The sights, the sounds and the smells of heavy metal returned to the grounds of Catton Park once again, this time for a monumental milestone: Bloodstock Open Air celebrating its 25th anniversary. With a stacked lineup featuring bands on the main stage (named after the legendary singer Ronnie James Dio) on all four days for the first time ever, the festival brought a mix of heavy metal classics and modern heavyweights to celebrate two and a half decades of the festival.
Day One — Thursday
While dressing up in costumes has become a tradition for a lot of festival goers, there were an abnormal amount of dinosaurs wandering the site on Thursday. Any questions as to why were instantly answered once Heavysaurus opened the proceedings on the main stage. The Finnish band, all dressed in dinosaur costumes, might be a familiar sight to many in the UK due to their TV talent show appearances last year and they kicked the event off with a mixture of rock classics and their own child-friendly heavy metal songs.
The festival’s real strength however lies in their ability to not only put fun bands at the main stage, but to let extreme music shine through in the smaller stages. Rather than naming the second stage after the highest bidding corporate sponsor like so many other festivals out there, Bloodstock uses it to share a message and has instead named the stage in memory of British teenager Sophie Lancaster. Sophie was brutally attacked in 2007 simply for being different and sadly died of her injuries while in the hospital. The charity that now bears her name has been massively supported by Bloodstock and its bands over the years and is a fitting name for the stage.
If the festival wanted to ease people into the weekend, then The Hell were an interesting choice. The band has a very unique hardcore sound with elements of rap, metal and extreme music and fronted by three vocalists giving it their everything. From the moment they hit the stage in their bright orange boiler suits, they unleashed chaos. They were unhinged, deliberately confrontational and their crowd interactions were unmatched, with the band high fiving people at the barrier and jumping into the crowd multiple times.
After weeks of endless hot and sunny weather, the British rain fortunately continued to hold off for the weekend. A welcome relief for campers, but it meant the arena ground was bone dry and incredibly dusty. By the time Bloodstock institution and fan favorites Evil Scarecrow graced the main stage for their 8th festival appearance, the air was already thick with a fog of dust. Delivering their signature blend of fun, silly and lighthearted metal, the band backed their set with absurd graphics, props and costumes including a giant chicken and a robot. The crowd was in fits of laughter, joining in with chicken clucks, spinning on the spot and executing the legendary Crabulon scuttle. Beneath the comedy though lie serious musicians who delivered a flawless, high-energy performance.
Back on the Sophie stage, Black Spiders made their 3rd festival appearance to celebrate 15 years as a band. Powered by a triple guitar assault, their raw and dirty rock ‘n’ roll filled the tent as they blasted through their debut album Sons Of The North in its entirety, before capping off the set with a cover of AC/DC’s “Kicked in the Teeth.”
As sundown approached, Thursday headliners Saxon took to the main stage. A fitting tribute to Bloodstock history, having headlined the very first event 25 years ago. With a career running all the way back to 1975, the NWOBHM icons showed zero signs of slowing down and proved that they remain at the absolute top of their game. Performing under a giant metal eagle loaded with bright spotlights, their faultless set drew mostly from their array of iconic heavy metal classics, while still weaving in the occasional newer tracks managed to fit right in without sticking out. Playing an enormous 18-song set, their only flaw was eventually stopping, albeit 15 minutes over their allotted time!
Cryptopsy took the Sophie stage by storm as they closed off the first day. Performing a set to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their album None So Vile, they brought extreme musicianship and deep guttural vocals with minimal effort. The band had a full tent as their set started and the crowd didn’t hold back, breaking into mosh pits and walls of death from the outsets. They sounded completely inhuman on stage and when combined with an equally extreme and dazzling lightshow, the death metal giants proved to be a fitting end to the day!
Day Two — Friday
It’s impossible to talk about Friday without talking about Party Cannon. The band’s extreme slam sound is a stark contrast to the image and experience they bring, with their colorful Toys R Us style logo just the start. They attempted a number of records throughout their short but energetic set, with the most absurd being the largest costume circle pit which saw a crowd of bananas frantically moshing in a flood of inflatable balls, pizza slices, animals and anything else that’s usually found at the beach.
New Jersey’s Fit For An Autopsy later sent the crowd into a frenzy of moshing and circle pits as soon as they hit the stage with their chuggy, rhythmic style of deathcore. Vocalist Joe Badolato had a very commanding presence and he held the arena in the palm of his hand throughout their varied set. The band openly aimed for the festival record for the most crowd surfers (but they had stiff competition later that day) before wrapping up their brutal show with a massive wall of death from the audience.
Next up, New York veterans Biohazard brought a completely different energy. Delivering their influential fusion of hardcore and hip-hop with relentless attitude, the band bounced and sprinted across the stage song after song. The audience matched the intensity, launching into huge circle pits, kicking dust high into the air and going wild when a swarm of inflatable balls was released into the pit. For their penultimate track, “Punishment,” fellow New Yorkers Sworn Enemy joined them on stage to push the energy over the edge.
Municipal Waste kept the momentum surging with a barrage of short, sharp thrash tracks and riffs to break your neck to. The nonstop stream of circle pits and crowd surfers ensured that the front of stage security team earned every penny of their wages. Wanting to be sure, the band even brought out an official representative from Guinness World Records to verify their own bid for the crowd surfing title!
Over at the Sophie stage, youngsters Neckbreakker arrived with a level of energy that made most other bands look old and tired. Their barrage of riffs and constantly pounding drums promised to show their crowd how “Danish death metal should be.” They threw themselves around and so did their audience. For how young they are, there was no doubt that they know what they are doing and they showed that they have the passion and capacity to perform like they already own the stage. It won’t be long until they start taking over later slots on bigger stages so they are definitely a band to keep on your radar.
Thrash titans Sepultura need no introduction and followed up with a historic performance. Although founding brothers Max and Iggor Cavalera left long ago, Andreas Kisser and Paulo Jr. have kept the machine running, bringing the band to their final farewell tour after 42 years, with Bloodstock being their last ever UK show. Their set drew heavily from their golden era, tearing through tracks off Arise, Chaos A.D., and Roots. Unusually for a farewell run, they also featured material from a newly written and recorded EP that they put together while on the road, with “Beyond the Dream” providing a refreshing change of pace while putting Kisser’s incredible guitar prowess front and center.
Closing Friday night, Lamb of God returned for their third time as Bloodstock headliners, pulling what felt like the biggest crowd of the whole weekend. Their explosive show was packed with passion, raw power and an abundance of fire, drawing songs from virtually every album across their entire career. The pyrotechnics peaked mid-set when they used the festival as an opportunity to film a new live music video.
While the entire band sounded immense as they stormed through songs such as “Laid to Rest,” “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For” and “Walk With Me in Hell,” frontman Randy Blythe stood out, completely owning the stage with his instantly recognizable vocals dominating the arena. The band wrapped up a triumphant performance with their sensational hit “Redneck” and possibly the biggest circle pit I’ve ever seen!
Day Three — Saturday
Saturday got off to an early start on the main stage with Inhuman Nature. Delivering a blistering dose of crossover thrash, they proved it is never too early for a circle pit, drawing more and more people into the arena to shake off their hangovers from the night before.
London thrashers Imperium brought aggression and groove to the Sophie stage with tight precision and enough presence to command their audience. The band are a real success story of Bloodstock’s Metal 2 The Masses program – a nationwide battle of the bands that gives each regional winner a slot on the festival’s New Blood stage. Having won their final and subsequently performed at Bloodstock in 2022, it’s great to see the band now graduate to the Sophie stage and move up the bill for 2026. It shows that the band have momentum behind them and that we’ll be seeing much more of them in the future.
Irish outfit The Scratch then brought an intriguing contrast to the main stage, blending heavy metal with traditional Irish folk music. Armed with acoustic guitars and unconventional percussion, their unique sound captivated the crowd, highlighted by a roaring cover of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades.”
And now for something completely different. Bound In Fear were all about being “ungodly heavy”. The deathcore outfit from Surrey has spent the last decade defining their sound and their latest release is a clear continuation. There were heavy rhythmic riffs, massive circle pits and a sense of crushing weight through the blasting drums. Deathcore bands usually lack emotion and depth but their music managed to bring an atmosphere to the tent. The crowd didn’t care about any philosophical analysis though, they simply opened up the pit and kept spinning till the end.
Beyond the music and the stages, the real vibe of Bloodstock lies in its uniquely welcoming atmosphere. It remains one of the most inclusive events on the festival calendar, bringing together an incredible range of people from families with young kids wearing ear defenders to seasoned veterans who have been attending festivals since before you were born. The festival site is a constant parade of expression, filled with creative costumes, hair dyed every color of the rainbow and people covered head to toe in tattoos and body piercings.
Not everyone feels the need to express themselves so vividly though, with plenty of people still rocking the classic heavy metal look of black t-shirts and denim battle jackets. There’s also a sense of shared community everywhere you look. Dedicated fans marching across the arena balancing towering stacks of cups for the festival’s recycling scheme, groups of friends laughing as they cram into photobooths and crowds refueling on every type of cuisine imaginable.
Between the stages, the bustling marketplace is a must-visit for fans and collectors being packed with stalls selling band t-shirts, vinyl records, handmade jewelry, patches, artwork, hats and even guitars. Every inch of shade around the arena provided a place for people to sit, catch their breath and take a break from the beating sun in a quiet moment of calm before diving right back into the noise.
Nevermore made their long awaited return, introducing a reunited lineup for their first UK show in 16 years. Jeff Loomis’ terrifying lead guitar work was complemented by soaring vocals from new vocalist Berzan Önen. On the other side of the stage, Jack Cattoi proved he could match Loomis note for note as the pair shredded through harmonized arpeggios and traded solos. Their heavy and precise show was a welcome comeback, leaving the audience chanting their name long after the final note.
Back on the Sophie stage, Death Angel kept the thrash mood going as they filled the space with a familiar sea of cutoff denim jackets and constant wave after wave of crowd surfers, giving Friday’s bands a run for their money. They delivered a relentless thrash performance packed with energy and aggression that left the fans wanting more.
Saturday night headliners Slaughter to Prevail represented one of the festival’s fastest risers, reaching the top slot just 12 years after forming. Despite the controversies that follow the band (which were addressed directly on stage), they drew a massive audience for their Bloodstock debut. Bursting onto the stage wearing his signature mask and introducing the band in an over the top Russian accent, frontman Alex Terrible led a brutal audiovisual assault.
Flame towers and spark showers accompanied their heavy catalog, drawing heavily from their latest album GRIZZLY alongside fan favorites from Kostolom. Beyond Alex, drummer Evgeny Novikov delivered a standout performance with a lightning fast and highly technical drum solo. While some had doubted their headlining credentials, their set proved to any skeptics that they are a force to be taken seriously. Their pyro-heavy performance eventually came to a close with a cascade of streamers firing off the roof and into the crowd, leaving a bold final visual in everyone’s heads.
Day Four — Sunday
Castle Rat, known as much for their elaborate costumes and storytelling as their retro brand of doom metal, took to the stage with their signature lighthearted theatricality. The group steadily drew in a larger crowd as their performance unfolded, with the audience chanting along as active participants in the narrative which culminated in a dramatic duel between the Rat Queen and the Rat Reaperess. A band of serious musicians sit behind the storytelling though, with the songs and skills to back up the theatrics.
Shifting gears entirely, Orbit Culture brought a much heavier sound to the arena, filling the afternoon air with tight, technical melodic death metal drawn mostly from their latest record Death Above Life. They pulled an enormous crowd that packed out the arena to levels usually reserved for bands much later in the day.
Though their slick and professional set was briefly paused for staff to tend to an injury in the pit, the crowd picked right back up, fearlessly unleashing a massive wall of death for the finale “Vultures of North.”
Bay Area icons Testament brought classic thrash back to the forefront once again, opening with the aptly named “Into the Pit” as circle pits instantly erupted. The band sounded flawless as they ripped through a set of fan favorites, really showcasing Alex Skolnick’s supreme guitar work on songs such as “Practice What You Preach,” “Over the Wall” and “Electric Crown.”
Black Label Society left no doubt about Zakk Wylde’s status as an old-school guitar hero. Performing in front of a wall of 28 speaker cabinets and with an immense guitar rack to the side, Zakk took center stage, swapping guitars nearly every song, singing into a skull-stacked microphone stand and standing atop a stage riser while shredding to elevate his presence further.
While BLS is undeniably centered on Zakk, the rest of the band proved themselves to be equally top tier, with guitarist Dario Lorina matching and doubling Zakk’s complex solos note for note. The guitar-heavy showcase peaked during a lengthy guitar battle where both players traded licks and harmonized together with their guitars held high behind their heads. Alongside their original tracks, the band paid homage to Zakk’s long time boss Ozzy Osbourne with a cover of “No More Tears” and a visual tribute on the screens during their closing track “Stillborn” which originally featured the Prince of Darkness himself.
Mushroomhead are a band that everyone has heard of yet nobody can define what they are about. Wearing masks, jumping around and into the audience and having water heavy drums on both sides of the stage is only the start of the spectacle they provide. With their theatrical approach, they brought together industrial metal, groove, electro, multiple vocalists and an unforgettable visual identity that had the crowd cheer and mosh from the first note to the last. With the festival audience primed to accommodate the spectacle before them, the band’s masks, characters and lights created a unique atmosphere between a metal concert, industrial theater and halloween party. It was one of the most memorable performances of the day, and one that should not be missed.
Then there was Body Count. Bloodstock had apparently been trying to get the band to perform for 10 years and they finally made it happen for the anniversary edition. Founded in LA in 1990 by Ice T and Ernie C, Body Count have spent more than three decades defining their sound to operate in the intersection between metal, hardcore and hip hop. They tackle lyrical themes that nobody wants to talk about such as politics, tactics, inequality, violence and survival, all with swagger and attitude.
Opening up with their own introductory “Body Count’s in the House” before tearing into a pair of unexpected Slayer covers, their Bloodstock performance was nothing short of iconic, reminding everyone why Ice T still remains a captivating frontman who can change the whole atmosphere just by walking on the stage. Their set covered songs from all three decades of their existence and they all still sounded dangerous, charged and powerful, gaining the band one of the largest crowds of the day.
As the sun set over Catton Park, it was time for the ultimate headliners: Judas Priest. Making their third headlining appearance at the festival, the curtain finally dropped and the original Metal Gods, draped head to toe in black leather and studs, launched straight into a career-spanning setlist. Their appearance at Bloodstock was part of their Faithkeepers tour and in line with that name, their set drew from every era of their legendary catalog ranging all the way from 1976’s Sad Wings of Destiny (with the epic “Victim of Changes” a clear highlight of the night) all the way up to their latest release, Invincible Shield.
Guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap have big shoes to fill every night they step onto the stage but consistently kept Judas Priest’s classic twin guitar sound alive as they tore through solo after solo. On a weekend featuring so many acclaimed guitarists, Faulkner in particular cemented his status as a modern day icon as he riffed and shredded with effortless style on his custom Gibson guitars. Rob Halford maintained tradition by riding out on his motorcycle for the encore of “Hell Bent for Leather,” before bringing their show to an end with a massive arena-wide singalong to “Living After Midnight.”
There’s a reason why people return to Bloodstock time and time again. Great bands, great people and great memories. This year the team delivered more of the same, pushing it to the next level with 4 days of main stage bands to celebrate their 25th festival. The summer festivals have proven to be enough of a hit with fans that they’ve also recently started running their 1-day indoor Winter Gatherings, featuring Greek metal titans Rotting Christ as this year’s headliner. The first wave of bands for next year’s open air festival have also already been announced, including headliners Mercyful Fate, Electric Callboy and Motionless in White alongside 24 other bands for now and tickets are already selling fast. Based on the success and popularity of the last 25 years, tickets won’t last long and Bloodstock Open Air 2027 will be another weekend you can’t miss.
GALLERY: Bloodstock Open Air Festival at Catton Park in Derbyshire (August 6-9, 2026)
DAY ONE — THURSDAY
DAY TWO — FRIDAY
DAY THREE — SATURDAY
DAY FOUR — SUNDAY
Photographed by Charis Lydia Bagioki
Written by Tom Potter