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Bloodstock 2018 In 15 Pictures
We had a wild old weekend with fifteen-thousand other metal maniacs.
In association with Rizla+ UK.
Fifteen-thousand metal maniacs. Tonnes of bands. Beers beyond number. One Metal God - that's the tl;dr version of Bloodstock 2018. And it's bloody fantastic.
Friday sees death metal heroes Bloodbath bringing the morbidity early in the afternoon, a strange arena in which to see the zombified cult, but they’re as mightily enjoyable as frontman Nick Holmes' withering stage banter before, over on the SOPHIE stage, doomsters Godthrymm conjour up the excellently heavy vibes. But Friday's crown jewels need to be split equally between Emperor and headliners Judas Priest. The former tearthrough their classic Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk album for its 20th birthday, before... PRIEST! By far the greatest headliner ever to grace the BS boards, Rob Halford and his metal guard are simply unstoppable, with Painkiller, Firepower and Turbo Lover showing off their gilded edges perfectly. And then things improve beyond even that when guitarist Glenn Tipton joins them to blast through Breaking The Law, Living After Midnight, Metal Gods and No Surrender. It is, quite simply, glorious.
Saturday brings with it a deadly mosh from Power Trip, blood and thunder from Conjurer (who continue to prove themselves one fo the finest bands in the Brit metal underground), utter piratey stupidity from power metal isiots Alestorm (giant rubber duck onstage? Sure), and gore from Cannibal Corpse. For Gojira, however, that brawn is matched by brain, kicking ears into touch with a load of supreme, technical heaviness. Oh, and the biggest stage show they’ve ever had.
Sunday's higlights, other than realising the hangover isn't as wretched as you could have reasonably expected, come courtesy of a deadly set of melodic death from At The Gates, intelligent doom from Pallbearer, pure Satanic fury from Watain, and Nightwish basically bringing an entire opera to the field. Imagine Wicked but with more mud and the guaranteed promise of a hangover the following morning.
As it keeps growing, Bloodstock keeps getting better than ever. And as metal parties go, there's very few shindigs that can match it. Now: to bed!
Photos: Katja Ogrin
