Sunday morning brings the fatigue, but The Cartographer kicked things off on the New Blood stage, followed by Barbarian Hermit on the Sophie stage. Despite the name, there were no funky costumes, just heavy riffs. One Machine woke up the main stage with some flame pyro boxes, warming up the front row nicely.
I had been really looking forward to FRAYLE on the Sophie stage and they didn’t disappoint. The lead singer sported an elaborate headdress and face jewellery, while the band wore embellished masks. They opened with “Treacle & Revenge”, a personal favourite. On the New Blood stage, Ocean Planet played a tech-heavy set that included a really emotional song about the vocalist’s late mother (I hope I’ve remembered the correct band here). Rizen also put in a shift on the New Blood stage, while over on EMP, Z Machine featured a saxophone – always a win in our book!
Then came one of the absolute highlights of the weekend: Feuerschwanz on the main stage. Imagine if Gloryhammer and Sabaton had a baby. It’s power metal madness with two vocalists, a violinist, and even bagpipes at one point. Their costumes were incredible (though I felt for them in the midday heat) and the energy was off the charts. It was songs of epic quests and dragons, and they just seemed genuinely delighted to be there. Would 100% go see them again.
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We caught a few minutes of Burnt Out Wreck on the VIP stage (check out our interview with Gary Moat), before heading to see Lowen on the Sophie stage. The singer wore a beautiful gown and wielded a ceremonial knife, bringing a polished, almost Middle-Eastern vibe that has generated a lot of hype. KOBA impressed on the New Blood stage with instrumental post-metal, while SIGLOS wafted the Sophie stage with sage at the start of their set, giving off serious Heilung vibes with their corpse paint.
Other mentions must go to Orme (three-piece doom on EMP), Thrown (jump-around core on Sophie), and New Blood acts Preyrs and Ruled By Raptors – the latter bringing some madness from Tyneside. The Five Hundred also played the EMP stage, though we only managed a quick snap.
Mastodon took the main stage, and while everyone knows who they are, I always forget the drummer sings, meaning I was in completely the wrong spot in the photopit! Legends nonetheless. Lord of the Lost weren’t quite suited to the bright sunshine, but put on a typically great show with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek humour and excellent audience interaction.
A blast from the past appeared on the Sophie stage in the form of 3 Inches of Blood. It was great to see them back after 20 years, along with their tourmates Trivium who played Friday. Fun fact: we covered both of them with Still Remains back in Leeds in 2005! And we completed the set when we saw Still Remains in Glasgow in November.
Closing the main stage were French titans Gojira. While I’m still not fully “into” them musically, you cannot fail to recognise the superb live show they put on. The production was amazing; watching from the side, the lighting looked like a jet engine with the pulse extending out over the audience. Definitely a band best enjoyed once the sun goes down.
Finally, closing the festival on the Sophie stage were the legendary Obituary. It was a classic performance, and being the last one of the weekend, everyone was enjoying it that little bit extra. Another cracking year at Catton Park for the history books!
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Apologies to the acts we didn’t catch, or where we were buzzing past so quickly we didn’t get a chance to make too many notes! Hopefully we’ll see you there in years to come for a second shot! We know we’re already gearing up and have plans for Bloodstock’s 25th anniversary event this summer!
Photos by Katie Frost and Sean Larkin
