Bloodstock has always been a festival for true believers—those who see the beauty, majesty, and wonderment that heavy and extreme music has to offer. They live that little bit louder and support a community of others constantly searching for that obscure and oppressive cure for the itch. And this year’s gathering looks like it will be no different.

From metallic hardcore to occult doom rock, Irish drinking music to deathcore royalty, it will all be found stalking the grounds of Catton Park between August 8 and 11. Though if you’re still pondering who should be on your Must-Not-Miss list, let Rock Sound offer you a guiding hand towards eleven belting acts…

MALEVOLENCE

Few bands deserve the rise to the top that Malev has experienced over the last few years. Grafting away since the early 10s, their route from underground heroes to genuine metal competitors shows what happens when you put everything you have into your passion whilst ripping up the rulebook in the process. Mastering the art of penning beatdowns at their most violent and choruses at their most spine-tingling, gaining adoration from as many hardcore kids as old-school headbangers, they have no signs of slowing down their pursuit of total metal domination as they head to Bloodstock to convert even more unsuspecting heads.

HATEBREED

Thirty years on top is a hell of an achievement for any band. But when you have made it your career’s mission to fill the lives of everyone you meet with the level of crushing positivity as Hatebreed, then such a milestone feels that little bit more special. Jamey Jasta and Co have blurred the lines between hardcore and metal in ways some could only imagine, and the result is always complete and utter chaos. With smiles across their chops and iconic breakdowns in their back pocket, you better prepare for some big affirmations.

FLOGGING MOLLY

As they always famously say, ‘And now for something completely different’. There’s only so much corpse paint and windmilling you can take in one weekend, and Flogging Molly are always the perfect antidote to any sort of riff-based overstimulation you may incur. From the most joyful of drinking songs to the most sorrowful of hymns, there’s a bit of something for everyone in this great Irish-American Songbook, and even the most wrong-footed of trotters won’t be able to stand still throughout.

UNPEOPLE

Anyone familiar with the legendary Press To MECO knows what devastation they had in their ranks. So when it comes to the proverbial phoenix rising from their ashes in the form of unpeople, all of the shackles are well and truly off. Recently releasing their self-titled debut EP, five slabs of unrelenting, experimental and guttural British rock voyages via SharpTone Records, they are already on the way to being a Very Big Deal. Sharpening their teeth even more in the fields of Derbyshire will only get the blood pumping even more.

WHITECHAPEL

Only a few bands have transcended their roots in the way that Whitechapel have over their recent releases. Lumped under the deathcore label in their early days, the band has shifted into a true modern metal monster, bringing together deep emotion with steel-plated progressive flourishes. Heaviness is still very much at their core, even if it is from a personal stance now, so expect plenty of breakdowns to shift your fillings along the way.

BURNER

Hardcore should always have a sense of protest stitched into its lining. However, when it comes to Burner, they make sure their beliefs are displayed proudly on their sleeves for all to see. Musically, they sound like hell of Earth, combining thrashing waves of fury with nose-bursting grind and grit. However, when you peel back the layers of the pit, you have songs that shed light on the injustice that still plagues our world, giving voices to the voiceless and putting tolerance and understanding at the heart of everything they utter. Making a difference, one battering ram at a time.

ARCHITECTS

Amazingly, this is Architects’ first-ever spot as a festival headlining band. 20 years in the making, it’s sure to be quite the spectacle. With their recent output, they have an arsenal of songs designed for stages of this grandeur, crushing, fists-aloft anthems of an industrial scale. But then, when your discography is stacked with some of the most ferociously emotional and bludgeoning metalcore that the UK has ever produced, plenty of surprises are ready and waiting to be pulled out. Expect the unexpected and know that history will be made one way or another.

ETERNAL CHAMPION

They don’t make bands like Eternal Champion anymore. Pulled right out of the most fabulously fantastical realms of 1980s metal, the band bring the pomp and theatre of the forefathers crashing into the modern day with an almighty bang. Stories of wizards, warriors and wild beasts crash wonderfully into the sort of riffs that are as timeless as they are terrifyingly catchy; this is heavy metal culture at its most wondrous and epic. So take some time to lose yourself in the forbidden forests and prove what sort of hero you can be if you know what’s good for you.

OSIAH

The UK has always been able to hold its own when it comes to producing true deathcore contenders. However, Osiah stands head and shoulders above most simply because their ambition stretches so much further and wider than most. Utilising every aspect of extreme music that they can think of to create a sound that pummels and piledrives without restraint whilst still managing to never stray from their core intentions, there is something for everyone in their melting pot of malicious intent.

GROVE STREET

From Grand Theft Auto to genuine contenders, Grove Street have stamped their claim as UKHC royalty. Peaking the interest of UNFD, who released and took their debut album ‘The Path To Righteousness’ in 2023, the band’s passionate take on 90s-flavoured hardcore feels like a breath of fresh air. Bright and breezy, whilst still being undeniably crushing, they will quench the thirst of Suicidal Tendencies devotees as much as the Anthrax lifers out there. Hitting that sweet spot is never easy, but Grove Street makes it look like second nature, and there’s no better seal of approval you can get.

GREEN LUNG

Green Lung recently announced they will play their biggest-ever shows at Manchester’s Ritz and London’s Kentish Town Forum next February. To secure such milestones only half a decade into their adventure is a testament to what a special band they are proving to be. Sitting between twee folk storytellers, doomy bludgeoners and progressive exhibitionists, they bridge the gap between heavy music’s starry past and its potentially glistening future in kaleidoscopic detail. Cult in every sense of the word, but on the verge of breaking into the upper echelons of superstardom, now is the time to join the masses if you weren’t already enraptured.