Live Review: Bloodstock 2025 – Friday

Orange Goblin

In contrast to Paleface Swiss, next up on the main stage is the thirtieth anniversary/final ever uk festival performance from British stoner institution Orange Goblin. With countless appearances at Bloodstock over the years, it seems fitting for the band to call their UK festival career to an end on the grounds of Catton Hall. As expected, its a career spanning set, making sure to pack in all the heavy hitters (‘Solarisphere’, ’The Filthy & The Few’) and deep cuts (‘Saruman’s Wish’, ‘Made of Rats’), as well as one little nod to last years Science, Not Fiction. They sound mightier than ever, with vocalist Ben Ward on particularly standout form as they close with ‘Red Tide Rising’. It’s a shame to see them go, but it is one hell of a note to end things on.

Eihwar

Over in the Sophie tent, oddball French Neo-folk two-piece Eihwar have gathered quite the audience, interested to see how the band plays out with comparisons to Wardruna and Heilung. Simply sticking to those would be a disservice though, as their anonymous vocalist states it best: “We are here to make you dance, so please, if you feel like it, dance with me!”. All of the band’s songs are high energy, percussive bops, with the percussionist/instrumentalist being hidden in an elaborate black cloak and their lead vocalist adorned with a wolf skull and various barbaric styled clothing/armour. There is a lot of jumping, ethereal singing, howling and frankly just a lot of fun, keeping the tent busy until the end despite Lacuna Coil looming large over on the main stage.

Lacuna Coil

Speaking of which, playing their largest billed Bloodstock set since they headlined all the way back in 2007, Italian gothic metal mainstays Lacuna Coil make the most of this opportunity to start their set with a bang. A literal bang, with streamer cannons launching the Italian tricolour (some of which stayed stuck in the main stage for the rest of the festival) to the opening of ‘Layer Of Time’. Cristina Scabbia’s vocals continue to get better with age as does the band’s performative acumen and confidence, feeling like they never left this prominent slot. The full hour set is more focussed on the band’s 2025 release Sleepless Empire, with a handful of older tracks alongside their popular modern singles, but one of the biggest reactions is still for the classic ‘Our Truth’. It’s a busy crowd for them as well, how much of that is to do with Lacuna Coil themselves isn’t known as the 2026 lineup announcement was heavily advertised to take place after their set. It is irrelevant anyway, as the band easily showcase how they continue to improve and grow as the years pass by.

Emperor

Not much else needs to be said for black metal royalty Emperor. Marking their third appearance at Bloodstock, this is notably the first time we get a no-nonsense, no anniversary sets, straight up Emperor set. The atmospheric intro of ‘Into the Infinity of Thoughts’ wraps its tendrils around the awaiting audience, but unfortunately the dramatic explosive intro to the track proper is dampened by some poorly timed wind. Not to detract totally though, the band are on killer form, ripping through fan favourites from In The Nightside Eclipse and Anthems to the Welkin At Dusk, comprising most of the set. There is still one nod to each IX Equilibrium and Prometheus… with ‘Curse You All Men!’ and ‘In The Wordless Chamber’ respectively, both of which sound monstrous for the die hards in the crowd.

That being said the crowd is noticeably thin for Emperor compared to even Lacuna Coil, let alone their previous Bloodstock crowds in years past. The presentation is kept simple with a stage banner instead of the LED screen and the whole band clad in black with black instruments (with the lone exception of a delightful lavender telecaster wielded by Ihsahn across the set). Still, the band are black metal royalty for a reason, putting on another masterclass set as Ihsahn bellows ‘I Am the Black Wizards’, signalling the tail end of the set, flowing into the brutal combo of ‘Inno a Satana’ and ‘Ye Entrancemperium’ to close. Despite the sparser crowd maybe being a sign that Bloodstock is changing, one thing remains true, which is that Emperor fucking rule.

Nailbomb

It is a surprise to no one that the Sophie Stage is packed to capacity for the first (and almost certainly the last) UK show for Max Cavalera side-project Nailbomb. Releasing one album in 1994 and being heralded in the metal underground as a long standing masterpiece, the anticipation for this set cannot be understated as ‘A Clockwork Orange Theme’ welcomes the eclectic cluster of musicians to the stage. It is exactly what you’d want, essentially the whole of Point Blank played in full (with the only exception being ‘For Fuck’s Sake’). It’s easy to forget just how unrelenting this band and album were for their time, zero bullshit anti-capitalist, anti-facist, anarchist left-wing fury at its purest and somehow more relevant today than it was thirty years ago.

It comes as no surprise, the crowd are losing their mind from the word go. Furious pits, rubber dinghy crowd surfing, it’s mayhem and it’s beautiful to watch. The screens are being put to great effect playing violent political imagery to fit lock-step with the band’s views. It is also so loud it borders on absurd, the onstage audio and PA being pushed to their limits. A surprise cover of Dead Kennedy’s ‘Police Truck’ almost lifts the tent pegs out of the ground as Cavalera and Co are dominating the stage with their presence. It’s almost hard to breathe as ‘Sick Life’ brings the one off set to a close, a noticeable thick humidity in the air from the excision of energy and fury pours out of the tent and towards the main stage for the first headliner of the weekend.

Trivium

When Trivium first got the nod to headline Bloodstock in 2015, people were not happy about it. Whilst they were fully justified in their positioning at the time and still pulled off a monster set, the difference that ten years makes with not only fan favour, but with their band experience as well is hard to state. You wouldn’t be able to tell that the Friday was the only day ticket not to sell out completely as the awaiting audience for Trivium is absolutely heaving. ‘The End of Everything’ brings the band onstage to a heroes welcome, the baying audience desperate to move and they get what they want with a triple filling of Ascendancy: ‘Rain’ into ‘Pull Harder…’ into ‘Like Light For Flies’. The place comes unglued and it’s just metalheads partying their hearts out for the next ninety minutes.

Matt Heafy is a ball of energy, running around, using the space and continuing his claim as one of the most charismatic frontmen going, keeping the crowd in the palm of his hand for the night. There are plenty of surprises thrown out tonight, the first of which being bringing out Robb Flynn to join them for a cover of ‘Symptom of the Universe’ to pay tribute to Ozzy. Immediately following is a rendition of ‘Throes of Perdition’ joined by Sleep Token’s III on bass before launching straight into a cover of ‘Master of Puppets’ for the first time since 2008. The drum solo awakens Monte, the inflatable zombified icon from the Ascendancy album cover before ‘A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation’. Even ‘Strife’ from oft bemoaned Vengeance Falls gets a ravenous response as the crowd are here for anything Trivium has for them. In a strange twist ‘In Waves’ is up next, normally the show closer, as the band are joined by Ihsahn (who misses his first vocal cue enjoying himself on stage, getting the band and crowd chuckling). One final guest with Malevolence’s Josh Baines joining the band for ‘The Deceived’  before the final few tracks. Finishing up with ‘The Sin and the Sentence’ for the first time ever, it works a treat for a punchy high energy finale and sends the crowd home happy as Trivium finish what might be their finest UK show to date.

Kataklysm

t’s been twelve years since Canadian death metal legends Kataklysm last graced Catton Hall, popping up on the Friday main stage in the mid-afternoon. It’s about damn time they made their way back and are gifted a rightful slot headlining the second stage. It’s hard to say whether it was just how busy Nailbomb were earlier or the crowd just needed some rest after a long day, but the tent could be a lot busier, but there is still a strong crowd in the centre desperate for more riffs. Kicking off proceedings with the classic cut ‘The Ambassador of Pain’, it’s a discography hopping, tightly honed death metal machine for an hour and twenty minutes. Much like most of the old school death metal bands, there is nothing to pick apart, the band sound insane and are putting on a masterclass. The late night headliner does thin as the set goes on however, with the hot weather and unrelenting death metal taking its tole on some. Still though, the closing run of ‘Crippled & Broken’, ‘In Shadows & Dust’ and ‘The Black Sheep’ is enough to wake the dead and get them smashing each other with discarded bones, showing off just why Katakylsm are so well regarded in their respective scene and deserving of a second stage headline slot.