Bloodstock Festival 2023 – Sunday. Introduced as the future of UK Technical Death Metal by former Onslaught singer Sy Keeler, who does a sterling job as compare for the stage over the weekend, Embodiment are about as far removed from the band that preceded them as you can get.
Bloodstock – Embodiment
Their songs are about aliens, zombies, and religious bigotry. It’s a face-melting experience as the South West quartet embraces their high slot with a quite massive performance. It’s brutal, at times so intense, you wonder if things might melt around you.
Underneath it all, there are some serious chops, and in Harry Smithson, the band possess a real weapon in their arsenal. His non-stop movement, combined with a guttural roar splinter wood, screams high above the huge bass and screaming guitars.
They play The Beast, announce a ten-year anniversary, and flatten the place. Early fans line the barrier whilst the tent slowly swells, be it with music-thirsty punters who have moved from the main stage or the curious with an ear for the extreme.
Regardless, it’s a bruising set and shows why the band are playing on this stage. Despite the pungent stench wafting in from those Sunday portaloos that are being cleaned as the band hits the stage, it’s easy to focus on Embodiment.
But by the end of their set, it’s hard to focus, such is the intensity that they bring. As Smithson thanks everyone involved at Bloodstock, they launch into one final blast through the punisher Harvesting The Seeds Of Vengeance.
After this set, that main stage slot may not be that far away.
Bloodstock Festival 2023 is held over the weekend of 10-13 August 2023. MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings and Adrian Stonley report from Catton Park.
All Photography: John Inglis and Paul Hutchings
All MetalTalk Bloodstock Festival 2023 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2023.
Weekend early bird tickets for Bloodstock 2024 will be available to purchase at the box office on-site for £165. This is the cheapest way to buy a 2024 ticket, minus any online booking or admin fees.
Bloodstock 2022 can be relived at MetalTalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2022.