Since Bloodstock Winter Gathering is split up between two stages at KK’s, I’m going to split up the review in the same way, even though the three bands on Stage 2 sort of took up the middle section of the day.
First up on Stage 2 are rising Manchester thrash outfit Hellbearer. They take the stage to a rammed room of people and launch into some furious thrash metal. Formed in 2022, Hellbearer are very much a traditional sounding thrash outfit with influences from the 80s but also from newer school bands such as Municipal Waste.
Put it this way, halfway through their set lead vocalist Ash Allen asks the crowd, “Are you guys ready for another fucking fast one because that’s all we brought baby!” The crowd approve as they had done all night with bodies flying around what is a fairly constrained space! Let’s face it, if you are a thrash band and you have a 30-minute set, you’re basically going to go for it and leave nothing on the stage!
That’s exactly what Hellbearer do, half an hour of blistering speed with no punches pulled. What a great way to kick off Stage 2. Hellbearer’s latest release, Darker Fates, is out now!
Next up are Thuum, hailing from Bournemouth. I had seen that in advance of this show they had advertised a bus from Bournemouth for the event. I don’t know if that happened or not but like Hellbearer before them, Stage 2 is rammed when they come on. Formed in 2014, their sound has progressed from an earlier sludge sound towards more of a groove metal emphasis.
Midway through the set, vocalist Ryan “Bear” Mills dedicates one of their songs to Dimebag Darrell and I have to say that as a first-time listener I definitely was picking up Thuum’s groove metal influences. Powerful, punchy and with riffs galore, Thuum got heads, limbs and bodies moving. Definitely a band to catch again.
With plenty of punters with band merch on, it was clear that the final band on Stage 2 for the day, Red Method, had enough of a draw in their own right. Again, the room was rammed for their set. Having appeared on Bloodstock’s main stage previously, they’ve got big stage experience and quite honestly had an energy and presence that threatened to tear this smaller room apart at the seams.
With a sound characterised by a low-end groove infusing technically progressive riffs, dynamic and diverse rhythmic patterns, and vocals covering growls, squeals and anthemic clean choruses, there’s plenty going on to keep the interest. By this point in the day Stage 2 was a total sweatbox but that didn’t stop the movement in the crowd.
Of all the bands on the second stage, Red Method probably had the most distinctive and developed sound. I’d read references to them sounding like Slipknot and to a certain extent I can understand that, but I think that underplays a strong streak of originality and depth in their songwriting. Red Method could easily have been on the main hall today.
Some final thoughts on the second stage in general. In advance of the festival, I was a bit worried it was going to be a bit of a shitshow with too many folk trying to squeeze in. That didn’t happen at all and it was fairly easy to get in and out of the room. It was busy for all three bands though, and what they all effectively got was a rammed, sweaty, energy-fuelled club gig in a festival setting. Grand stuff.
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Main Stage
Opening the main stage at KK’s Steel Mill for the first ever Bloodstock Winter Gathering are South Wales’s King Kraken. They are a great choice as opening band. With vocalist Mark Donoghue resplendent in black kilt and leather waistcoat, they open with “Scream” followed by “El Giganto” from their latest album March of the Gods, released in April this year.
By the time they work through to “Magnum Opus” and “Man Made Monster”, the crowd have broken out their first circle pits and are definitely warming to the band. As a first timer to the band, one of the things that stand out for me is lead guitarist Adam Healy’s solos. Characterised by those soulful, blues-edged rock solos that you don’t often get in more modern metal, Adam seamlessly transitions to a more shredding style.
In many ways, this feels like a microcosm of the band’s sound as a whole as they effortlessly straddle that long-standing space called Hard Rock/Heavy Metal. Finishing off with “Chainsaw Saviour” (what a great song title) and “March of the Gods”, King Kraken have by this point taken a cold crowd and built up a great level of rapport and energy. A great start to the day and a great showcase for King Kraken!
If King Kraken had got the crowd warmed up, Tortured Demon lit a bonfire beneath them. Opening up with “Conflict of Interest” from the band’s second album Rise Of The Lifeless, circle pits open up and by the time the band have ripped through “Virtual Death” and “Disfavour” the first crowd surfers also appear. These tracks are great showcases of Tortured Demon’s overall sound: full-on thrash metal with groove-infused passages and soaring choruses.
This is the third time that I’ve caught Tortured Demon live, the first being their Sophie stage appearance at Bloodstock in 2023 followed up at Audio in Glasgow on their 2024 UK tour. Catching them at Bloodstock Winter Gathering is like being witness to their gradual, incremental but relentless evolution.
Jacob’s voice is getting stronger and more powerful, and he is also gaining far more confidence in fronting the band. In 2023 on the Sophie stage he looked slightly in awe of the occasion, whereas today he was commanding the crowd like a hoary old veteran. Joe is also quickly becoming a powerhouse of a drummer. I’m not sure if it was just the sound mix or a cross between the mix and his performance, but of all the bands today his drums cut through the strongest. Fast, tight and technically proficient, this is a major driving force of Tortured Demon’s overall sound.
I’m not sure which song it was, but there was one transition from a 16th note double bass passage to 32nd notes that was so smooth and seamless it warmed the heart of this old drumming nerd! Jacob mentions the band’s progression himself, introducing songs like “The Invasion” and “The Oppressed” from their first album In Desperation’s Grip as having been recorded when they were kids but are now being “played as they should be”.
Let’s be clear, Tortured Demon aren’t the finished article. In fact, they are probably far from the finished article. What does “finished article” Tortured Demon sound like? A goddamn exciting fucking prospect, that’s what!
Straight up, Hellripper were my number two band to see at this festival after Candlemass, so I was pretty gutted when it became clear that they had been forced to pull out. Full credit has to go to Devastator. Filling in when another band has pulled out is never the easiest thing to do, but isn’t it great when a band are given that short notice opportunity and they grab it for all it’s worth?
Devastator didn’t so much grab the opportunity as grab it by the scruff of the neck, headbutt it and give it a damn good kicking as it writhed on the ground screaming for mercy. Sounding like the orphan bastard offspring of Venom and Motörhead, Devastator deliver primeval thrash with a level of raw aggression that would strip the paint off a battleship, and the crowd lapped it up.
This was exemplified by their performance of the Motörhead classic “Iron Fist” along with guest vocalist Tony Dolan from Venom Inc. I know that Motörhead were often a bit bemused by how they had influenced thrash but this cover is a perfect example of how they did. Fast, powerful and hard hitting, Devastator are bringing this out as a single on the 24th December so be sure to check it out!
Is it my imagination or are Raised By Owls rapidly becoming the UK metal scene’s equivalent of a national institution? I had promised myself prior to this show that I’d try and focus on the music as opposed to the humour but the reality is, that’s quite difficult when it’s all just so bloody funny!
I mean, when you state during your first song that you’ve summoned Satan himself and who appears but Mr Blobby… and Mr Blobby proceeds to crowd surf at the front, it’s going to catch the attention of even the most po-faced reviewer. And the thing is, the humour that comes along with Raised By Owls isn’t just one way. What makes it is the crowd interaction.
Sam: “We’ve got some bad news, my mum can’t make it today.”
Crowd: “Boooooooo!!!”
Sam: “We do have another very special guest though!”
Cue Crowd Chant: “Sam’s mum, Sam’s mum, Sam’s mum!!!”
Also later:
Sam: “How many of you have seen Raised By Owls before?”
Crowd: Lots of crowd raise their arms.
Sam: “I mean, why? Why would you? Actually, I asked that at our gig in Glasgow and a guy looked straight up at me and said ‘autism’.”
Cue Crowd Chant: “Autism, autism, autism!!!”
Who else but Raised By Owls could get the crowd to “open the pit” so that everybody can “Dance Like Barney Greenway”? Or could have a song like “I’m Sorry I Wore A Dying Fetus T-Shirt To Your Baby’s Gender Reveal Party”?
By that point it’s the big reveal and Sam announces that their special guest, all the way from the US to do vocals on “Break Stuff”, is none other than Fred Durst himself! And yeah, it’s Sam’s mum. Cue crowd chant: “Sam’s mum, Sam’s mum, Sam’s mum!!!” Cue Sam’s mum: “Buy a t-shirt and I’ll sign your cock!” Sam: “Do not expose yourself to my mum at the merch stall!!”
Honestly, this entire set was just glorious hilarity, absolutely brilliant and basically today it felt like the heart and soul of the festival. And yeah, Raised By Owls play some slammin’ technical death metal in amongst it all.
I can’t believe that I’m actually writing this but… yeah, it was going to take something special to come on after Raised By Owls. On one of the preview interviews prior to the festival I had seen, Simon Hall stated that in discussions with Tony Dolan they had set out to do just that – put on something special! Which is how the idea came about to have Venom Inc perform the 2017 Avé album in full.
Right from the beginning it was clear that this was going to be a special performance. Not only was the opening track from the album, “Avé Satanas”, pounded out by the band in foreboding dramatic fashion, but they were accompanied by a duo of fire artists – adorned by crowns of flame, dancing along to the music and in turns eating and breathing fire.
In a venue the size of KK’s Steel Mill this was a stunning visual introduction to the set during the first song (which was also repeated additionally during the set). Ok, so it maybe pales slightly in comparison to the show Sabaton put on over the weekend but hey, different venues, different scale! In this context, it provided a level of spectacle and focus that really did help turn this set into a part of the festival that will live long in the memory for those attending.
Also, just to state, Tony Dolan may be the only band member left from the recording of this album but on the day it didn’t matter a jot. This was a performance that hit the audience like a sledgehammer and the guys in the band looked like they were in their absolute element. Something special? Yeah, job done!
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After Candlemass headlined the Sophie stage at Bloodstock in 2023, one of the post-festival reviews had described the set as “an almost religious experience”. Well, if you can call several thousand drunk metalheads desperately trying to match the vocal lines of Candlemass classics “an almost religious experience” then sign me up for that church, mate!
The word “legendary” gets bandied around far too much in metal. And probably in life in general. In Candlemass’s case though? More than deserved! This was a band who – at a time in the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s when everybody and their granny was ramping up the speed during the great heyday of thrash – pioneered their slow, riff-laden, doomier sound. To cut the speed and emphasise operatic vocals during that era was both bold and brave. And for their first record on that pioneering journey they named it Epicus Doomicus Metallicus.
And so here we are at Winter Bloodstock celebrating 40 years of doom! Entering to the intro tape of “Marche Funebre”, their set opens with “Bewitched” followed by “Dark Are the Veils of Death”, both from Nightfall. Then follows “Mirror Mirror” from Ancient Dreams followed by “Under The Oak” from Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. What a way to start!
It was at this point (or possibly following the next song?) that bassist and founder member Leif Edling had a short monologue to the crowd thanking fans for their support over the years and stating that they had pulled a set list together to make sure nobody left disappointed! One of the things that I had thought during the 2023 set on the Sophie stage was that vocalist Johan Längqvist struggled occasionally with some of the passages.
That wasn’t the case tonight at all as he was totally on point and delivered an outstanding vocal performance throughout a succession of Candlemass classics. In fact, one of the things that strikes about tonight’s performance is just how relaxed and assured Candlemass are as a band. This current tour has taken them across multiple countries and continents and the guys look like they are revelling in their status as a band who have made it this far!
Next up is the first of tonight’s tracks from Tales of Creation, “Dark Reflections”, which is followed by another Ancient Dreams track, “Darkness in Paradise”. The most recent track of the evening is the title track of the 2022 release, “Sweet Evil Sun” – the only album this evening where vocalist Johan originally recorded the track apart from Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. And it is from that album that the final two songs from the main set are drawn from in “Crystal Ball” and “A Sorcerer’s Pledge”.
It takes no time at all after the band leave the stage for them to be roared back by the crowd for a set of encores. First up we have “The Well of Souls” from Nightfall and this is followed by two further tracks from Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in “Demons Gate” and finally “Solitude”.
And yes, there were plenty of sing-along moments in the set tonight – for example “Bewitched”, “Dark Are the Veils of Death” and “The Well of Souls” – but is there anything to match “Solitude” in the doom metal sing-along stakes? I can’t have been the only one the next morning with sore vocal cords after screeching out “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes and dust to dust” multiple times over the course of this song!
The fan in me would have liked “At the Gallows End” and “Samaritan” but given that we just had an hour and a half set spanning 40 years with songs from five albums including five from Epicus Doomicus Metallicus you really can’t complain. This was a towering, triumphant, epic performance from a band whose legendary status only grows with the years. I hope – and I’m sure this is a view shared by many fans – that this isn’t the last we see of Candlemass!
Finally, you also have to state that Bloodstock Winter Gathering as a whole was a triumph. I only caught a little of the Q&A session that was held in Stage 2 but during the snippet I did see, one of the panellists mentioned that in the run up to Winter Bloodstock they were “shitting themselves”.
Well, shit no more. It’s been made clear that this will become an annual event but what the format of that will be going forward isn’t so clear. What was a positive for me though was the number of UK bands that were provided with a platform as part of the festival bill. If the formula can be continued to ensure this on an ongoing basis then that can only be seen as a positive. Here’s to 2026!
