Bloodstock 2024: Ten Bands We’re Excited to Check Out – New Blood Stage

Bloodstock Open Air 2024 is right around the corner. Taking place August 8th to August 11th, the UK’s premier metal festival has, once again, delivered a stellar line-up. Featuring four stages of music and a litany of bands from within the rock and metal world, alongside numerous other forms of entertainment (such as official bin jousting)! You don’t want to miss out, so get off that fence, and pick up your tickets now!

Buy Bloodstock Open Air 2024 tickets here.

We probably say this every year, but goodness, isn’t the 2024 New Blood stage looking mighty strong? With so many great bands across so many diverse genres, you could spend your entire weekend in front of this stage and come away super-satisfied by what you saw. Which does mean coming up with just ten bands we want to see on this stage was very hard. We’ve given it a shot though, and you know how this goes, five chosen by Brendan, and five chosen by Carl.

Brendan – Sathamel

We checked out the video to the song “Take the Rot” and that was enough for me to know these guys are my jam. Hard and heavy, their blackened death sound is unrelenting and aggressive. They really hit the mark with their blackened sounds. The guitars, riffing and leads, are intense, the drums supreme and the vocals are vicious and mix up the tone a bit too. Yet within all the heaviness, they still manage to capture a great deal of atmosphere. Definitely a set not to be missed.

Carl – Dead Flesh

I was really pleased to see Dead Flesh end up on the bill as they are one of the band’s that I am most familiar with on the New Blood stage. Heavy and intense deathcore, but with an incredible ability to be catchy, their 30-minute set is going to be blistering and I am all in on it.

Brendan – Space Pistol

Another band that I have come to enjoy thanks to checking out some of their stuff on a playlist, especially the track Death Collector which comes with a very entertaining video too. I like their noisy alt rock sound and the vocalist is great, packing plenty of attitude in his mixed style of singing. Packing strong, energetic music with plenty of rhythm, and more than a touch of anarchy here and there too, I imagine that as enjoyable as I find them on record, their sound will be even more suited to a live show so I am looking forward to seeing what they bring to Bloodstock.

Carl – Straight for the Sun

I’ve been saying it for weeks and I’m going to say it again, but I think Straight for the Sun are going to steal the show. Not just on the New Blood stage but the festival overall, they are that good. Their alternative metal ways is tailor made for a big stage and their sound is going to draw more and more people inside as their 30-minutes tick away. I’m there, and so should you be. It’s going to be very special.

Brendan – Chub

You have to be onboard for some high energy punk tunes at a festival and that appears to be what Chub are bringing. The songs I have checked out so far, like Beans and Hateful Politics, have an old school vibe, bringing energy a bit of dark humour and plenty of stomping rhythms. I feel like these guys will be really popular, just offering hard music but with that party punk vibe that tends to get feet moving and pits swirling. I already know that my better half will love these guys so there is very little chance of us missing them so expectations are high and I’m confident they will deliver.

Carl – Praetorian

When I read that Praetorian play a hybrid of primal sludge, hazy post metal and frosty old school black metal, I laughed. A combination like that shouldn’t work, and then I heard them, and holy s**t, it does, and it is excellent. One song is all it took to convince me to see this band play at Bloodstock, and I’m very excited to see how their sound translates to the live stage.

Brendan – Biomechanimal

I have been listening to their From the Mouths of Beasts song as part of a pre-Bloodstock familiarisation playlist and I am really intrigued by these guys. Clearly clever musicians, their industrial sounds are a huge part of their sound as they hit you with a mix of punchy riffs, powerful drums and synth/electronica. It’s very well put together, orchestrated really, and I really enjoy the mix of elements and the energy they bring. Being a London band too, our home town, we have to chuck some support their way. While I don’t normally go too all in on industrial, I like the difference they bring to the festival and think they could be a fun, high energy watch and the sort of band to leave lasting memories.

Carl – Hammer

Scottish extreme metal that goes really hard, I reckon their set is going to be one of those bullish and brutal sets that leave you panting for breath come the end. I’ve enjoyed getting to know a lot of bands in the build to this year’s festival, but getting to know Hammer has been the most fun. They have my attention, and I have faith in them to deliver on their promises of a heavy head banging good time.

Brendan – Kensei

Melodic death metal band Kensei are a band I am already a little familiar with having been listening to their tracks Pariah and The light. Songs I checked out when they released while downloading a lot of new weekly releases to listen to, songs I really enjoyed and have been listening to since. I hadn’t really put the songs I was listening to, and the band that was playing Bloodstock together in my mind until our recent Bloodstock feature with them so now I get to be really happy that I get to experience them in a live environment and see their aggressive and high energy metal, with anthemic choruses in person. This could be one of my favourites of the festival.

Carl – Final Coil

It is baffling that I’ve not seen Final Coil live yet, even though I’ve been a fan for a few years. Such is life, and finally, that changes at Bloodstock 2024. I have to be there, but not because of guilt, but because they are an immense band combining captivating and complex progressive rock music with post elements, and I love that sound. I think Final Coil could be one of the bands on the New Blood stage that clearly has all the makings of a band capable of playing the bigger stages.