UK’s heaviest metal festival, Bloodstock, returns 7-10th August 2025 at Catton Park, Derbyshire. As always, the line-up is packed and will appease all metalheads with its variety and mix of huge and upcoming bands. With headliners Trivium, Machine Head, and Gojira, the festival is nearly sold out, with Saturday and Sunday completely sold out, and Friday tickets are low. The 2025 edition is going to be a big one! Here are just some of the bands we are excited to see and recommend that you check out over the UK’s heaviest weekend!
Thursday 7th August
Behemoth mastermind Adam “Nergal” Darski is headlining the Sophie Lancaster stage on Thursday night with his solo/side project, Me And That Man, which embodies a captivating sound with a mix of folk, blues, Americana and rock, so if you fancy something intriguing and different then make sure you catch Nergal’s side project.
Friday 8th August
You won’t want to miss Orange Goblin‘s final and only UK festival appearance on the main Ronnie James Dio stage, as the band announced in January that, with their 30th anniversary, 2025 will mark their final year of activity. So, witness one of their final UK shows!
Italian gothic metal masters Lacuna Coil unleashed their exceptional tenth album ‘Sleepless Empire’ earlier this year, which is some of their best material to date, channelling their older roots, especially aided by re-recording of their milestone album ‘Comalies’ which ‘Comalies XX’ (2022) and putting a modern spin on it, the new album embraces the new and old and is some of their heaviest work yet. The new songs are going to sound immense in the festival setting!
Norwegian Black Metal act Emperor was formed in 1991 by guitarist and vocalist Ihsahn and guitarist Samoth. Since their formation, they have experienced numerous splits and reforms. They reunited again in 2016 for the third time and, thankfully, are still playing live shows. Although it doesn’t look likely that they will release a new album, they have four albums’ worth of pivotal black metal songs to share with festivalgoers. Come and witness one of the most crucial and influential black metal bands on the scene.
Friday Headliners Trivium are well-deserving of the top slot, as they consistently deliver high-quality metal. Their headline set will span their 20-year history and will also celebrate their 2005 ‘Ascendancy’ album. As a band that always gives it their all and then some, you know they will pull out all the stops for their headline set!
Saturday 9th August
Gibraltarian rockers Breed 77 rose to fame in the 90s and released their breakthrough album ‘Cultura’ in 2004, which featured their most well-known song “La Última Hora”. The band went on a hiatus in 2015. Then, last year, in 2024, they awakened with new hard-hitting singles, which seems a promising sign that a new album is on the horizon, so perhaps Bloodstock may be treated to some new tracks.
Industrial metallers Static-X will headline the Sophie Lancaster Stage on Saturday. The band sadly lost their founder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static, who passed away in 2014, leaving the band on hiatus for several years before the other original members reunited in 2018; then, in 2020, they released their first album after reforming, titled ‘Project Regeneration Vol. 1’ followed up by their latest release 2024’s ‘Project Regeneration Vol. 2’. Everyone will highly anticipate the band’s headline set!
Saturday’s headliners, the heavy hitters Machine Head, will play to a full house, as the show is sold out. Having played the secret set slot at the festival in 2022 in a packed-out tent on the Sophie Lancaster stage where they nailed their crushing and blistering set that I was fortunate enough to be at – it was intense and mental. Hence, it makes sense to have them take to the main stage, especially armed with the latest album ‘Unatoned’ which was released in April this year. They will have plenty of mega hits to choose from for the headline slot!
Sunday 10th August
British metal band The Five Hundred from Nottingham have a powerful and intense metalcore sound mixed with elements of djent and progressive metal, making them ones to watch and if you aren’t familiar with them, be sure to go and check them out on the EMP stage as I’m certain you will leave as a fan!
American death metal act Obituary will headline the Sophie Lancaster stage on Sunday. The band were very influential in the death metal genre and is currently celebrating on tour, including their festival set on the 35th anniversary of their second album ‘Cause Of Death,’, so expect lots of old fan favourites on their setlist.
American melodic death metal act The Black Dahlia Murder was formed in 2001 and has undergone various line-up changes. As of 2025, the band consists of lead vocalist Brian Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and guitarist Ryan Knight. Brian Eschbach became the new vocalist following the tragic passing of original vocalist Trevor Strnad in 2022, which left the band’s status in uncertainty. But in 2024, the band released their tenth studio album ‘Servitude’ their first album without Trevor, which honoured the fallen vocalist and somehow still sounded like Black Dahlia Murder at its core, continuing Trevor’s legacy by showing the band can go on.
French groove metallers Gojira will headline the closing day of the festival, and the fact that Sunday is sold out proves that they are a worthy and anticipated headliner choice! The band have been consistently rising in the ranks since they formed in 1996, consistently delivering and have built up a massive reputation for their live performances, so much so that they became the first ever metal band to perform at the Olympics opening ceremony during the 2024 Summer Olympics in France and stunned the world, so it’s no wonder Sunday has sold out with everyone wanting to check out this colossal act in what is sure to be a highly memorable set.
Those are just a few mentions, but as always with Bloodstock, this is such a strong line-up, so you can’t go wrong, as there is metal of all varieties on offer at the UK’s heaviest festival to keep everyone happy!
Check out the full 2025 line-up below!
https://www.bloodstock.uk.com/
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