And so Bloodstock kicked off proper on Friday, no less hot or dry than its previous two iterations: the beers were flowing, the battle jackets were already dirty, and a huge wave of exciting bands were playing across the festival’s four stages. All eyes were, of course, on Lamb of God to live up to the expectations set by their headlining show in 2022, but even more so on special guests Sepultura, who were making this their final UK performance before retiring. Under the scorching August sun, Bloodstock 2026 was home to some outrageously fun shows this year.

Battlesnake

The Bloodstock team have a long history of giving smaller acts a shot on the Ronnie James Dio stage, and this year the honour went to the rambunctious Battlesnake. The band were certainly dressed to impress, adorning flowing white robes and theatrical headpieces befitting of their show’s biblical theming: Bloodstock was treated to a quick sermon to start things off, then the excitable thrash metal of ‘I Killed Satan’ came thundering in. Frank and company were clearly giddy to be playing on such a prestigious stage, with keytarist Billy O’key in particular bounding around the stage with an enviable amount of enthusiasm— still, it would take some time for the crowd to really warm up to the Australians, with ‘I Am The Vomit’ and ‘Mud Apocalypse’ going over well, if not swimmingly. If you were talking about Battlesnake at Bloodstock, you were talking about the ending of their show, which was silly enough to put even Evil Scarecrow to shame. Backed by the anthemic riffs of ‘Nightmare King,’ all hell broke loose: the band stripped to their underwear, O’key was pushed around the stage on a wheeled box, Sam Frank swam out too far crowd-surfing, and all in attendance were left grinning from ear to ear.

Party Cannon

As far as goofy antics were concerned, the Ronnie James Dio stage was two-for-two on Friday: just as we were catching our breath after Battlesnake, here came Party Cannon to up the ante. The Scottish band had made some bold claims leading up to their show, aiming to break a number of world records including ‘largest banana man circle pit’ and ‘most crowd surfers on inflatables’— Party Cannon were able to weave a hilarious story throughout their set, ending with the ‘official’ record adjudicator’s death via human squelcher. Boyce and company’s show was an exercise in maximalism, and a towering one at that: you may think their signature brand of grindcore is impactful, and it certainly was at Bloodstock, but the band’s flamboyant visuals are something else entirely. At a certain point, you just had to ask yourself: why not throw out all-manner of balloons, inflatables and lilos into the crowd? Why not cover the Ronnie James Dio stage in vulgar cardboard cutouts? Why not open your show with a Metalocalypse-style PSA, set to the Wii Sports Resort theme tune? Party Cannon took every opportunity to surprise and delight, and ran very far with every one.

Life of Agony

After taking a break from the main stage— Catton-on-Trent wasn’t taking it easy on us poor festival-goers— we caught Life of Agony, who were bringing their signature style of anthemic alternative metal to Bloodstock. The four-piece seemed to be battling against technical issues during their set-up, but in classic New-Yorker fashion, guitarist Joey Z shouted “f*ck it, let’s just do it,” and just like that, we were off. If Life of Agony were anything, it was energetic: more than thirty years since the release of fan-favourite record ‘River Runs Red,’ which made up a hefty chunk of the setlist, the band still exude showmanship and charisma at every turn. Every stomping metal riff and balls-to-the-wall chorus was met with boyish excitement from Joey Z and frontman Keith Caputo, who’s dominance on the Ronnie James Dio stage almost had him looking like Freddie Mercury at times. Life of Agony left those tech issues in the dust with this, a show full of too many rockstar moments to count.

Fit For An Autopsy

If Fit For An Autopsy can be described as anything at Bloodstock 2026, it was bloodcurdlingly heavy (not that that should come as much of a surprise). The celebrated deathcore outfit were playing for the largest crowd of the day so far, but they weren’t taking it easy on them: from the moment the crushing riffs off ‘Lower Purpose’ came off the speakers to throttle you right up until the end of set closer ‘Far From Heaven,’ Fit For An Autopsy’s set was a non-stop barrage of churning down-tuned guitar parts and near-inhuman vocals from Joe Badolato. There was really no faulting the band on a technical front, with drummer Josean Orta flying through these tunes without breaking much of a sweat— that’s not what you were focused on when the sheer heft of new single ‘The Wretch’ was pressed up against you though. Those deathcore essentials could grow a little exhausting by set’s end, sure, but the crowd hardly seemed to care, turning into a conveyer belt of crowdsurfers at Badolato’s request. If he’d just called for them a little earlier in the show, Fit For An Autopsy’s punishing exhibition might have taken the festival’s crowdsurfing record.

Municipal Waste

Bloodstock 2026’s Friday lineup proved that, for all its satanic imagery and self-seriousness, metal is ultimately meant to be fun: after the antics of Battlesnake and Party Cannon left us grinning earlier in the day, thrash metal icons Municipal Waste were finally here to tickle us yet again. The four-piece aren’t an out-and-out comedy act, but their unending commitment to ‘pizza thrash’ was nonetheless something to smile at, especially given the sheer gusto frontman Tony Foresta put into every line. It should be no surprise to hear that the racing riffs of fan-favourites like ‘The Art of Partying’ and ‘Slime and Punishment’ went down a treat at Bloodstock, with the biggest circle pit of all being dedicated to Sick of It All’s Lou Koller— that tribute went down as the sole moment of seriousness in this hour of hilarious shenanigans. Municipal Waste may not have broken the festivals’ crowdsurfer record, as they falsely claimed up on stage, but make no mistake: their show was armed to the teeth with energy, from both the band and the audience.

Sepultura

Sepultura may have announced their retirement a few years ago at this point, but it was still unbelievable to think that their performance at Bloodstock would be their very last in the UK: when the four-piece walked out onto that stage, it was to scores of cheers and chants, a response that wouldn’t die until the final notes of ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ died out. Even still, Sepultura’s show was slow-going, even in spite of the blood-pumping riffs of a cut like ‘Dead Embryonic Cells’— it seemed clear from the off that, outside of a few surprises peppered throughout the set, Green and company were content to coast on the legacy of their back catalogue. The Brazilian crew claim to be ‘celebrating life through death,’ and that could absolutely be felt during the massive on-stage drum circle, and in the sheer thrill of seeing hit songs ‘Refuse/Resist,’ ‘Arise’ and the aforementioned ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ brought to life in quick succession to round out the show. Elsewhere though, the use of AI-visuals undercut this somewhat underwhelming farewell from Sepultura, who lacked the hunger that thrash metal subsists on.

Lamb of God

And so we come to our headliners, and familiar ones at that: it’s only been four years since Lamb of God closed out Bloodstock 2022, not that the eager crowd really seemed to care. The Virginian groove metal crew were sporting a tech-heavy stage show pulled straight from the aesthetic of new record ‘Into Oblivion,’ with layered screens pulling you into a performance full of bold colours and dizzying visuals. Blythe and company played three tracks from their latest album, proving that the likes of ‘Blunt Force Blues’ and ‘Parasocial Christ’ fit in completely alongside the classics, but quite predictably, it was the one-two punch of ‘Ruin’ and ‘Laid to Rest’ that had the festival in an absolute frenzy. At this point in their career, Lamb of God have bloodlust and carnage down to a science, and there was no faulting the venom in Randy Blythe’s inhuman screams or the menace in his stage presence. This may have been business as usual for the band, but what else could you ask for from one of modern metal’s most dependable outfits? The violent head banging awarded to ‘Now You’ve Got Something to Die For,’ the rapturous response to Morton’s solo on ‘Grace’ and the vicious circle pit to show closer ‘Redneck’ all proved that Lamb of God can still kick you in the teeth (in the best of ways).