Well… that was fun. Another Bloodstock done and a different experience to the usual for a few reasons. Regardless, I left Catton Hall on the Monday morning knowing I’d miss it until August 2025 which looks like being an absolute belter. But this review is about 2024, not the incredible bands already announced for next year…
I’m going to be upfront here, too. Looking through the major bands at this year’s event didn’t really stir me. Not including some of the EMP and New Blood acts that we came to know through our “Road To” feature, there was very little that floated my boat. Hatebreed, obviously for anyone who knows me, were in my sights. Deicide I’ve been wanting to see since the days of Legion, but never had the chance to catch them. Night Flight Orchestra were great in the Sophie tent a couple of years back. Oh, and Raised By Owls were bound to be fun on the main stage, especially with Sam’s mum being part of the show. Asomvel I remember from Metal Days back in 2018, and they would be good to see again. Ryujin unfortunately had to cancel and I’d been hoping to see them again after their opening slot for Pain last year.
Other than that… a bit meh. However. Bloodstock, after all my visits since 2016, is no longer focused on the music for me. Sure it helps that there’s a great soundtrack to the weekend, but Bloodstock is about my friends. The ones I already have and see once a year in a field, and the numerous new ones I make every year in the same place. And it’s about discovering new bands, or realising I’d not really listened to some of the ones I’d written off. Plus I spend so much time working in the Media Tent on interviews and so forth that I miss so many bands!
So a quick rundown of the bands I did get a chance to catch, along with some feedback from our photographers Katie and Sean who saw all but 8(!) of the acts between them.
Thursday was easy as there was only one stage to deal with! Acid Age was a great opener and obviously had the time of their lives on the huge stage with a massive audience. Tailgunner followed with a healthy dose of bluesy, grunge-influenced country & western (mixed with a huge splodge of shoegaze wrapped around some theremin-overtoned orchestral sub-pop), followed by in-house favourites (and first interview of the week) South of Salem who show why they’re playing to bigger and bigger crowds. Hellripper tore through the tent as a final warmup before Evergrey rounded off the live music for the evening with a great prog metal show. The last time I’d really listened to Evergrey was back in 2016 so it was great to see them live.
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The first full day, Friday, kicked things up a notch. Sean tells me that Disposable on the New Blood were something special. Their singer really has a great voice! Desert Storm blew the dust off the RJD as main stage opener, followed by Nervosa – a favourite of another of our photographers who has seen them at Bannermans multiple times. I can see why he likes them!
DeathCollector were huge on the Sophie stage, absolutely pummelling the audience. Just a warmup for their Glasgow show (October 5th), I’m sure! Rotting Christ are a band I’ve been meaning to check out for ages, but never have. I managed to sneak in 2-3 of their songs and consider me looking them up now I’m home. They offer far more than the blanket term “black metal” would usually allow, and seemed great fun. I also managed a brief glimpse of Kraken Waker on the EMP stage, and they were playing to a very impressive crowd. I do like that stage, and the bands on it often end up being some of my favourites of the festival.
Hammer and Crowley were another two acts I missed, but who were recommended to me by our roaming photographers. The former are as heavy as their name suggests, and I now have more people telling my I’m foolish for missing the latter, who were on early at SOS Fest 2023 so I missed them then as well. Sorry, Crowley! I will be keeping an eye out for you! Darkest Era also got recommendations from out crew for their tight performance on the Sophie stage.
My first major highlight of the weekend was Hatebreed. Celebrating thirty years, with a frontman who looks barely older than a decade beyond that, they were as crushing as they’ve ever been. An incredible crowd, an incredible band, and incredible security staff (more about them later) made for one of the best Hatebreed shows I’ve ever seen. My first crowdsurf of the weekend was also completed, including a nice person in an orange shirt saying a jolly “Hello sir!” as he lowered me into the photo pit. Here’s to thirty more years, Hatebreed!
Following their performance was the Lemmy Forever Ceremony which dragged a huge crowd from all over the festival site. A wonderful statue of Lemmy (we have an interview with the artist going up soon), had some of the great man’s ashes places inside it before it was wheeled off to be part of the RAM Gallery exhibit. Phil Campbell said a few words and the crowd, of course, let loose with chants of “LEMMY! LEMMY!” Never forgotten.
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King Kraken were no surprise over on the EMP. Big, noisy and great fun it was a pleasure to see them again. Definitely a band to watch. Clutch were a top band for many people, but one I’ve not jumped onto the wagon for as yet. I’d say they had as much, if not more, buzz than anyone playing on the Friday and our photographer Sean loved them.
Absolence and Born Zero both demonstrated why the New Blood stage exists, and The Vintage Caravan offered a chance to chill with their comparatively light bluesy rock n’ roll back over in the Sophie tent.
MAB closed the EMP for the day and definitely had that “distinctive sound” they promised in their Road To feature. With Opeth on the main stage and Igorrr on the Sophie, there was definitely a theme to the final three bands of the day.
There’s no denying that Opeth weren’t for everyone, myself included. While I enjoyed Everygrey’s proggy take the previous evening, Opeth’s lengthier pieces never did work for me. Hugely impressive musicianship undeniably, but not something I would watch for over an hour. That’s not to say they weren’t entertaining, though! After their third song, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt went on a mini-rant about Lynyrd Skynyrd in response to some shouts from the audience while he sorted out a tuning issue on his guitar. While I’d not class any of the chatter as heckling, the way he reacted, along with his sense of humour and knowledge of classic rock songs was very enjoyable. Credit where it’s due.
If Opeth are a Marmite band, then Igorrr (who closed the Sophie stage) are even more of an acquired taste. I last saw them at the same Metal Days where I encountered Asomvel, and I didn’t enjoy them nearly as much. Photographer Katie, however… she wasn’t missing a beat and stayed to enjoy their entire madcap avant-garde showcase. Looking at comments on the Facebook group and talking to people over the weekend, they are very much a band that you like, or who leave you wondering “What the hell…?”. Or possibly even both.
Header photo by Katie Frost
