Super Mega Big Review : Bloodstock Festival on August 9th 2026
And just like that, it is Sunday. The weather has behaved itself all weekend long. No rain but just a normal Sunday roast. Sunday may be the day of rest or at the very least chillfull reflection, but as it goes to stand nobody has told Acid Throne. They have slightly unorthodox intro as happy birthday is sung to an unknown crew member and then it’s for time for doom for breakfast. Acid Throne are yet another band that triumphed at Metal 2 The Masses, made it to the New Blood tent and have now been asked back to play on the big boy and girls’ stages. They are tantalisingly a slow machine, rolling out monolithic riffs in a lethargic and unrushed manner. They attract an ever-growing crowd that bop their heads appreciatively. A good start to the day.
Over on main Bootyard Bandits are a novelty act giving the masses what they want. Their USP is the mix of stateside country rock with heavy metal. Whilst Volbeat’s amalgamation of bluegrass and metal feels deadly serious, Bootyard Bandits take on this shunt job feels distinctly tongue in cheek and there is more than a whiff of Steel Panther. However you can stick your nose up at the authenticity of the whole thing, but the point is that they go down remarkably well. The barrier is a nice mix of Judas Priest shirts and cowboy hats, and the crowd is huge and love it from first track to the last. It might lack in the originality stakes, but it results in grins all over the shop.
Flayed Disciple have a long pedigree with this festival. They won the Bournemouth Metal 2 The Masses way back in 2010 and first returned in 2012. However, life got in the way and the good ship Flayed Disciple lay dormant for a number of years. Well, they have been back in some shape or form since 2022, and they are now making a monumental return to Bloodstock. Their thrash/death crossover is still strong and they command a half full tent with a couple of unrequested pits which isn’t bad at all for this time of day. On main stage, one of the big guns of the current nu-metalcore scene has come out to play. Graphic nature grab bloodstock by the neck and squeeze tight for forty minutes. They are relentless in their playing style and punishing in their strident aggression. The reaction they receive is both astonishing and well deserved with pits all over the shop.
Alunah are a different proposition. They are as smooth as Graphic Nature are rough and their melodic doom can only be described as soothing on a Sunday lunchtime. An impressive crowd nods along enjoying the melodic refrains and they genuinely seem touched by the reception. Back on the Ronnie James Dio stage we are treated to one of the shows of the weekend. Castle Rat’s star hasn’t just been rising, it has been soaring heavenwards at a frantic velocity. They absolutely slayed in this field at last years Bearded Theory and theatrically turned heads at Damnation. There is of course a real expectation in the air as they make their Bloodstock debut. They are wonderful. Consummate storytelling at a wholly original scale. Riley Pinkerton takes on the persona of the rat queen, acting out every line she utters. This is metal with fantastical element and brim full of searing creativity. The Rat Reapers attempts to slay the rat queen (are you keeping up at the bat) but the plague doctor revives her. The crowd reaction is immense and there is such investment in the storytelling. Absolutely stunner of a performance.
Trivax get a rapturous reaction just by nature of whom they are and where they have come from. They are Iranian death metal, and they have risked life and limb in order to be able to play this music. Given the emotional pull of their backstory they have the crowd in the palm of their hand from the get-go. However, their greatest accolade is splitting the Sophie tent in two with a wall of death that stretches all the way back to the sound desk. An impressive debut. Another first time caller is Kittie on main stage. Regarded by many as one of the lost jewels of the nu-metal era, the honest truth is that they have been far more popular since their recent reunion than they ever were during their original incarnation. The reception they receive is formidable and the cheers they receive are verging on the loudest of the day. In many ways Kittie’s inventive splicing of grunge and nu-metal with alternating harsh and clean vocals feels more at home in today’s metal market than it ever did when they first trod the boards. They are tight and also quintessentially exciting. And in a genre that is still lopsidedly male it is fantastic to see an all-female line-up tear up the Bloodstock stage.
We are reaching the part of the day where there is so much to do (and to be honest the weather is so hospitable) that the crowds in some of the tents are sadly rather sparse. Noisepicker are one of the victims of this, which is a massive shame as they are a fabulous mess of distorted guitars and guttural utterances. They have a real DIY aesthetic throwing punk, blues and doom into the mix and coming up with something that is primordially sludgy and full of unpolished monolithic riffs. It is astonishing that such unrefined power can be produced by two people (including Harry Armstrong formerly of Bloodstock fav’s Orange Goblin) and at points during the set the decibel level reaches beyond 100db.
Back on main it is future headliner time. Orbit culture have already outgrown their position halfway down the mainstage bill and draw a crowd of headline variety. What is so incredible about this act is how they filter in the sixty years of this music but make the result sound fresh and unexplored. It manages to sound heavy and incisive but also anthemic and eminently commercial. Niklas Karlsson is becoming one of the great frontmen of the modern era. He exudes confidence and charisma but still holds onto the wide-eyed awe-struck excitement of a man that can’t quite believe that he has hit the lottery. With four cracking albums to play with they are beginning to get spoilt for choice where it comes to building a set but for now they are still able to satisfy those of us who have been there from the beginning whilst also appeasing those who only discovered them with “Death Above Life “ (come on, where have you been?). ‘Hydra’ is curtailed during to an incident in the crowd but aside from that they produce a note perfect audition to headline in the next five years.
As hinted above, the quality of Sunday’s main stage offering does impact on those band playing seeming second fiddle in Sophie. Thrown into Exile again are a quality act that pull a criminally small crowd in here. However, unlike the undeserved slight apathy for Noisepicker, those who are here for Thrown into Exile are rampantly evangelical about this Los Angeles metal outfit. This is essentially Mario Rubio’s band and over the years he has recruited a hardy bunch of well versed musicians to play with him. In fact, it is almost an entirely new set-up to the band that last played the UK in 2022. They are pure unadulterated power, metal in frantic and furious manner as the die-hards that make up the modest crowd love every minute of it.
The other impact of how absolutely stellar this Sunday is, is the fact that a former headliner and frequent special guest inhabitant Testament is an unfitting fourth from top berth. There early appearance doesn’t put either Billy or Alex off and to be frank the capacity crowd is as large for them at four in the afternoon as it would have been if they had been shoved on five or five hours later. Testament have become metal’s equivalent of a fine wine in the fact that they just keep getting better. Billy has evolved from a firebrand into an elder statesman with grace and utter conviction. He owns the stage and prowls up and down like a tiger staking at his terrority. The beauty of the modern Testament is that they are unafraid to experiment and this year’s “Para Bellum” (of which we sadly only get ‘Nature of the Beast’) sees them play with numerous shades of the media lexicon. The crowd reaction is boarding on hysterical with tons of crowdsurfers and constantly swirling pits. Billy commands it with the masterstrokes of a war wary veteran and happily chucks T-shirts into the crowd. Extraordinary reminder of just how good this band is.
Dream State prove perfectly how much Bloodstock has diversified over the last year whilst also simulationsly staying true to its routes. They are post-hardcore with a melodic bent that is almost pop like. There is a beauty to their fragility and whilst they probably don’t mean anything to the nu-metal survivors guarding their positions on the rail for Mushroomhead, there is a proportion up front who are just bathing in Dream State emotive wonder.
Back on main stage, we are in the domain of pure metal with its current patron statesman Zakk Wylde. There is a massive Sabbath sing along as we await Black Label Society and he can’t help himself from breaking ranks early and coming out to film it. He is the consummate affable geezer and controls the crowd with style and grace. There is always a feeling that Black Label Society are rather route 101 in their approach, but there is something hugely enjoyable in the familiarity of their material. Heavy and dramatically dominating, they absolutely rule the roost.
In completely contrast to the poor showings of most of the afternoon, Sophie stage is the busiest it has ever been in its sordid history for the return of Nu-metal also-ran Mushroomhead. The crowd stretches out to the last five rows deep and we swear there are more people here than there were for that Machine Head set. This also rotates around the extraordinary second life that Nu-metal is currently having. The tent is full of punters in masks and costumes, and the big rub is that the majority weren’t even born when the band had its first surge of popularity. There is something about Mushroomhead that speaks to a modern audience and the tent bounces along in a nostalgic glee for a movement that the crowd was too young to witness first time around. A frankly extraordinary reaction to a band that two years ago would have had to pay to get arrested.
It has taken over a decade to make it happen, but Body Count is well and truly in da house. The crowd becomes a veritable warzone of flaying bodies and pent up energy. Any fear that it would essentially be lots of standing around passively until that played song is found to be complete tish-tosh and every track is sung along to with glee and abandonment. They are extortionate, muscular and vitally vicious. For a rap superstar and TV starlet, Ice-T maintains the persona of a metalhead through and through. They throw out their tribute to the mighty Slayer early doors and from that moment onwards there is no doubt that he is one of us. They also play tribute to long running Scottish punks Exploited with a blistering melody of ‘War’, ‘UK ’82’ and ‘Disorder’. Basically they rule the roast and prove the wait and constant haranguing by Vicki was so worth it!
Like Neckbreakker on Friday, 200 Stab Wounds are young hearts pounding with an old beat. They are part of the Texan reappropriation of Death Metal and they make a remarkable feast of recreating the buzz of hearing Obituary or Bolt Thrower for the first time. They are tight and distinctly minimal. Every buzzsaw riff has space to breathe and every breakdown exists in its own bubble of note perfect excellence. The crowd are aware they are witnessing something rather special and swell in both appreciation and wanton violence. Stunning.
Let’s get this straight, there is probably not a more definitive metal run of excellence than ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’’ into ‘Metal Gods’ into ‘Breaking the Law’ and then into ‘The Ripper’, ‘The Sentinel’ and ‘Desert Plains’. This is Judas Priest once again seizing their position as the only true metal champions in town. That opening salvo is so effortlessly unleashed that you can imagine every other act on the bill watching them in awe. We are at ‘Lightning Strike’ (seven songs in) before there is any chance to catch our breath and even that becomes a mass sing along for all the young brethren that have come on in the last two (frankly excellent) records. ‘Turbo Lover’ is as commercially slickly produced as ever and all the fuss that rose up when they released it feels a lifetime away.
The bottom line is Judas Priest are consummate performers, and they would put on a great show even if they were treading the boards down the Dog and Duck. But tonight is special because three appearances in, Judas Priest are now synonymous with Bloodstock. The two brands are intrinsically entwined and the way Rob Halford talks, you realise they see playing here as coming home. He is as ever a commanding presence and neither mobility issues nor the long creep of older age seem to get in the way of him dominating the stage. With a greatest hits collection to promote this was never going to be a wander down the less travelled avenues of their back catalogue, but the sticking to the big numbers works fantastically well and keeps the capacity crowd enrapt. ‘Painkiller’ brings the main set to an end but we all know there is other things coming (boom tish). ‘Electric Eye’ is a spectacular start to the encore and then ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ see’s the motorcycle make its habitual appearance. By the time we reach closer ‘Living After Midnight’ the whole field is in voice howling back every syllable. A masterclass in metal.
No matter how good Judas Priest are, there is one more band to come and this is another example of the diversity of today’s scene. Carpenter Brut are darkwave but with a show biz even camp flourish. This is electronica circa 1980, the bastard child of Poison and Jan Hammer. The masses take it like a glam star to cocaine, and it provides a wonderfully crazed finishing party. The audience spills out of the tent and there are dancing bodies everywhere.
And that’s it. The year that Bloodstock stopped being a one to watch and stepped up to its position of being the metal Mecca in the UK. What is incredible is whilst us old guard have seen the capacity double in the last fifteen year, Bloodstock has managed to remain Bloodstock. The balancing act between appealing to a wider audience but also retaining its roots has been achieved with elegance and good grace. This is the year that Bloodstock showed it is a big deal. See you next year.
Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Carpenter Brut + Judas Priest + 200 Stab Wounds + Body Count + Mushroomhead + Black Label Society + Dream State + Testament + Thrown Into Exile + Orbit Culture + Noisepicker + Kittie + Trivax + Castle Rat + Alunah + Graphic Nature + Flayed Disciple + Bootyard Bandits
I just love Metal. I love it all. The bombastity of symphonic, the brutality of death, the rousing choruses of power, the nihilistic evil of black, the pounding atmospherics of doom, the whirling time changes of prog, the faithful familiarity of trad, the other worldlyness of post, the sheer unrefined power of thrash. I love it all!