Bloodstock 2023 Review – Part 1: Thursday/Friday

What a festival. Bloodstock always delivers. Be it the vibe, be it the bands, be it the people, but this year felt particularly special. Maybe that was us, maybe that was you, or maybe it was just everything. From the super-friendly and warm attendees to the smorgasbord of bands across four stages absolutely killing it (for the most part), Bloodstock Festival 2023 might go down as one of the best years we’ve attended, and we’ve been doing this for a while now.

The entire experience from Thursday through to Sunday can rightfully be called unforgettable, even if the booze made some segments less memorable.

It’s all about the bands though and that is what we’re going to be talking about here. We saw plenty, we also missed plenty (mainly because we were interviewing), but such is life. Please enjoy our thoughts on the bands we saw. This is part one of our review, covering Thursday night and Friday.

Thursday

Carl

I blame the booze for my hazy memories of Thursday. You know that rule we, and many others, tell you to follow? The one about not going too hard on Thursday? Well, I broke it and I broke it hard. My memories of that evening start with interviewing Visions of Atlantis, grabbing a drink and going to see Frozen Soul at the Sophie Lancaster stage. I remember pitting for the intensity of Frozen Soul (I lost my Fitbit in that pit) and I remember being underwhelmed by the sound of Visions of Atlantis. Although I don’t think that was their fault, as the Sophie Lancaster stage suffered from muddy and lost sound with several bands I saw over the weekend.

So, my apologies for the lack of detail with Thursday from me. The last thing I remember is trying to hook up with some friends, wandering into the campsites to find them with Dan, giving up, and waking up face down in my tent as Lou tried to get me into bed. It was a good night.

Brendan

Frozen Soul (Sophie Lancaster stage) – Strong band for my first one of the festival. You kind of know what to expect with Frozen Soul and that is what you get. Aggression, intensity and riffs and they delivered that for sure. The intense wall of death metal got the pit raging and heads banging ferociously in a vicious onslaught of heavy music.

Dan

King 810 (Sophie Lancaster stage) – I was more interested just because I’d heard a bit about them – interesting sound design but not so interesting music.

Brendan

Visions of Atlantis (Sophie Lancaster Stage) – Slightly cheesy symphonic/power metal music on a Thursday seems to be a thing and long may that continue. Visions of Atlantis looked great and sounded great. The uplifting and catchy melodic music got everyone in attendance in the mood and got the party started. I particular enjoyed seeing Clocks live and it was nice to see how close to the album sound they get live. Very enjoyable.

SKYND (Sophie Lancaster stage) – I went into this years Bloodstock quite intrigued by SKYND and hoped that seeing them live would settle my mind but it didn’t. I found that I still sit on the fence. I like the energy, the visual and the effort the band members clearly put into their sound and style. I like the concept and topics too but I still don’t quite understand their placement at the festival as it seems so far away from the genre. Talented bunch though who should do well for themselves.

Friday

Carl

Friday! Food, water, coffee, a shower, and some other things we all need to do in the morning after a heavy night of drinking. I was raring to go and trotted off to see the groovy death and thrash-infused heaviness of Bloodyard. The perfect band to shake off the ‘night before’ cobwebs. They’re fast, they’re energetic, they’re snarling and gurning with all the power of a headliner, not the first band on. The Sophie sound doesn’t always do them a lot of favours, but I still enjoyed it.

Brendan

Bloodyard (Sophie Lancaster stage) – With 30 minutes to fill, Bloodyard did what they do best, blazing out a fun and energetic set full of heaviness and aggression. The Sophie Stage suffered from sound issues all weekend and Bloodyard did suffer a little but powered through, kept smiling and kept heads banging. A fun and energetic band that kicks things off nicely in the early morning.

Dan

Shoot To Kill (New Blood stage) – Good hardcore energy first thing in the morning, a lot of fun.

Carl

Speaking of enjoyment, I stayed at the Sophie stage for the mighty and manic nastiness that Wolfbastard bring. I really like this band and I figured their d-beat punk blended with black metal would go down a treat at Bloodstock. I was right. This was all killer; no filler stuff and they looked like they were having a blast up there. It was around this time a bit of the ‘hair of the dog’ was due and there is no better band to have a beer with.

Brendan

Wolfbastard (Sophie Lancaster stage) – These guys are a bit noisy! Great fun band with funny banter and a shit load of fuzzy noise, grunts and shouts. It’s not my go to style of music, but in a festival environment, it is fun, energising and it’s nice to see both the band and the crowd having a great time.

Wytch Hazel (Ronnie James Dio stage) – Here is another band I knew very little about but really enjoyed their punchy hard rock. They had a good sound, really clear and energetic. They looked the part too, with the all white outfits standing out in a sea of black band tshirts. Though white skin tight trousers were a bit much as the cameraman gave us some stage screen close ups of crotches I could do without.

Dan

Apathy (New Blood stage) – Super young psychedelic metalcore, they started a huge pillow fight at some point and they were fantastic. Super proud of them.

Carl

Following some quick interview commitments, I then headed back to the Sophie stage to watch half of The Enigma Division. A band so good, I was tempted to stay and watch the whole thing, but I didn’t and I’ll explain why in a bit. I had hoped The Enigma Division’s tech-metal and progressive rock sound would work at Bloodstock but I didn’t necessarily think it would. The intricate nature of their sound could easily be buried but this was one of the times when the Sophie stage sound was on point. The result was jaw-dropping brilliance.

They were stunning but do you know who were also stunning? Lokust over on the New Blood stage. I’ve been desperate to see this band live after getting to know them through their exceptional debut album, Infidel and they did not disappoint. A groovy, furious, melodic, and meaty metal sound. The New Blood stage had some of the weekend’s best sound and the modern touch that Lokust bring to metal really shined through. I loved them, and a sure sign of how good it is, is when a set flies by in a blur. This felt like it lasted five minutes instead of thirty.

Brendan

Hate (Ronnie James Dio stage) – The blackened death metal band really impressed me. I’m not very familiar with them, certainly not well enough to have even known they come in corpse paint but in the short amount of time I had available to check them out, they sounded great – really powerful, heavy and dark. If nothing else, they convinced me that I should be paying more attention to them.

Lokust (New Blood stage) – The London based band were one of the highlights on the New Blood Stage this year. Sometimes you watch a band and just know that this may be the last time you see them on the entry level stages as they are clearly destined for bigger things and that is what I feel when I see Lokust play. Their sound is so tight, despite having a relatively fresh lineup, the music is punchy, heavy and exciting. A band with a big future, if they can capitalise on this current momentum.

Lou

This Summit Fever (Jager stage) – a lovely bit of fuzzy stoner rock – so much noise from 2 guys. The Jager stage perfectly suited the groove and sway.

Carl

Friday was our heaviest day for interview commitments, so some of us packed up and hung around the press area to chat to bands for a few hours. Which meant the next band I saw live was Gaerea on the Sophie stage. A band that was one of my personal most anticipated and ended up being one of my favourites of the entire weekend. Black metal, but black metal with style and pomp. It is a captivating performance that proved how they sound on record is just one part of the Gaerea experience. Bring them back ASAP Bloodstock, but put them on the main stage and let them loose. I can just imagine what carnage they could create.

Brendan

Gaerea (Sophie Lancaster stage) – One of the bands of the weekend for me, Gaerea absolutely mesmerised me visually and musically. Fully masked, the band look otherworldly. The blackened atmospheric music is so up my street and the vocals are brilliant. Add in the “modern” almost interpretive and very expressive dancing from the frontman and you have a band that have and displayed that something a little different about them that could see them go on to very big things.

Carl

From black metal gold to hardcore steel, it’s Street Soldier on the New Blood stage and what a f**king blast this was. I don’t always get on with hardcore but Street Soldier are a special band. Oozing positivity and confidence that betrays their time together, they smash heads and break bones in what turns out to be not enough time on stage. The pit is filth, it’s no secret that I hate all that two-step/fist swinging bulls**t, but I can’t help but admire the number that are going apes**t for this band. Rarely do I leave a hardcore show with a silly grin on my face, but that’s Street Soldier for you.

Dan

Street Solider (New Blood stage) – Potentially my favourite band of the whole weekend? 30 minutes wasn’t enough for me, they were SO good and so much fun.

Carl

I did catch a tiny bit of In Flames afterwards, not enough to really offer any opinions about quality, but the brief bit I did hear (right at the end) sounded like they were on form. Which other members of GBHBL confirmed.

Brendan

In Flames (Ronnie James Dio stage) – I have been a big fan of melodic death metal for as long as I can remember. I go to a lot of shows, and plenty of festivals and in all of that time, I somehow have never seen In Flames play live so this was a definite bucket list moment for me and with all those moments, you just pray for it to live up to your own inbuilt hype. In Flames were amazing. Vocals were on point, great crowd interaction, glorious sound and a set list that saw them lean on their whole considerable catalogue.

I loved every minute of it.

Carl

Booze in hand, mind willing to be changed, the next band I saw was the Ronnie James Dio stage headliner, Killswitch Engage. A much asked for headliner and one that seemed to delight both new and old Bloodstock fans. I get it, I listened to a ton of Killswitch Engage from 2002 until around 2006. Alive or Just Breathing, The End of Heartache, and As Daylight Dies were worn out records for me. However, as the years went by, I just stopped caring about them. I’d hear a new track and immediately recognise the band, often enjoy the music, but rarely did it leave a lasting impression.

No hate, they’re too lovable for that, but no interest either. The few times I had caught them live, it always seemed to be on a bill that had far superior bands. That being said, I was happy to have my mind changed and for what it’s worth, I thought they were very good. However, after around thirty minutes of them playing, I found my mind wandering and my enthusiasm dampening. It just wasn’t clicking as much; I was getting bored. So, I decided to go chill out in the shisha tent and I loved that.

Here’s the thing. I know I’m in the minority here. The overwhelming response seems to be one of delight and happiness. People loved them and thought they delivered on the promise of a headline show. I couldn’t be happier to hear that. Just because it’s not for me, doesn’t mean s**t. I expect Killswitch Engage to be a mainstay headliner of Bloodstock going forward now ala Amon Amarth, Behemoth, Megadeth, and so on, and seeing ‘new’ headliners step up to the plate is something I will always celebrate.

Brendan

Killswitch Engage (Ronnie James Dio stage) – Killswitch Engage seemed a popular booking and that’s great. I have no malice towards them, am happy for them to get such a prestigious slot but am also not a huge fan. There are songs I like, and they played them and sounded really good. There was good banter, great lights and plenty of fire as well as a new term for us all to use in the future relating to the great unwashed and corned beef. All in all, they looked deserved headliners even if my interest was only mildly piqued.

Dan

Killswitch Engage (Ronnie James Dio stage) – Sort of dull, the one song I wanted to see was played very early in the set and I wasn’t there for it, which is more my fault but still.

Carl

I was pretty tired by this stage, but it wasn’t quite bed time yet though. There was no way I wasn’t checking out Candlemass in the Sophie stage and I was really impressed by how tight they sounded. They’re getting on, but you wouldn’t know it from watching them play live. Their old-school doom sound is extremely pleasing and I really enjoyed them.

Brendan

Candlemass (Sophie Lancaster stage) – I didn’t stay for too much of Candlemass but what I watched was exactly what I expected. Top quality sound and professionalism from a band with a ton of experience.

That’s our roundup of Thursday and Friday at Bloodstock 2023!