Despite seeing the sunny forecast for the entire Bloodstock weekend and thanking Vicky Hungerford for the rain dances she must have performed – or cheeky bit of devil worship – Bloodstock 2025’s warmup Thursday began with an aggressive downpour. The pre-arena opening at 5 pm, beers, and catching up were dramatically halted as everyone scurried into their tents like a horde of battle jacket-clad moles.
Bloodstock Festival 2025
Catton Park, Derbyshire – Thursday 7 August 2025
But then, as 5 pm hit, our panic at not packing a raincoat in favour of an extra bottle of sun cream proved short-lived. This is half of the MetalTalk team’s first Bloodstock, so while for some returning to the arena it was back into the home of their extended Heavy Metal family, for some of us it was time to pop our Bloodstock cherries.
Amidst all the magnificent pink outfits, with one particular highlight being a regal-looking pink gown, was Tealdeer walking around in a four-man black Tealdeer band T-shirt. They nailed band marketing with this entertaining outfit choice, and have set the bar high for how we want to see every band walking around the arena.
Dead Flesh
The Sophie Lancaster stage was hot and preening with life as Dead Flesh ripped into the first set of the weekend and encouraged a pit filled with gas masks, beach balls, and only the occasional outburst of “You call this a pit? You babies”.
Fourway Kill
Fourway Kill, a well-known entity here at Bloodstock, have been causing riots in the field for well over 20 years, and it shows in their commanding performance. Utter brutality and passion was expelled into the early weekend crowd and built some strong foundations for all the bands that followed.
We doubt this will be the last time the festival is host to the accomplished four-piece and cannot wait to see where they go next. 
Gnome
Pointy-hatted humans could be spotted all over the arena, like a live Where’s Wally game, and they gathered en masse for the stoner prog powertrio Gnome. As far as gimmicks go, pointy red felt hats that look hand-stitched are about as minimalist as they come.
But they add great dramatic effect when flying off during a particularly aggressive headbang from bassist Geoffrey Verhulst. But the real magic of Gnome can be explained in one word: riffs. The unexpected twists and turns came in the spectrum of shredding mysticism that the Belgians traversed.
Singer Rutger Verbist’s booming growls also acted as a beacon to Bloodstockers still hanging out at the bar. With multiple rounds of hands in the air and fists slapping together, even if they were not on your priority list, Gnome were an explosion of fun. 
All For Metal
No one quite does fun, however, like the Italian-German force All For Metal. Their self-titled anthem, All For Metal, belts out a life motto all humans, not just Metalheads, need to be repeating daily. All for Metal, Metal for all.
And it’s catchy as hell. Inflatable swords, what looked like an inflatable battering ram, and chiselled Viking pecs bounced around the Sophie Lancaster tent. They may not appeal to all Metal fans, but even the haters cannot deny the fun of this enthusiastic Metal outfit. 
The gruff Thor vocals from Tetzel mixed with the melodic power of Antonio Calanna were complemented magnificently by the two badass axewomen shredding up the stage. And the occasional chaotic interruption from the Loki-esque bassist. 
When a phone saying “pit?” zooms past you in the crowd, you follow it, no doubts allowed. Especially as Tetzel demonstrates his strength athlete persona by lifting up his band members with one arm. The crowd needed all the hands they could get to prove that we, too, could lift humans over our shoulders even if one Tetzel equates to multiple flapping Bloodstockers. 
Following a legendary tribute to the Prince of Darkness, All For Metal had wanted to know if we enjoyed their set. CHEERS. They then wanted to know if they should headline the main stage. MORE CHEERS.
All For Metal definitely need to grace Bloodstock with their presence again, but maybe headlining the main stage is a bit ambitious for now, anyway. 
Robbed Zombie
We may have said our evening prayers to the gods of Metal, but it absolutely was not time for bed. It was time to descend into the eerie embrace of the Serpent’s Lair VIP bar, where Robbed Zombie, Europe’s only Rob Zombie tribute act, awaited.
Theatrical, funky, and gloriously filthy, they were a spectacle of chaos and charisma. Inflatable aliens bobbed above the crowd as the tent pulsed with energy, a carnival of the bizarre. They tore through classic tracks with feral intensity, each riff met with ecstatic roars from the crowd.
Me And That Man
Fuelled with some steaming hot delicious Bunnymans Bunny Chow, Thursday’s final gift came in the form of headliners Me And That Man. Completely unrecognisable without his Behemoth makeup and unholy satanic howls, Nergal’s gothic country blues project darkened the atmosphere in a way that only deep blues can.
After Nergal’s encouragement to start a mosh pit, and cool lights turning into a fiery orange attack, the life of the tent picked up. And then a quick tribute to Ozzy and a heavy blues rendition of Paranoid sparked up a frenzy in honour of the Prince of Darkness.
A dash of blues and a sprinkling of country is not what we expected to add to our recipe for a great Bloodstock. But Me And That Man’s unique flavour of dark folk has made it clear that what Bloodstock does best is mix guaranteed Metal magnificence with daring surprises that pay off.
Well, most of the time.
Bloodstock 2025 will be held over the long weekend of 7-10 August 2025. MetalTalk’s Lucy Dunnet, Adrian Stonley, Matt Pratt and Rhys Tagg will be reporting from Catton Park.
Take Part: Are you at Bloodstock this year? Who are you looking forward to seeing? Want to get in touch and tell us how it’s going? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to tell us how it’s going for you. Bloodstock@MetalTalk.net
#boa25. For more information, visit bloodstock.uk.com. You can view a map of Bloodstock at bloodstock.uk.com/bloodstock_map.jpg
You can read all our 2025 reports at https://www.metaltalk.net/bloodstock.
MetalTalk Bloodstock 2024 coverage is at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2024.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2023 coverage at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2023.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2022 coverage at metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2022.
Bloodstock 2026 – Tickets
Early bird tickets for the 25th Edition of Bloodstock in 2026 are available now at the box office on site, and are the cheapest way to purchase, with no booking fee. Weekend early bird tickets (Thu-Sun) for BLOODSTOCK 2026 are available to purchase at the box office on site for £185.
Child (age 4-11) weekend early birds are £50. Children under 4 attend for free.
Wednesday early access is also available for those who want to max out their BLOODSTOCK experience – an early bird adult Wed-Sun ticket costs £215. There is no additional cost for children under 4, or aged 4-11, to arrive with a parent on Wednesday.
Bloodstock 2026 tickets can be purchased online from the official Bloodstock website.
