Bloodstock Day Tickets Released Soon:
With under 6 weeks to go Bloodstock Metal Festival have announced that there will be limited day tickets available for those who cannot do the whole weekend. At the same time they have announced a whole batch of new bands for the New Blood Stage, and one alteration for the Sophie Stage, and after hours entertainment in the different tents for those who don’t want to go to bed or their tents too early! There is just so much to enjoy and take part in over the 4 days (for those arriving for the pre-festival party). (Day Tickets : Available from Friday 29 June)
Change Of Band Sunday Sophie Stage:
First up there is a change in the schedule for the Sophie Stage on the Sunday as sadly Bio Cancer have had to pull out. However in their place comes from Mumbai in India symphonic death metallers Demonic Resurrection. Having checked them out I can say they are a very good replacement. Look definitely worth seeing.
Bands For New Blood Stage:
On the New Blood Stage are a number of bands that again are also new to me, which of course is part of the fun of having that particular stage or platform.
4 bands have been added to Friday which are firstly from Cardiff melodic death outfit Democratus along with technical extreme metal band Kinasis from Somerset. Also on Friday come Underdark from Nottingham who according to their Facebook page include about 10 different metal or rock genres, some of which I have no idea what they mean. Finally an outfit described as “filthy southern fried metal and rollers” from Plymouth called King Bison (not to be confused with an American band of the same name) are going to be playing.
Saturday has another 3 winning bands from the heats from Newcastle, Liverpool and Wrexham. In order of places come thrashers Kilonova, old school and traditional rockers Equinox and “goth rock and rollers” (yes really) Cadence Noir.
Sunday there has been 6 bands added with 3 of those coming from further afield. From the UK the 3 acts are Ethyrfield, Barbarian Helmet and Servers who were added due to their cd application. The first of those have possibly the youngest line up for the weekend what with the drummer being only 14! Officially I am older than the whole band put together. God do I feel it! The guitarist (and now the whole band) are being mentored by legendary guitarist Tony Iommi.
Barbarian Helmet (great name) are sludge and doom and sound apparently like “a cyclops driving a freight train through a herd of wildebeest”. Sounds fun. Servers are described as Mastodon meeting Queen which sounds promising.
Adding some flavour from Poland are Pyschotype who wear masks and are suitably heavy. From Norway comes doom sludge metal outfit Skybrudd and by way of a band swap from Slovenia’s Metal Days Festival comes black metal band SRD.
Further entertainment for the weekend:
Outside of all the bands there is further entertainment lined up. From the New Blood tent becoming a late night cinema (movies still to be announced) and the Sophie having rock discos based on different eras each night with guest dj’s including the very welcome return to the stage of Krusher, who used to be presenter on late night tv rock shows back in the 90s as well as announcer at various major festivals through that period. Expect to hear the immortal words “rock hard, rock heavy, rock animal” screamed out at some point. Also doing a night is writer Dom Lawson last seen by me anyway onstage at Devin Townsend’s gig at the Roundhouse in London. Andrew O’Neill will be our host at the “Lock Inn” (comedian and band member of The Men That Cannot Be Blamed For Nothing).
This along with an art exhibition, games, strongman competitions and hopefully creating some world records (no idea which ones, could be a surprise involving lots of fans) and a world can sculpture means that this should be one of the events of the year.
If you haven’t done so already get onto the link and buy your ticket as soon as possible. All this and some of the biggest and best metal bands on the planet (Priest, Nightwish, Gojira, Doro, Orphaned Land, Watain, Suicidal Tendencies, Mr Big, At The Gates and Devildriver) makes this an essential festival in August at Catton Hall in Derbyshire.
