Who Should I Look Out For At Bloodstock 2019?
18th July 2019Scorpions: Bloodstock Open Air has attracted a host of very important bands from the heavy scene over its 14 year history. Slayer, Twisted Sister, Motorhead, Alice Cooper… the list goes on. Scorpions are on another level, with hits like ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ and ‘Winds Of Change’ allowing them a level of notoriety that saw the band sell out the o2 arena at the 2018 Stone Free festival, and enjoy a career spanning 50 years. Considering they’re closing the main stage on Sunday night; you’ll be hard pushed to miss what promises to be a majestic performance.
Ross The Boss: As a member of Manowar, Ross The Boss (AKA Ross Friedman) was credited as co-writer of almost every track from their influential Battle Hymns debut. Since taking his talents elsewhere, Manowar have descended into a strange blend of preaching their hatred of ‘false metal’, while basically being total posers themselves. Ross The Boss, however, maintains the spirit of their classic tracks and will be performing alongside the legendary ex-Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing. This promises to be a massive celebration of metal… maybe we’ll even get a Priest track thrown in.
WomenOwar: Speaking of Manowar, WomenOwar are basically exactly what they say on the tin… with a few guys in disguise. Formed as part of a drunken idea for the 2018 Power Metal Quest Fest, one year later WomenOwar will take their upbeat, camp show to the tiny Jägermeister stage.
Karybdis: Technically, a Karybdis gig was the first thing I ever contributed to All About The Rock. They were playing in the back room of a pub, as one of a big bill of Evil Scarecrow support bands including Dom Lawson’s comedy-punk-metal two-piece Oaf. Their three albums have each combined melodic death metal, metalcore and a sense of progressive technicality, and their live shows remain aggressive and brutal.
Children Of Bodom: On the back of their new album, Hexed, Children Of Bodom have been given a new lease of life lead forward by their powerhouse lead vocalist Alexi Laiho. I’ve never actually seen CoB live, but their ability to pump out death metal that is so genuinely catchy must be immense to view from the crowd. Make sure you check them out on the Friday main stage.
Dimmu Borgir: While its quite unlikely that Dimmu Borgir will bring a full orchestra to Bloodstock, their overwhelming ability to orchestrate with complimentary precision still packs just a punch coming from keyboards as it does a live orchestra. Shagarth’s dominance of the stage as he is covered in corpse paint is commanding, while the power of tracks such as ‘Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse’ have to be seen to be believed.
Hellheim: Despite their 20 year career, Hellheim maintains a place firmly in the underground. Their long explorations of Viking metal experiment with orchestral percussion, chants and follky influences with their more recent output brining clean vocals in to match their harsh past trademark.
Aborted: The brutal sound of Aborted has developed from a harsh, aggressive form of highly technical death metal, into a Cattle Decapitation-esque form of deathgrind. While vocalist Sven De Caluwé remains the only member of the original band (in fact, the second longest surviving member of the band only joined in 2010), their presence on stage is still just as powerful as it was at the time of their debut The Purity Of Perversion.
Tesseract: Technical music of the calibre of Tesseract is always a masterclass, but their polyrhythms, complex structures and soaring lead lines take the term technical to a whole new level. Seeing them command a position so high up on the bill will give enough time for them to explore their exceptional releases, while surely captivating their audience with mesmerising skill.
The Hobgoblin New Blood Stage: Of course, there isn’t a band in existence that’s just called The Hobgoblin New Blood Stage. It’s a stage full of the best upcoming talent in the metal scene, many of whom have won Metal 2 The Masses competitions. Therefore, in theory, you’re unlikely to know the bands on the new blood stage. However, if there is one thing we need to do, its support upcoming metal; so head over to the New Blood stage and find your new favourite band.
