No matter how your Friday night at Bloodstock 2025 was spent, whether it was competing in bouts of sumo wrestling or consuming excessive amounts of mango cider, Saturday morning was spent in the queues for coffee – queues which almost exceeded the dreaded waits for a shower.
The caffeine cravings came close to flying out the unzipped tent hole, however, when the main stage openers, Cage Fight, kicked off their set with the force of a steel-toed boot. And Thrash Metal overlords Warbringer later saw that no one was tempted by a midday siesta by whipping the main stage into multiple circle pit battle charges.
Wherever you went throughout the day, a shout or ten of “Machine ‘fucking’ Head” gave no doubt as to the unhinged excitement for Bloodstock’s sold-out Saturday headliner. Machine Head lit up Bloodstock in a blaze of glory, commanding the stage, the chaos, and our hearts with unmatched authority.
But if we had to sum up Saturday in just one word, it would be: Industrial. First, Fear Factory celebrated 30 years of Demanufacture, then came Ministry and their black furry-hatted spectacle, and finally, Static-X, who wrapped up Saturday in one massive strobe-attack of a Heavy Metal rave.
Bloodstock Open Air Festival
Catton Park, Derbyshire – Saturday 9 August 2025
Jump to: Cage Fight – Warbringer – Waterlines – Creeper – Phoenix Lake – PENGSHUi – Fortune Teller – Fear Factory – Ministry – Breed 77 – Machine Head – Static-X
Cage Fight
Crashing into Saturday morning like a steel-toed boot to the temple were Cage Fight, who tore through the haze of hangovers and sleep deprivation. From the first note, they seized Bloodstock by the scruff of the neck and shook it into consciousness. By the second song, the old school Hardcore crew had ignited a circle pit and sent waves of crowd surfers crashing toward the barricades.
Vocalist Rachel Aspe, whose guttural growl could crack concrete, led the charge with visceral precision. The band sported shirts designed by Rachel herself, a DIY touch that underscored their uncompromising ethos.
Interaction was minimal, but intentional. Bassist Will Horsman threw out a few rallying cries, summoning fresh pits and more airborne bodies. Cage Fight is no mere side hustle for Tesseract Guitarist James Monteith, whose playing was chaotic yet surgically precise, anchoring the set with a sense of purpose that elevated the band beyond genre tropes.
In a nod to their relentless momentum, the band debuted I Hate Your Guts, a blistering new track that dropped just a day before the festival. It landed like a Molotov cocktail, igniting the already frenzied crowd.
The potentially dreaded early slot on the Ronnie James Dio Stage, often reserved for bands playing to bleary-eyed stragglers, was no match for Cage Fight’s ferocity. This is Bloodstock, after all: sleep is optional, and Hardcore is gospel.
Warbringer
California Thrash Metal overlords Warbringer began their vanquishing set on the Ronnie James Dio Stage before the sound check had even finished, with vocalist John Kevill turning his devilish eyes outwards and teasing a circle pit with his hands. The crowd restrained themselves long enough for Firepower Kills to start before launching into a pit, and the force that took over for the next 40 minutes was a fast barrage of battle-ready riffs and roughness.
Wabringer are a band that mean business of the hard, lethal sort, but the kind the crowd can’t stop grinning at while participating in. Circle pits at 1 pm on a sunny Saturday should not be this barbaric, but we are glad they were. 
The Sword And The Cross, the intro to Warbringer’s latest album, Wrath And Ruin, was welcomed with screams from the gathered army of fans. Kevill brandished their now-iconic long sword, which Warbringer have been featuring in their shows since April.
Even though swords tend to belong to more theatrical Power Metal outfits, Kevill isn’t worried about it becoming cheesy because they have “vicious riffs going, so the context is different.” And witnessing him glare into the crowd as he slid his tongue sadistically along the hard Metal was anything but cheesy.
Hardcore Thrash attack Remain Violent and inspirationally furious Living Weapon completed the battle for Warbringer, but not before a wall of death encouraged anyone who felt they hadn’t shed enough blood yet to take part in one final magnificent medieval reckoning.
Waterlines
Dirtbags from the North, Waterlines, incorporate elements of Nu-Metal, Metalcore, and EDM into their riotous party-focused Metal. Formed from the remnants of Prog Metal band Sertraline in 2022, they have declared it their mission to whip the UK Metalcore scene into a frenzy, and with tracks like Set The Pace and new single Sinister, the mission is in full fevered swing.
At first, the backing visuals were futuristically neon with the erratic movements of a video game, heightening Waterlines’ sense of experimentation and the electronic soundscapes they are grounded in. But then they were monochrome, and suddenly it felt like we had been transported to a Black Mirror episode, but without the harrowing undertones. 
Vocalist Ben Mars stormed around the stage with a chaotic magnetism that was impossible not to feel energised by. In fact, the entire band spent the entire set grooving and slamming into each other and their instruments. Whether it was guitarist Mike Hawkings doing a backwards bum shuffle or drummer Si Douglas standing up for a shimmy after Mars’ shout for if anyone felt sexy.
The best piss-yourself laughing, yet wholesomely inclusive, moment from Waterlines set came when Mars commanded everyone to put their arms around the people on either side of them. However, this was no goodbye hug: they had turned the Sophie Lancaster tent into a human daisy chain which jumped “to the left to the left to the left… to the right to the right to the right.” They ensured there wasn’t a second in which they, nor the crowd, weren’t living it up at the Waterlines’ rager.
Creeper
Before Creeper even stepped onto the stage, screens flashed a warning: expect very loud bangs. And they weren’t kidding. As the eerie prelude built, an axe-wielding behemoth emerged from the shadows, striding forward with theatrical menace. The Mistress of Death, swinging a severed head with gleeful abandon before hurling it into the pit below. Macabre, camp, and utterly captivating, it was Creeper through and through.
The band descended upon the Ronnie James Dio Stage, clad in their signature leather jackets and face paint, braving the blazing afternoon sun – hardly vampire-friendly weather – but they made it work. As if it wasn’t already hot enough, they brought fire – and lots of it.
They galloped into Blood Magik (It’s A Ritual), and from there, it was a full-throttle ride through Teenage Sacrifice, Sacred Blasphemy, and The Ballad of Spook and Mercy, each delivered with theatrical precision and emotional punch. The crowd’s cheers carried a noticeably higher pitch than earlier acts, proof that Creeper’s cult following had shown up in full force. Circle pits broke out, and the band fed off the chaos.
Closing with the anthemic Cry To Heaven, Creeper showcased the full spectrum of their arsenal: fast and heavy, soft and powerful, and everything in between. Will Gould remains an enigmatic frontman, commanding the stage with gothic swagger, while Hannah Hermione’s vocals soared like a siren across Catton Park, drawing in curious Metalheads in doubt of Creeper’s fit at Bloodstock.
By the end of their set, there was no doubt about it: Creeper are a powerhouse of talent, armed with stadium-ready tunes and theatrics that would make the great Godfather of Shock Rock, Alice Cooper, proud.
Phoenix Lake
Nottingham’s Phoenix Lake returned to Bloodstock with a set that fused mythological grandeur with Melodic Metal firepower. With fire breathers, smoke effects, and coordinated red-and-black outfits and instruments, the band lit up the stage both figuratively and literally.
Phoenix Lake are conjurers of myth. From Fractured Wings and Serenity, to Come Alive and the live debut of This Abyss, their setlist was a journey through emotion and intensity, each track weaving melody and ancient might into a fiercely captivating soundscape. 
Frontwoman Lana Phillis commanded Bloodstock’s attention with her alluring vocals and magnetic stage presence, soaring through powerful choruses and layered harmonies that gave Phoenix Lake’s performance an ethereal edge. It wasn’t their first Bloodstock appearance, but it felt like a defining one for this band that refuse to stop rising.
PENGSHUi
As Metal moves with the times, so must Bloodstock, and their healthy offering of diverse acts is not better exemplified than with PENGSHUi. While the trio’s music derives from genres practically alien to the Heavy Metal crowd, such as grime and drum and bass, their sound is inarguably as heavy as those sharing the Sophie Lancaster stage, and their themes of societal injustice ring true with punk rock ideologies. 
The band are clearly huge fans of The Prodigy, and their set featured a remix of Omen, which they released as a single last year. The track was an apt one; the Prodigy are a perfect example of a band that exceeded the limits of what was once considered the norm in Metal and went on to become a widely loved band, no doubt something PENGSHUi hoped to emulate. The three-piece brought boundless energy, enrapturing the attention of even those audience members who wouldn’t normally lean into this kind of sound.
2025 is looking to be a big year for PENGSHUi, who have already released a collaboration with the incredible Tesseract and just this weekend announced an autumn tour. So you can expect to see a lot more of this powerful band, whether you like it or not!
Fortune Teller
Ingested to Fortune Teller is not an obvious musical journey, but it is one that seasoned musician Ross McLennan has embarked on (who could have foretold this). Fortune Teller are on the ethereal end of the Power Metal spectrum, with vocalist Theresa Smith’s angelically compelling vocals softening the band’s big riff priority.
With one minute to get from Spudman to Timothy Taylors New Blood Stage, I impersonated a small dog competing in an agility course to get through the strolling, lounging, and curled up Bloodstockers filling the space at the back of the main stage, and made it without spilling too many drops of sweat.
Their set may have started with a small mic issue, eliciting screams from the crowd who didn’t want to risk missing a moment of Smith’s singing, but after that, it was smooth sailing. Even the arrival of a muscular man in a lime green mankini, boogying to Fortune Teller’s headbanger Savage Seas, failed to distract the crowd. 
Fortune Teller play with your Power Metal instincts by storming full speed ahead when illusions of pending calm wash over you, and then, just as you’ve decided you never want them to slow down, they tease you with, “it’s time to take it down a bit.” But when taking it down a bit means a compelling, melancholic keys section from Grammy long-listed producer Meyrick De La Fuente, the tent becomes awash with awe.
My only gripe with Fortune Teller is that they have released just two songs, so I am desperately hoping this will change in the near future as they were one of the best new finds at Bloodstock 2025.
Fear Factory
“First things first: open the fucking pit up,” ordered fan turned frontman Milo Silvestro, before Fear Factory launched into the titular track of Demanufacture, and the celebrations of its 30th anniversary began in a haze of aggression. “I’ve got no more goddamn regrets,” became a shout of unified protest from the fans gathered, and a level of unhinged appreciation spread in torrents around the factory sandpit.
Groove-hitting Replica drove off the stage with swinging force, Silvestro doing a bang-up job on the vocals and grimacing facial expressions. Aggressive fist pumping and relentless shouting for “Dino!” steered the crowd’s energy, even when the pace of the circle pit slowed. His dry eccentricity occasionally gave way to a grin or a pinched face and headbang. 
The unexpected dominance of the drum beats, pelted out by Pete Webber, almost managed to swallow up Dino Cazares’ iconic machine-gun riffing and Tony Campos’ mechanical bass thumping. It was likely just a side effect of playing festival stages, and only slightly hampered our enjoyment.
Instead of a Jesus or a banana man, Fear Factory’s most celebrated crowdsurfer was horror legend Jigsaw, but, sadly, not on his tiny tricycle. They may not have played their SAW featured track, Bite The Hand That Bleeds, but this villainous appearance added a titillating thrill to the Fear Factory crowd dynamics. 
Unsurprisingly, Fear Factory waited until the end of their set for Linchpin; the popularity of the track caused all hell to break loose, with the, up until that moment, well-oiled crowdsurfer conveyor belt running into overdrive. Bodies flew off the human belt in every direction, and even with no guarantee of making it over the barrier, the crowdsurfers were undeterred. Fear Factory’s Industrial Metal lovingly kicks you around in the dirt, and their Bloodstock 2025 set saw this metaphorical slamming become a reality.
Ministry
Al Jourgensen, engulfed by a towering black furry hat, led Chicago’s Industrial Metal titans through a set that was equal parts chaos and catharsis. Ministry’s politically charged aggression tore through the main stage with serrated riffs, igniting multiple circle pits that churned like storm systems.
Goddamn White Trash erupted through the speakers like a thunder horse for the senses, and Jourgensen spat each line as though the world was ending, a visceral reminder that these godfathers of the Industrial scene are still a force to be reckoned with.
Though he spent a lot of time wildly gesticulating rather than gripping his guitar, the spectacle never lost its edge, especially when Jesus Built My Hotrod came on. Four decades in, their performance may have leaned more towards subdued than feral, but Ministry’s legacy pulsed loud and clear: intense, unapologetic, and still capable of shaking foundations.
Breed 77
Emerging out of a red haze to roaring cheers in the packed tent, Breed 77 made it clear from the first note that they’re back, and they mean business. After years away, their 2024 resurgence, marked by fresh singles and a string of live shows, culminated in a Bloodstock set that felt like a homecoming and a statement rolled into one.
With little fanfare and modest expectations, they stormed the stage and stole the spotlight. River hit like a tidal wave, and their cover of The Cranberries’ Zombie was definitive, soaring, and still arguably the best cover out there.
Frontman Paul Isola didn’t hold back as he declared, “We’re the biggest band not signed to a label at Bloodstock.” A bold, defiant shout that felt like both a challenge and an invitation. Judging by the performance, any label not snapping them up is asleep at the wheel.
Machine Head
Machine Head closed out the main stage on Saturday night with an exhilarating performance that hit like a freight train. Robb Flynn stepped onto the stage beaming, clearly reveling in the moment; his joy was infectious as he tore through the set with unrelenting force.
The crowd matched the energy with savage intensity: pits erupted across the field, and reports indicate over 1,000 crowdsurfers rode the Machine Head chaos. True to Flynn tradition, he shared drinks with the masses, most memorably tossing beers to the legendary banana-suited pit warrior, who caught them mid-rampage to thunderous cheers. 
The setlist was an onslaught of fan-favourites and deep cuts. Ten Ton Hammer followed hot on the heels of the opener Imperium, then came CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE, Now We Die, Is There Anybody Out There?, and Locust – a masterclass in pacing and fury.
But it was Darkness Within that carved out the emotional core of the night. Delivered with raw beauty, the song became a tribute to the late Michelle Kerr, an unsung hero of the music scene, credited with championing bands like Machine Head from their earliest days. Flynn’s heartfelt words reminded the crowd that behind every great band are the tireless supporters who shape the scene from the shadows. 
And, of course, no headline set would be complete without spectacle: fire and fireworks lit up the night sky, sealing the performance in a blaze of glory. Machine Head belong in the upper echelon of Metal greats, commanding stages, hearts, and chaos with unmatched authority.
Static-X
Static-X are the definition of a Heavy Metal Rave. From the first battering note right down to the predictably iconic finale, Push It, it was like being in a splice of an aggressive techno rave and the most exhilarating Metal party. The most baffling part of Static-X’s set, it being the last set of the day, was that it was the best-smelling pit of the entire 2025 Bloodstock weekend.
In addition to Xer0’s piercing red-eyed mask, we were joined by a massive blow-up Frankenstein, a pumpkin-headed cyborg, and a mob of smoke bubbles and red balloons. The pumpkin head also completed a crowdsurfing trek around much of the Sophie Lancaster tent, magnetising all hands to get a feel of his inflatable cage. 
The crowd was a ceaseless mass of writhing bodies, moshing as one organic Static-X machine and stimulated by the rapid strobe light attack. Largely considered one of Static-X’s best releases is their debut album, Wisconsin Death Trip, featuring mind-cracking tracks such as I Am, and I’m With Stupid, both of which nail the futuristic waves of senselessness. Cold, about as close to a sing-along as you get with this electronically wired Industrial Metal band, was screeched out loudly by the swarm.
A Static-X show will always be enveloped by the emotional reminder that Wayne Static is no longer on this planet. But the shout-out to the altogether irreplaceable King of Evil was tonally perfect and aptly reverent, ensuring the band remain respected by their fans and adored by all Static-X ravers. 
Bloodstock 2025 was held over the long weekend of 7-10 August 2025. MetalTalk’s Lucy Dunnet, Adrian Stonley, Matt Pratt and Rhys Tagg reported from Catton Park.
Take Part: Were you at Bloodstock this year? Who did you enjoy seeing the most? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to share your experience at Bloodstock@MetalTalk.net
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