Review by Sheri Bicheno for MPM
Returning back to Bloodstock Open Air for 2024 is a total honour and I never take the opportunity for granted.
Another year of watching thousands of metal lovers descend upon Catton Hall and feel a sense of belonging is always a sight to behold.
This year, Bloodstock announced that they would be opening shop early for those that bought tickets to arrive on Wednesday to get ready for a stacked weekend and I have to say, it totally worked for a good majority of people in finding camping space, finding friends and winding down before the planned chaos of killer bands, legal bin jousting and full throttle into the weekend ensued.
As always, Bloodstock had something special up their sleeve with all three headliner UK Exclusives from Opeth, Architects and Amon Amarth.
With this came a bunch of UK only fest slots too from Rotting Christ, Malevolence, Deicide, Igorr, Septic Flesh and Satyricon.
So – something huge for everyone!
I got the accreditation on Thursday afternoon and set up, made my way to the arena to check out my first band of Bloodstock, Horror Rock favourites South Of Salem were busy drawing a hyped crowd at The Sophie Lancaster Stage.
With black coffins lining the back of the stage and a beautiful display of purple and red hues of light, we’re taken through a surge of uplifting energy surrounding heartfelt tones entwining into elevating drum beats and crashing riffs,
Hellbound Heart sprinkles in with core touching chords and beautiful clean vocals from the newest album Death of the Party.
Joey Draper pours his heart into his vocal delivery that reaches an absorbing range in time with the winding guitars of Kodi.
A moment of pause intersects before a beautiful solo peeks through the chords, crashing through with the intricate drum pedals underlying the main beat.
Jet Black Eyes comes crashing in with hard rock crunching riffs and the tempo changing double pedals of James Clarke that inject a huge fun rhythmed energy into the full crowd. Talking to us about vulnerability and with a powerful mood to boot, this was by far one of my favourite songs of the set.
A killer start to my weekend of music!
After some settling in, I headed back to the Sophie Stage to catch Thursday headliners – Swedish Prog metal giants Evergrey.
Opening with a new track from their most recent album, Theories of Emptiness, we’re launched into a stunning light drenched intro for Falling From The Sun.
A plethora of tech infused fast beats and winding riffs blend together to melt into Tom. S Englund’s beautiful clean vocals and lifting subtle synths turned into heavy chords and stunning solo’s that captivate such beautiful energy and have the crowd moving.
“This is a song from an album called the Storm Within.” Tom addresses the crowd. “ It’s about something we all know very munich today and these days it’s all about keeping distance, right? Let’s make this about not having any distance at all…”
Chimes of keys ring through the air amongst the chants of the crowd and dissolve into a ripple of hard hitting drum beats that echo through the stage.
Tom and Hentrik work together on the guitars here to deliver a powerful explosion of riffs and rhythm amongst Simen’s tech infused beats that draws you into a spiral of atmospheric momentum.
Tom’s voice ranges into a stunning height that delivers a powerful mood that stretches on for what seems like ages. The guitars here are astonishing and have a mode of winding riffs, echoing into the rest of the stage.
Call Out The Dark serves as a visit back to 2022’s A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) and gives an orchestral feel amongst the melodic and heart touching lyrics.
The synths of Rikard contrasts the low ebbed power of Johan’s bass notes and highlights the euphoric moments of the track in it’s live setting before a frenzy of guitar solo’s hit you to drop your jaw to the floor.
A beautiful end to the Thursday of Bloodstock.
Photography by Pete Key for MPM