Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

12. Machine Head - Ronnie James Dio Stage - Saturday Headliner

Machine “fuckin” Head. The real frikin deal. A reliable constant that reminds us the metal is a rallying cry for the indisposed and unfranchised. Machine Head are the people’s champion. They are so entwined with modern metal that you can align the genre’s development over the last three decades with the evolution of Robb Flynn’s crew.

Birthed in the forges of nu-metal, they pretty soon escaped its gravitational pull and birthed a sound that spoke summed up metal’s illustrious history and also its potential future. “The Blackening” remains their high watermark. Quite simply, one of the greatest metal albums ever made, it is a cacophony of pain, power and potential. Subsequent albums have fluctuated in quality and ambition but Machine Head remain a driven band that always delivers.

After almost a decade's break from the festival circuit, they returned to its embrace via a super-secret set at 2022’s Bloodstock. Now three years later, they are formally and officially back to once again rule over the Saturday night slot. It will be imperialistically majestic because there is no band like Machine Head. They are metal incarnate and it will be magnificent.