Hats off to Bloodstock and that admirable intent to not recycle headliners. Sending Sweden's tech-metal masters to headline status is a stroke of absolute genius. If you haven't experienced the sheer latent power of Meshuggah live, then boy you are in for a treat.
Read MoreThursday night is party night at Bloodstock Manor and nothing says party more than ethereal Australian industrial-goths singing about serial killers. Okay, it's not the much-requested Vengaboys but with their mix of evocative visuals and ice-cold delivery, SKYND are sure to enthral the masses.
Read MoreIf you made me narrow it down and tell you the one band that you should not miss at this year's Bloodstock I would with complete certainty answer Urne. They are the most exciting new band that this country has produced in absolute ages. They exist in every genre of metal and in none. They don't just leap perceived boundaries; they see them as inconsequential and irrelevant.
Read MoreLet's have another headliner and it's a band making their Bloodstock debut. It's difficult to find anybody who doesn't have a soft spot for these Massachusetts marauders. Stalwarts of the new wave of American heavy metal, next year they will celebrate 25 years of existence.
Read MoreDo you know what the sing-along moment of Bloodstock 2023 will be? It won’t be ‘My Last Serenade’, nor will it be ‘Symphony Of Destruction’, ‘Eagle Fly Free’ or ‘Roots Bloody Roots’. It will be, by a country mile, the point where twenty thousand voices merge as one to scream along with ‘Everything About You’.
Read MoreThere is always a contingent of the Bloodstock community that bemoans the drift away from power and symphonic metal. The musical demographic has shifted on its axis over the years but the booking of Vision of Atlantis proves there is still room for a bit of bombastic pomp and circumstance.
Read MoreLet's go with a biggie, because you really can't call yourself a metal fan if you’re not planning on catching Megadeth. There isn’t even going to be anybody else on at the same time, so you have no excuse.
Read MoreDecapitated are essentially Bloodstock’s house band. Omnipresent (I gave up trying to count how many times they have appeared) they are the last word in muscular, well-oiled death metal.
Read MoreAll hail the Godfather of true Nordic Black Metal. Abbath is a larger-than-life cartoon character brought to life. The architect of widescreen symphonic black metal, his persona burns off the stage.
Read MoreGaerea are a ferocious incendiary device of a live act. They don’t play their instruments, they attack them like they are possessed by ancient demons. Clad in matching threads and shrouds they look as intimidating as they sound.
Read MoreWe all like a bop but let’s be honest, as wonderful as metal is (in all its various forms and flavours) it isn’t particularly designed for shimmying around the dancefloor. Well, Stoke-upon-Trent’s finest Black Coast want to change that.
Read MoreWelcome to the point where future, past and present collide. Zetra feel like nostalgia for a time to come. A Time Capsule from a dim dark future where synthesizers and samplers have become sentient and black metal is now the dominant religion.
Read MoreIn most rock 'n' roll bands the drummer is as far from the focal point as you can get. They are all about chiselled cheek-boned front men or dynamic athletic guitar heroes. The drummer in the main is relegated to the back with the soulless job of keeping time and perhaps smashing out a drum solo now and again when the rest of the band need a wee.
Read MoreCandlemass are the godfathers of Doom Metal. Yes you can trace its linage all the way back to that riff at the start of Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath but it was Candlemass (alongside Pentagram, St Vitus and Trouble) that actually forged it into a ground shaking movement.
Read MoreWhile 2021 was pretty shit wasn't it? Not as bad as 2020, but still pretty miserable as years go. It however had one shining chink of light and that was the release of “Conquering” by Employed to Serve. Our album of the year here at ROCKFLESH, it was a bold and brazen treaty on modern metal.
Read MoreThis year we got ourselves out of ROCKFLESH Towers and down to a number of the Metal 2 The Masses events across the North West. To say we have been blown away by the level of talent on show would be an understatement.
Read MoreThere will be some tremendous vocals on display over the weekend but believe me, for power, reach and just general elegance none will match the set of pipes possessed by Gemma Lawler. Her day job is vocal coach but when she is not screaming " diaphragm, diaphragm” she is chief wailer with Birmingham prog metalers Dakesis.
Read MoreWhen Black Peaks imploded in 2021 there was a collective cry of "Bugger!”. They were responsible some of the most inventive, progressive and downright forward-thinking metal that had been produced in an awful long time, think Mastodon but with a PhD in advanced physics.
Read MoreYou know that memo that says all metal bands wear black and gotta create music that fits that blackness, well Square Wild didn't get it (they will probably shopping in Affleck's Palace for psychedelic shirts). Winners of the Mancunian Metal 2 the Masses, theirs is a technicolour and transcendental take on prog rock.
Read MoreFolk metal divides into two very distinct camps. Those who take it very seriously and those who don't. Norwegian buffoons Trollfest fall very much into the latter category. The fact that their latest album is entitled “Dance like a Pink Flamingo” should give the game away. For a band that didn't play shows for the first four years of their tenure, they have become a remarkably entertaining and chaotically wonderful like proposition.
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