Bloodstock Festival 2024 – Friday. An interesting enigma, Green Lung provided a breath of fresh air for the early afternoon on Friday. For those venturing forth, they were an interesting interlude in the Hardcore Metal that had come before.
Bloodstock Festival 2024
Catton Park, Derbyshire – Friday 9 August 2024
Green Lung
Though having a Doom classification amongst fans, their music is far wider than limiting genres and, quite honestly, is good heads-down hard rock with pagan and occult twists and turns throughout. Singing songs about old Albion, they have set themselves apart from many of their contemporaries and stand alone, creating their own inimitable niche.
Their short set was a mystical journey through hidden worlds of folklore and earthy dark fable embracing hidden tales, myths and legends. With a stage bedecked in ritualistic animal totems, Green Lung set the scene, and singer Tom Templar’s voice has an eerie tone that enhances the mood of the pieces played.
Of the eight songs played, six came from their latest album, This Heathen Land.
Opening with The Forest Church Green Lung set the scene for that which was to come. Old Gods contained a distinctive early ’70s keyboard refrain reminiscent of bands such as The Doors and Uriah Heep that created a melodious yet haunting refrain that enhanced the guitar work.
Maxine (Witch Queen), dedicated to all the witches in the crowd was well received and similarly contained a strong keyboard resonance courtesy of John Wright on organ and keys.
The band sound was remarkable and certainly rolled the clock back. Musically, there were clear ’60s and ’70s influences and flourishes, whereas lyrically, we could roll the clock back to the Dark Ages.
Song Of The Stones began with a Doom-laden drum intro and was the one ballad that the band played, yet this was a refreshing interlude in the heavy rock-oriented set and brought a pastoral progressive rock feel to the tune. With the crowd singing along, “Can you hear the stones calling you back home,” the singalong came close to a chant.
Hunters In The Sky was based around the wide-ranging European legends of the Wild Hunt and contained some exquisite guitar playing, almost leaning into jig territory at times as the mood of the tune created imagery of the hunt dancing across the skyline.
Let The Devil In was driven by a heavy Sabbathesque riff and was certainly well received by the horns-raised audience as they again sang along with the band.
The set closed out with One For Sorrow, dedicated to those who at any time had suffered from depression and mental health issues and was a timely reminder that this could afflict any one of us at any time.
All around, this was quite an extraordinary and successful set with many new fans. The band, though embracing the familiar Heavy Metal imagery, take this to another level, with the song lyrically investigating the truths behind the fable.
Quite simply, Green Lung produced the perfect start to the day and, like so many other sets, was over far too quickly.
Bloodstock 2024 will be held over the long weekend of 8-11 August 2024. MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings, Adrian Stonley, Paul Monkhouse and Keith Conlin 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
#boa24. For more information, visit bloodstock.uk.com. You can view a map of Bloodstock at bloodstock.uk.com/bloodstock_map.jpg
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.
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Weekend early bird tickets (Thu-Sun) for Bloodstock 2025 are available to purchase at the box office on-site for £175. Child weekend early bird’s are £45 (ages 4 -11). Mini moshers under age four can come 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 £200. There is no additional cost for children under 4, or aged 4-11, to arrive with a parent on Wednesday.
Bloodstock 2025 tickets can be purchased online from the official Bloodstock website.
