Though festival-goers could find plenty to enjoy the day before, Friday, August 8th marked the beginning of the real Bloodstock 2025: the main stage was finally open (as were the New Blood and EMP stages), ushering in a variety of kick-ass acts from up-and-coming talents to living legends. It should come as no surprise to hear that almost every band we caught on the festival’s first full day, whether they were delivering crushing doom metal, ripping black metal or thunderous metalcore, knocked it out of the park.

Shrapnel

Opening the main stage at Bloodstock is a tall order, as whichever band is chosen for the task will see a host of impressive acts stepping up to compete with them as the day goes on— this year, it was Norwich’s Shrapnel to whom the honour fell. The band have slowly shifted their sound from balls-to-the-wall thrash towards a metalcore-adjacent style in recent years, and that fact was starkly apparent at Bloodstock, where the band’s set showcased the best of both worlds. The four-piece took it upon themselves to blast their way through a number of blistering riffs and anthemic, melodic choruses, earning as strong of a response as a band in this slot could ever hope for: frontman Daniel Moran seemed particularly popular, with his quirky speeches between songs painting him in an extremely likeable light. Cuts like ‘In Gravity’ and hot new single ‘Kingmaker’ were a wonderful indication of the sheer quality to come— there were certainly no complaints when the latter song appeared on the arena’s screens throughout the weekend.

Famyne

Bloodstock has a wonderful tradition of gifting smaller bands the chance to make their mark on the Ronnie James Dio stage— based on their numerous social media posts leading up to the event, it was clear that the opportunity wasn’t lost on Canterbury doom metal group Famyne. The five-piece were absolutely overwhelming at Bloodstock, pushing their classic doom metal riffs to their boldest, heftiest, most deafening point yet: it was simply impossible not to be sucked into the gaping vortex of a cut like ‘Solid Earth,’ even when the kick drum began to feel a little intrusive. The group’s frontman Tom Vane appeared almost possessed on stage, throwing himself around with reckless abandon as his haunting operatic vocals rang out across Catton-on-Trent— with the rest of the band head-banging behind, Famyne were presenting a powerful, unified front. Between the aforementioned grinding riffs and the slower, more psychedelic soloing of a standout moment like ‘Dreamweaver,’ the show had an unstoppable, unfathomable, ungodly momentum to it that kept us enthralled right to the bloody end.

Konvent

Keeping the doom metal train a-rolling were Copenhagen’s Konvent, bringing a darker and grittier sound to the main stage— that, at least, cannot be denied. The four-piece’s grim, brooding style was certainly unsettling, with the ugly doom metal riffs marching on and on and on across the show: in many ways, Konvent lived up to their name, appearing like some apathetic, all-powerful force on the Ronnie James Dio stage. If anything though, the band’s remarkable stillness was probably the greatest contributor to the monotony that set in across the show. Vocalist Rikke Emilie List clearly finds those rumbling growls effortless to execute, and that’s not a talent to be dismissed— the byproduct, however, was a performance that lacked intensity and urgency. Though Konvent were bringing the heaviness at Bloodstock, it was hard to appreciate when the band themselves were so stoic and dismissive: ironically enough, the witches didn’t quite have us under their spell this time around.

Flotsam & Jetsam

Thrash metal is always one of the most popular genres at Bloodstock year-on-year: for many, there’s no better way to spend the weekend than running around in a circle. Arizona’s Flotsam & Jetsam have been working for more than 40 years at this point and have what they do down to a science— indeed, age doesn’t seem to be catching up to the group at all, as vocalist Eric A.K. continued to power his way through screeching high notes. With a giant skull on the stage’s screen peering down, the band were able to keep that circle pit— certainly the most enthusiastic that Bloodstock 2025 had seen thus far— spinning from the opening riffs of ‘Hammerhead’ to the power metal-adjacent melodies of ‘No Place for Disgrace.’ If the band are anywhere close to retirement, they were showing no signs of it: Flotsam & Jetsam may not have been the most unique band of the festival, but their kick-ass, old-school, no-frills-no-nonsense show had every thrash fan in an absolute frenzy.

Paleface Swiss

Any purists who turn their noses up at the increased presence deathcore has at Bloodstock year after year should really look at the massive response it gets every single time— Paleface Swiss had never played the festival before 2025, but walked on to a chorus of deafening cheers. The four-piece are an unassuming lot (hell, vocalist Marc Zellweger was drinking tea between songs), probably lulling a fair few audience members into a false self of security. Make no mistake: Paleface Swiss were one of the most devastatingly heavy acts of Bloodstock 2025. The group’s sound was nigh-on overwhelming, with the vicious breakdowns of ‘Please End Me’ and ‘Hatred’ slamming into you again and again: topped up Zellweger’s monstrous growls, the Swiss group absolutely knew how to get a response. The calls for mosh pits, head-banging and sing-alongs would have been unwarranted if they weren’t so charming— these up-and-comers brought an inferno of energy to the Ronnie James Dio stage, and will surely be higher on the bill whenever they return. 

Orange Goblin

The news that Bloodstock 2025 would be Orange Goblin’s final UK festival appearance before their retirement was a sobering one, and one that clashed harshly against the band’s exhilarating excitement: the beloved stoner rock group were absolutely going out on top, giving their all for a sea of adoring fans. The smiles never left the faces of singer Bill Ward and guitarist Joe Hoare across the entire 45-minute set, with both performers clearly living the dream on the Ronnie James Dio stage: it was an energy that absolutely paid off, as the chants of “Orange Goblin” only grew more and more devoted and intense with every passing song. Though those crucial Harry Armstrong bass lines could feel strangely buried in the mix at times, it feels undeniable that the stoner rock band were bringing their best to Bloodstock 2025— 30 years haven’t left so much as a scratch on the group. Fan-favourites like ‘Red Tide Rising’ and ‘Scorpionica’ were simply overflowing with passion, making it a real honour to catch this crew before their retirement.

Lacuna Coil

Lacuna Coil headlined Bloodstock all the way back in 2007— based on the sheer bravado of their live show in 2025, you would’ve thought they were doing it again. The group ended up taking to the stage slightly later than scheduled, no doubt due to the extreme level of set design being employed: wooden crosses adorned with skeletons loomed over the stage, hanging behind a band giving Sleep Token a run for their money as far as costuming was concerned. Those eery visuals— calling back to the group’s latest album ‘Sleepless Empire’— were pushed into overdrive once the confetti came roaring over the audience during ‘Hosting the Shadow:’ much of it stayed in the rafters of the stage all weekend! It should go without saying that musically, the excess remained: dual vocalists Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia were on top form, punching through the band’s dominating industrial riffs. It says a lot that the group could have the entire crowd head banging while also singing along to the wondrous hooks of ‘Heaven’s a Lie’ and Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy the Silence’— simply put, Lacuna Coil’s show was a masterclass is presentation and performance, and an absolute highlight of the festival.

Emperor

Emperor are a legendary group: it’s as simple as that. Very few bands would still be booked this high on the bill without a new album in more than 20 years, and fewer still would continue to be the talk of the town— Emperor, conversely, made ‘In The Nightside Eclipse,’ and so have fans that regard them with sheer reverence. The group have always done an excellent job of making their live appearances feel important, with their ginormous banner and rousing introductory speech having Bloodstock 2025 in a spell: when ‘Into the Infinity of Thoughts’ began, all hell broke loose. Black metal isn’t always a genre that translates to open air festivals particularly well, and so Emperor’s sound wasn’t quite as immediate as that of Lacuna Coil or Paleface Swiss earlier in the day. What the band were, however, was confident, and ultimately immaculate. Ihsahn’s iconic screams were as cutting as ever, sitting alongside ethereal keys patches and ripping guitar riffs to inject that ice cold venom into ‘I Am the Black Wizards’ and ‘In the Wordless Chamber.’ Though the group weren’t particularly dynamic on stage, that hardly seemed to matter to the droves of Emperor fans filling Catton park— the chants of ‘Inno A Satana’ were deafening, as was the group’s thrilling show.

Trivium

Bloodstock’s trend of booking metalcore headliners has continued with Trivium: where the selection of a band like Architects felt somewhat controversial in 2024 though, Matt Heafy and company were welcomed with open arms this year. The group were taking that headlining slot and running with it, transforming the stage into an ancient temple looked upon by the ominous figure from ‘Ascendancy,’ who was blown up behind the band. The group have an unreasonable number of legendary tracks to their name, with any number of Trivium fans screaming along to crowd favourites like ‘The Heart from Your Hate,’ ‘In Waves’ and ‘Catastrophist’— cuts from 2005’s ‘Ascendancy’ also took up a sizeable chunk of the setlist, to no-one’s disappointment. It was easy to feel the respect Trivium had for Bloodstock, aiming to make this one of their biggest and grandest shows of their career: why else would they bring so many guests with them (including Machine Head’s Robb Flynn, III from Sleep Token, Emperor’s Ihsahn and Josh Baines from Malevolence)? Even if the show did begin to feel like ‘Trivium & friends’ at a certain point, especially when the band randomly broke into a jam of Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets,’ there was no denying the gravitas Heafy and company brought to Bloodstock 2025— Trivium were a worthy headliner, and a fantastic way to close out the Friday.