Death Metal legends, Carcass will be returning to the Ronnie James Dio stage for a long-overdue performance on Sunday, that will no doubt see them rip through a selection of bangers from their nearly 40 year career.
Also appearing Sunday on the RJD main stage are South American progressive sludge metal project, CULTURA TRES. Last year, the 4-piece, featuring Sepultura’s Paolo Pinto Jr on bass, released their 5th studio album, ‘Camino De Brujos’.
Black metal icons, SATYRICON will return to the stage for the first time in 5 years to headline Sunday’s Sophie Lancaster stage.
In what are becoming increasingly rare appearances, frontman Satyr informs: “The way SATYRICON’s attitude has resonated with English fans throughout our journey as a band, has made us feel that playing there isn’t so much a visit, but rather a homecoming. Having decided to do only a few select shows, we can’t go everywhere, but fortunately there are a few places our hearts seem to take us, one way or the other. Like England.” Remind yourself of one of their classics via the video for ‘The Pentagram Burns’ and don’t miss this opportunity to catch them live.
The mighty SYLOSIS steam into a Saturday slot on the Sophie stage. Their latest album, ‘A Sign Of Things To Come’ landed in September and the Brit metal heavyweights told us, “We can’t wait to be back at BLOODSTOCK! We’ve had some amazing shows over the years, but it feels like next year is going to be really special!” We can’t wait either! In the meantime, get a load of new song ‘Descent’ taken from that brand new release.
Also appearing on Saturday’s Sophie stage are American goth metal project, LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE. Fronted by enigmatic songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ben V, they released their most recent album ‘Haunted People’ in 2022. Check out their epic video for ‘Live As Myself’, taken from that album, below.
Metal pirates, RED RUM also grab a Saturday Sophie slot. If you like your pirate tunes laden with riffs and melodies, RED RUM aren’t to be missed. Sing along with ‘We Pirates’ taken from their current album, ‘Book of Legends’ out now on Trollzorn Records.
SADUS bring their death/thrash sounds to BLOODSTOCK’s Sophie stage for the first time ever on Sunday. The band came off an extended hiatus in 2017 and signed to Nuclear Blast for the recent release of new studio album, ‘The Shadow Inside’. Check out the lyric video for album track, ‘Ride The Knife’.
On Sunday’s Sophie stage bill, expect to see Spanish alt metal collective, ANKOR. Fronted by Jessie Williams (who hails from Bristol, UK), the band blend metalcore with progressive and electro elements, creating a sound of their very own. Find out for yourself by watching the video for ‘Darkbeat’, the first of four chapters below.
If you’re a weekend ticket holder, the party starts early for you on Thursday. Once you’ve set up camp and had your first cold one, prog metal Swedes EVERGREY are set to headline Thursday’s Sophie stage, with earlier evening sets from classic heavy metallers TAILGUNNER and Bournemouth rock n’ roll squad, SOUTH OF SALEM.
The very popular Deposit Scheme is also live in the ticket store! Sign up anytime before 23.59pm on 29th February with an initial payment of £30.83 (+ bkg fee), then the remaining payments will debit your payment method monthly on 28th March, 29th April, 29th May and 27th June, with a final payment (+ transaction fee) debiting on 29th July.
If you’ve already snapped up your ticket and want to square away your travel plans for BLOODSTOCK 2024, Big Green Coach offer a great solution, taking you directly on to the festival site with all your camping gear, from a town near you. They offer 35 pick-up locations, including two new cities, Coventry and Nottingham.
Full list includes: Birkenhead, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bridgend, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chester, Coventry, Crewe, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Gloucester, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newport, Nottingham, Norwich, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Taunton, Worcester and York.
If you’ve not yet booked your festival ticket, you can also opt for a bundle that includes one. Get full details here.
Irelands, Metal 2 The Masses live showcases will begin on Saturday, January 13th and features 40 underground artists from all over the Republic of Ireland. The grand final will take place on Saturday, May 11th, where Bloodstock booking agent, Simon Hall will hand pick one band to perform on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock this August.
Check out the line up below…
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2023