Bloodstock 2025 // The Ronnie James Dio Stage // Sunday August 10th
Review: Joseph Mitchell
Photography: Artur Tarczewski
1. Starting Sunday in the best way possible, Pennsylvania’s Rivers of Nihil hit us with their unique style of progressive death metal. With the release of their newest self-titled album, there has been a real buzz for their set. And by noon, the arena is starting to fill in. With their huge sound & chunky guitars, the band gives us a lesson in the nicely technical yet catchy side of death metal. Choosing to have a live saxophone player is such a great idea. Where others might keep those sections to a backing track, having a real player in Patrick Corona gives the band a great, different dynamic & makes their set stand apart—a fantastic way to start the last day of the festival.
2. A great surprise at the festival was the USA metalcore crew, August Burns Red. Originally, I thought they might have been a difficult band to win over the Bloodstock crowd, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Opening their set with a great cover of System Of A Down’s “Chop Suey”, which grabbed the crowd. With chunky breakdowns & catchy melodic moments, these guys didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. Instead, they played some banging tracks that kept my eyes on their performance throughout their set. This performance was great & I’m very happy to eat my words.
3. Seeing the return of Detroit melodic deathers The Black Dahlia Murder was a fantastic sight. It’s been a while since seeing the group & first time since the passing of the late, amazing front man Trevor Trevor Strnad. Dropping some bangers from the band’s early catalogue, “Contagion” & “Miasma” ripped the audience to shreds. Even with a slight delay with Ryan Knight’s guitar & the addition to the band’s line-up featuring prolific guitarist Wes Hauch for their live shows, the band kept spirits & the riffs coming hard & fast. Switching over to vocals, Brian Eschbach delivers tenfold with his style that still keeps the band BDM, but his humour & charisma make their set light-hearted & full of death metal grins!
4. The beast that is Mastodon takes the stage & as the sun starts to set, the band give us one of their best sets to date. This set felt like a new era of the band. I was fortunate to see the band play with Slayer in July, but this set was the heaviest, most expansive & trippy I’ve seen them ever. “The Motherload” got the crowd moving & singing every word. Even in 28-degree weather, that didn’t stop the fans or the band from giving every ounce of energy they had. “Blood and Thunder”, a classic staple, sounded huge with their live production & closing out their set as a touching tribute to Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath, gracing the crowd with their huge cover of “Supernaut”. Tonight was a very special night for Mastodon & one that will be tough to beat!
5. For the final act, the leviathan that is Gojira takes the stage. The headline main stage slot for a festival can be tricky, but Gojira does it flawlessly. “Only Pain” gets the set off brilliantly & shows us the crazy 3-tier stage production they have brought for the show. Their huge sound fills the night sky while pyro blasts, “Stranded” gets every voice at the festival singing along with Joe Duplantier.
Drummer Mario Duplantier even has a few moments to interact with the crowd with his “want more double bass” sign.
“Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” The track the band has now famously performed at the French Olympics sounds huge & heavy. The addition of blood coloured streamers that shoot from the stage as the band chug away elevates the track & made a core memory for me. Closing out their set with a three-track encore featuring their superb “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes,” Black Sabbath just shows the DNA & impact that Sabbath had on bands & that 2025 Sabbath & Ozzy will always be with us.
Closing their set “The Gift of Guilt” gives the band one last chance to show Bloodstock what a perfect choice they were for a Sunday closer. Tonight’s set was something beautiful, a true sight that many thousands of people got to witness & showed us what a legacy band Gojira will be & that Bloodstock is & will be the best metal festival ever to do it.
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Review: Joseph Mitchell
Photography: Artur Tarczewski
