Eight more acts have been confirmed for Bloodstock Metal Festival at Catton Hall Derbyshire in August along with news of a strongman competition! Well it is a “heavy” festival.
Only one band is for the main stage, with two for both Friday and Saturday and three for the Sunday on the second stage known as the Sophie Lancaster stage. Now both main stages are beginning to fill up nicely, with only the Hobgoblin New Blood and Jagermeister stages to start up. However, the former stage features (as the name implies) new bands, and at the moment there are various gigs going on round the UK as bands battle to win a chance to play there. If you live in the UK and see Metal 2 The Masses, then get along and support who you like the most on the night.
Returning to the festival for the first time since 2011 (when they played the Sophie stage) are Swedes Amaranthe, who feature three singers of different styles. They have a knack of being really heavy, but with growled vocals and 90’s style dance pop in the same song. They are this time playing the main stage (Ronnie James Dio) on the Sunday, early afternoon.
Starting with the bands for the Friday on the Sophie stage, there is Manchester death metal outfit Ingested. They are a brutal, fast paced guttural vocalled band who manage some excellent time changes in amongst that brutality.
Also on Friday are Mortishead from Bristol, who played in 2015 on the New Blood stage. Great to see two bands (there is another band for Sunday that have come through the same route) going through the Metal 2 The Masses auditions onto the New Blood making i
t onto one of the main two stages. The last time I recall a band doing this was Triaxis, although they never played the main stage. Mortishead are very heavy industrial metal who character play onstage. They act like a dystopian regime. From the videos I have checked out, they are also like Napalm Death with a strong political ideology running through what they do. With the armbands they wear (a logo with an “M” on it) there is a touch of imagery of Pink Floyd‘s The Wall going on as well. They look a good band to watch from what I have seen.
Moving onto S
aturday, Australian prog outfit Voyager have been confirmed. They were nominated as “breakthrough act” at the Prog Awards four years ago. They have a certain accessibility as a progressive metal band, especially due to the first class vocals of singer and keyboardist (as well as only original member) Daniel Estrin. The range and power is very impressive. They also have the chops, with some very good time changes that challenges listeners.
In addition, Saturday welcomes back (after 3 years), the three piece Dead Label from Ireland. The latest album called Throne Of Bones deals with topics like revenge and tyrannical leaders and sees them branching out into proggier territory. They have one track lasting nine minutes, that takes some chances with piano and clean vocals and harmonies. They are still super heavy and will no doubt batter folks in the tent to submission.
Sunday sees three new confirmed acts, Manter, King Leviathan and Act Of Defiance. First of those are, and I quote ,“Black Metal Doom Punk” from Germany. Manter are a two piece, who were due to play last year but sadly had to pull out and are now planning on making amends this year by performing in the tent.
From Brighton come King Leviathan the second band to have come through from the New Blood tent to the Sophie stage. They are a thrash metal outfit who also have a touch of black metal about them in places.
Finally, featuring both Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover (ex Megadeth men) along with Henry Derek (ex Scar The Martyr) and Mark Bachand (from Shadows Fall), Act Of Defiance have an element of a metal supergroup. The group has obvious hints of the bands they have been in or are a part of, as well as straight traditional old school metal mixed with bands like Slayer.
As mentioned previously, there is other entertainment to be had at the festival including a strongman competition. This will be the second year this event has been on, but this year they are opening it up for fans to take part in. There are going to be two heats in what being named Muscle 2 The Masses, being held in Wigan and Lichfield (which is very close to Catton Hall). There will be an amateur strongman prize for the fan who comes first on the day.
Tickets are available from this link https://bloodstock.seetickets.com/event/bloodstock-2018/catton-park/1136700/?ClearOffer=true and for those who have financial constraints, there is also an option which allows you pay up for the ticket in instalments.
If you wish to see names such as Nightwish, Judas Priest, Gojira, Mr Big, Suicidal Tendencies, Fozzy, Wednesday 13, amongst others, then this is the festival to head to.
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