The last couple of years have been a whirlwind for the Essex-based Beyond Extinction, who dropped their first EP The Fatal Flaws Of Humankind in 2021, then hit a packed New Blood Stage at Bloodstock for their first festival appearance in the same year. Since then they’ve continued to hit the road with full force, playing shows with an impressive roster of bands including Viscera, Cancer Bats, The Five Hundred, and Our Hollow Our Home.
Catton Park, United kingdom, 13 Aug 2022, Lorna Shore performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
Bloodstock Open Air 2023 will be here before you know it! The festival continues to inspire by dropping content. Head over to their YouTube channel to watch full video performances from bands, including a new one from Lorna Shore. The fest also dropped more merch, including Download Mascot plushies on pre-order, and a reminder that their deposit scheme for 2023 closes soon.
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Bloodstock Open Air 2023 (BOA) has announced a slew of new bands, filling out the Ronnie James Dio Main Stage, and Sophie Lancaster stage. Now on the bill are Candlemass (replacing Whitechapel who have dropped out), Tribulation, Royal Republic, Employed To Serve, Witchsorrow, Wytch Hazel, Skin Failure, Bloodyard, Wolfbastard, Tribe Black Coast, Russkaja, Gaerea, and Striker. Watch the new Bloodstock trailer here. Continue reading
Bloodstock Open Air has added two new bands for 2023, including an all-important third headliner! to the already impressive lineup! Meshuggah is now the day two headline band, along with the addition of Power metal kings Helloween. Full details are below. Also, the fest has announced the full Metal To The Masses competition details and their popular Deposit Scheme announcement. Check out our review of the 2022 fest here. Bloodstock will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 10th-13th August 2023.
Bloodstock Open Air has added 12 new bands for 2023 to the already impressive lineup! Legends and future heroes like Sacred Reich, Heaven Shall Burn, Crowbar, All Hail The Yeti, Dead Label, Invisions, and more have joined the bill. Full details are below. Also, the fest has announced the full Metal To The Masses competition details and their popular Deposit Scheme announcement. Check out our review of the 2022 fest here. Bloodstock will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 10th-13th August 2023.
Ghost Cult scribe Gary Alcock interviewed the swiss-army knife of metal guitarists, Phil Demmel of Vio-Lence, just after the band’s first-ever UK show at Bloodstock Open Air 2022. Phil discusses his past success in the UK with Machine Head, how hot it was at BOA, his current status with Vio-Lence, filling in with Lamb of God, gigs trying to navigate the landscape of being a working musician, the new EP Let The World Burn (Metal Blade), and more!
Bloodstock Open Air, (BOA) the largest independent metal festival in the UK has announced nine more bands for 2023’s event! In Flames, Anthrax, Biohazard, Sepultura, Whitechapel, Nonpoint, Ugly Kid Joe, Trollfest, and Church Of The Cosmic Skull have all joined the fest! They will join headliners Megadeth, Killswitch Engage, and many more!
Machine Head currently on a co-headline tour of Europe with Amon Amarth and The Halo Effect! Read our review here. The band recently released their 10th album Of Kingdom and Crown on August 26th, 2022 via Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings, They also made a surprise appearance at Bloodstock Open Air land also booked an intimate tour of the USA.Watch the clip now!
Catton Park, United kingdom, 14 Aug 2022, Lamb of God performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
SATURDAY
Considering most people are already feeling like overcooked baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil, the fact that today is meant to be the hottest day of the festival really isn’t the best news. Still, that certainly doesn’t deter a healthy crowd from shaking off the hangovers and getting on with the business at hand, Baest and Lost Society both grabbing the main stage by the scruff of the neck while Sister Shotgun and Mastiff do the same on the Sophie stage.Continue reading
Catton Park, United kingdom, 12 Aug 2022, Behemoth performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
Main Stage and Sophie Lancaster Stage
THURSDAY
If there are two things we love doing in the UK, it’s complaining about the weather and queuing for things. Well, this year at Bloodstock Open Air, both are freely available and at no extra charge. Not a moment goes by without a comment on the sweltering heat or about having to wait to cross the road to the festival ground. Yes, not content with spending two hours in the main queue, campers have now invented a brand new line to join before even getting that far. For the first time ever, a line has formed for people pulling trolleys and sack carts. Almost a quarter of a mile of people waiting in a surprisingly orderly queue before joining an even bigger queue. England, never change.
With the heat already playing its part, I finally arrive at the Sophie Lancaster Stage in time to catch Italian nutters Nanowar of Steel who send the audience into hysterics with daft costumes and a “Wall of Love” (a traditional wall of death that climaxes with people hugging each other to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’). Preceding the infuriatingly catchy ‘Norwegian Reggaeton’ with Burzum‘s outdoor recipe for roasted salmon (“you place the freshly caught salmon on a rock and burn down the church next to it”) the band then take the opportunity to use the mighty ‘Valhalleluja’ to build an Ikea coffee table, holding it aloft for the elated crowd. Accompanied by an actual goblin for the duration of their set, US act Nekrogoblikon certainly put on an enjoyable show but find it tough following such a display of irreverent insanity.