Bloodstock Festival 2024 – Saturday. For those unaware, Unleash The Archers are a Canadian Power Metal band. Unleashing (forgive the pun) their twin guitar attack on the welcoming Bloodstock hordes, they came out all guns blazing.
Bloodstock Festival 2024
Catton Park, Derbyshire – Saturday 10 August 2024
Unleash The Archers
With a set of forty-five minutes, they had limited time to win over new fans, yet it was clear from the reactions in the audience that this was a very well-received set and one in which they quite clearly were successful.
From the minute they hit the stage with frontwoman Britney Hayes laying into the audience, getting the pits open and the circles moving, this was a full-on hard-driving set.
With songs drawn from their last four albums, Unleash The Archers opened with Abyss, the title track from their 2020 album of the same name. With its almost proggy keyboard intro, the guitars build up until Brittney hits the high notes, and the riff fest begins.
With guitarist Grant Truesdell adding unclean vocals, they act as an antidote to Brittney’s clean vocal lines, providing a well-balanced feast of powerful Metal.
Soulbound follows, also taken from the Abyss album and with the guitar frets on fire, they were clearly here to take no prisoners. Next up came two songs from their latest album, Phantoma. Ghosts In The Mist is a pure slice of riff-heavy Metal with a very traditional and mainstream rock feel.
Unlike many similar bands of this sub genre, Unleash The Archers do not have the symphonic element but retain a true rock and Metal feel. Green And Glass contains an anthemic eco message. Though part of a separate storyline, the lines “Never before have I seen such a beautiful display of how it was once, Before the earth was changed, they ruined every mesmerized in a dream,” clearly show the underlying message.
Certainly, Green And Glass showed Brittney at her best, producing a variance in her vocal ability to change her tone as she sings. At times, she is as cold as ice. The next moment, she is as smooth and soft as silk, and then she has the ability to pull out all the stops and deliver a performance that soars as strong as steel—altogether fitting for a Metal performance as she bewitches the audience, weaving her musical spells. 
With two songs following from the 2017 Apex album, Unleash The Archers continue the theme of two songs from the last three albums, back to back. Awakening takes us into realms of Speed Metal with savage shredding and Brittney’s trademark screams. Yet she retains the ability to hold a strong melody which had the Bloodstock hordes singing along.
The Matriarch follows in a similar style with the band weaving musical majesties. With Scott Buchanan’s drums taking on a life of their own, how one man can extol such power and drive is quite incredible.
Having won over the audience that had expanded dramatically during the set, Unleash The Archers decided to show off with guitarists Grant Truesdell and Andrew Kingsley Saunders playing each other’s instruments simultaneously during Tonight We Ride.
This was the perfect end to a perfect show. With the band announcing that they intend to be back touring the UK in 2025, I, for one, cannot wait for next year.
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.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2022 coverage at metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2022.
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.
