Harry Shiels
Having gone down a treat with their debut on the New Blood stage last year, Hertfordshire death metal quintet Dead Flesh have the honour of being welcomed back to open this year’s Thursday festivities. The tent is heaving with excited punters as the band’s abrasive style of deathcore kicks the weekend off with an explosive euuurrrgggh and plenty of bludgeoning riffs. They’re reminiscent of glitchy grindcore act Full Of Hell with their chaotic and noisy nature, giving the thirsty metalheads plenty of riffs to consume, opportunities to crowd-surf and batter each other to get the party started.
Next up for the opening night’s entertainment is British groove metal throwback FourWayKill. There is a long-standing connection with Bloodstock, as FourWayKill opened the main stage for the first open air event in 2005, making for a nice cyclical moment to their modern reformation. With a lot of their member moving on to Bull-Riff Stampede, FourWayKill almost feel like the prototype of what the band would go on to achieve later in their career. Granted, the tent isn’t quite as packed as it was moments ago, but the British underground veterans still pull a curious audience into their orbit with aggressive 90s riffage and a strong showcase of a band who slipped by and deserved a better shot.
If there is something your average Bloodstocker can’t refuse, it’s the chance to wear a silly hat. The good news is Belgian stoner lords Gnome have provided such an opportunity. With the tent rammed with punters adorning pointy red hats, head banging and grooving like lunatics for the bouncy three-piece. The new side screens in the second stage tent and back wall are adorned with silly and trippy visuals to go along with the band’s tongue in cheek grooves. Everyone is going mental for them from start to finish, “#’Wenceslas’ in particular inspires some silly pits and crowd-surfing, fully embodying the required party energy for the opening night. Gnome carry an absurd momentum through their entire set, delivering one of the best opening night experiences in recent memory.
It wouldn’t be an opening night party without a bit of power metal cheese now, would it? The six-piece German/Italian power metal outfit All For Metal has a lot of demand within the British power metal scene (for whatever that is worth) and plenty have squeezed their way into the tent for their Bloodstock debut. With inflatable weapons and far too much alcohol at hand, the band kick off proceeding’s with their self-titled track. Two topless male vocalists with leather armour trading off lows growls, high wails and distinct clean vocals, it certainly is a spectacle against their logo backdrop with fantasy elements peppered throughout.
It goes as you’d expect with song titles like ‘Raise Your Hammer’, ‘Mountain Of Power’ and ‘Legends Never Die’, just fist pumping, four to the floor heavy metal. Granted, despite some mild mocking on the fringes of the crowd (“Oh wow, check out Poundland Manowar” eliciting a gut laugh from those within earshot), they do the job well and keep the party moving. It’s nothing mind-blowing or life altering, but it’s hard not to crack a smile at the very least when they close with ‘Goddess of War’ after a full hour set of fast food metal.
Adam Darski is no stranger to the grounds of Catton Hall, better known as Behemoth frontman Nergal, who have played Bloodstock numerous times over its near twenty-five-year history. However, tonight marks a rare treat, as he sheds his corpse paint and dons a black cowboy hat as the creative force behind hard rock/gothic blues/dark folk outfit Me & That Man. Clearly the intimate opportunity to see one of their favourite extreme metal frontmen in the second stage tent for a rare UK show did some heavy lifting as the tent is spilling out at the sides as the bluesy set opener ‘Run With The Devil’ gets everyone moving. Fan favourite ‘My Church Is Black’ comes early in the set, but garners a huge sing along in the chorus. It’s a full-blown headline set, just shy of an hour and a half, with the band packing seventeen tracks in and making the most of the night. However, there in lies a problem with the set itself, as it is more of a niche act, only a handful of songs have that massive energy to them.
It doesn’t quite work the same live either, as one of the bigger draws of the Me & That Man albums is the wealth of guest vocalists and appearances, which is unfortunately lacking for this live set. It plods along, moving from gloomy blues, to some upbeat boogies and more folk leaning moments, but it is carried on the back of Darski’s endless wellspring of charisma as a frontman. The most telling point of contention is that the biggest reaction of the set was as the band announced their closer, a tribute to Ozzy with a sleazy rendition of ‘Paranoid’. Whilst still enjoyable and nothing to scoff at, it leaves the evening feeling a bit anti-climactic, but with the promise of so much more coming over the next three days, it is pleasant to have a gentle ending to the Thursday night.
