With a headline cast boasting MOTORHEAD, W.A.S.P and IMMORTAL, BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR introduces five fantastic up and coming acts, a testament to the importance the Bloodstock team place on promoting new talent aside the well-established names on the bill.
First up, rising Welsh stars REVOKER make their BLOODSTOCK debut. Having stunned audiences earlier this year opening up for ROB ZOMBIE, REVOKER are one of the most promising new bands on the UK scene. “Its an honour to be playing BLOODSTOCK this year” comments guitarist Chris Green. “Its great to see such a good festival becoming bigger and better, Hopefully we can grow as a band alongside this festival and have a long prosperous relationship!!”
With their Roadrunner debut “Revenge For The Ruthless”, set for release next month, by the time BLOODSTOCK rolls around, their dangerous blend of fierce thrash and infectious choruses will be familiar favourites.
Bloodstock’s METAL 2 THE MASSES winners ACHREN will be opening this years festival on the Thursday evening. A welcome return to the Glaswegian Black Metallers, ACHREN will be playing on the back of their shows at both Metalcamp Wacken festivals, which are both prizes in the increasingly more valuable M2TM’s rewards.
Formed in Scotland in 2003, ACHREN blend crushingly hard heavy metal riffs, death metal growls, black metal sentiments and a thrash mentality to create a unique and commandeering sound which over the course of their first two demos and subsequent releases have forged the term ‘Blood Metal’, a promising description for a band performing at BOA. Says frontman Scott Anderson:
“The Metal 2 The Masses initiative has given us a great chance to take the band to a different level. The whole team at Bloodstock work so hard to make it the best Metal festival in the UK and we can’t thank everybody enough for providing us with this great opportunity.”
This years alone the Metal 2 The Masses Roadshow has seen a staggering 500+ unsigned bands enter to be in with a chance to perform on the ‘‘New Blood’. The venues and the dates of the 2011 M2TM’s finals can be found HERE .
Fresh off their tour with New Orleans sludge legends Crowbar, HAMMER OF THE GODS announce their appearance at BLOODSTOCK this summer. Conjuring the spirits of the ancients, don’t miss these toga-clad warriors as they deliver some of the slowest, heaviest, nastiest grinding metal the great outdoor will have ever witnessed.
With five studio albums under their belts since their formation in 2001, the term up and coming may not strictly apply to BLAKE, but they are certainly a band that have not to date had nearly the attention they deserve on these shores, an issue which BLOODSTOCK is proud to be addressing. Inspired by the 70’s style riff tradition, the Finnish foursome have stacked up a tally of hundreds of gigs with the likes of Black Label Society, Cathedral, Iggy Pop and Therapy?, even catching the attention of Jackass superstar Barn Margera, who included no less than three BLAKE songs in his “Viva La Spring Break” TV show. Find out why they deserve a Sabbath-style sermon at Catton Hall this summer.
Comparisons to Tool, Alice In Chains, Machine Head and Katatonia should give some indication to the versatility - and comply uncategorisable - nature of IMICUS’s music. Having previously played alongside the likes of Panic Cell, Deathstars, Sikth, Katatonia and Devil Sold His Soul, as well as Bloodstock headliners W.A.S.P and MOTORHEAD, IMICUS offer something for every kind of rock fan, including no doubt the hordes at BLOODSTOCK.
