome live. I left Machine Head a little early to make my way to the Sophie tent and headliners, Static X.

The anticipation grew as the crowd piled in. They hit the stage and ploughed through what is, again, one of my top sets of the weekend. It was a party atmosphere, and I was smiling throughout. With a beautiful fitting tribute to Wayne Static, Static X finished their set.

Sunday

Sunday arrived, and I felt pretty dead. However, this was the day I had been looking forward to the most, with some of my absolute favourite bands playing. So, it was time to give it my all.

First band of the day was local Midlands lads The Cartographer, who quickly woke the bleary-eyed, hungover Sunday revelers out of their stupor with bonkers technical ability and aggression. Lovely blokes, lovely music. Slowing things down to beautiful shoe-gaze doom and gloom was Frayle, relaxing the audience while also pummeling our souls and creating a sense of oblivion. This was sensational.

Then came The Black Dahlia Murder. The goosebumps had risen on arms even before they stepped onto the stage, and once they arrived, it was nothing but heaviness and pitting. My cardio had slightly improved from the previous day, and I was in that pit and enjoying mayhem.

Image Credit: Gorjira Via Instagram / @easterxdaily

Mastodon were my winners of the day. Performing an incredible set on the edge of the sunset, it was the perfect setting for their prog-metal madness. Every song hit right, and it was all over far too soon.

The colossal music of Gojira headlining the main stage was everything you could hope for. Gojira’s heaviness and tight performance was accompanied by a great light show, fire and fireworks and visuals on the screens that complemented everything the band set out to accomplish. This could be the last time we see Gojira on this stage as they head into the stratosphere.

As my cohort and I headed to our tents, we walked passed the always awesome Obituary. I was a bit sad not to go see them as they are pretty much flawless, but sometimes the body makes the rules.

Another year of Bloodstock complete and many fond memories made.

Featured Image Credit: Bloodstock Open Air Festival