Bloodstock Open Air 2024 (Day One): Opeth & Clutch Help Stack Opening Day Bill [Photos]

It only feels like yesterday that we were stood in the hallowed fields of Catton Hall as Bloodstock Open Air 2023 delivered a weekend of quality heavy music but, here we are again in August 2024, as this year’s Bloodstock Open Air event promised to deliver one of the most diverse line-ups yet.

With something for everyone, from the groove-soaked rock of Clutch to the brutal death metal of Deicide with a bit of progressive metal, thrash and celtic folk/punk in between, this year’s line-up was stacked up with must-see bands.

Wandering into the Sophie Lancaster Stage our first band of the weekend was Church Road Records hardcore chaps Burner who certainly had no problems cranking up the energy levels this early in the day and weekend. Having sadly missed Desert Storm opening the Ronnie James Dio main stage, our first port of call is Brazilian thrash metal titans Nervosa who don’t disappoint. Scything through the early afternoon crowd with razor-sharp thrash metal, the band are exactly the wake-up call needed to loosen up those neck muscles for the rest of the weekend. The hugely popular London doom crew Green Lung follow it and deliver a sermon in slow, occult-inspired, Black Sabbath-inspired doomy metal. Just what the masses ordered.

A couple of trips back to the Sophie Lancaster stage saw modern death metal outfit Death Collector deliver a savage, unforgiving set while techy-progressive metallers Exist Immortal crunch through their set however, with a dash of melody packed into that chunky techy-metalcore riffing, there were plenty of heads nodding in their not insignificant fanbase. Continuing down the more traditional metal route, Swedish heavy metal masters Grand Magus who dish out a masterful lesson in European heavy metal. As diverse as Bloodstock Open Air is becoming, a band with their feet planted in more traditional heavy metal roots always goes down a storm and today it was the turn of the Swedes.

Moving over to Greece now and with numerous Greek banners draped over the barrier, it was obvious that death/black metal heavyweights Rotting Christ had arrived. Pummelling the crowd with their brutal death metal, the band packed grooves into their brutality with a set laced with historical references and packed with face-mauling death metal.Dedicating their set to a close friend who had recently passed away, there was unsurprisingly some extra fire in the bellies of Norwegian progressive black metal favourites Enslaved. The progressive elements added something extra to compliment their furious Norwegian riffing as the black metal outfit dished up something extra special here at Bloodstock.

As we head into the latter part of the evening over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, Netherlands death/black metal group Haliphron twist melody in their dark, black-hearted riffery to provide some suitably evil music. Next up, we battle our way to the main stage to a video intro of numerous rock and metal stars from Ice T to Slayer paying homage to Connecticut hardcore superstars Hatebreed who arrived at Bloodstock as part of their 30th anniversary tour. An incredible achievement for Jamey Jasta and co, the metallic hardcore heavyweights dispensed with pleasantries turning the pit into a warzone for a career-spanning set.

Ahead of Clutch, a presentation was made on stage of a statue created to commemorate one of the most influential characters in metal, Motorhead leader Lemmy Kilmister. Emotional speeches from the festival team and Motorhead’s own Phil Campbell drew out chants of “Lemmy! Lemmy” before an urn of his ashes were placed in the statue following which it was taken away for fans to pay their respects in the nearby festival gallery.

So to Clutch, a band who there have long been calls for to appear at festival. Well, that time finally arrived and as we head into the hazy sunshine of Friday evening, Neil Fallon and his bandmates repay those fans with a set that is almost perfect in every way. Fallon strides about the stage with purpose to a soundtrack of timeless grooves all lapped up by a fanbase who have waited patiently year after year for this moment. Thankfully the American groove machine did not disappoint them.

And so we arrive at the headliners, Swedish progressive metal behemoths Opeth. Now, while they might not have the massive production like Amon Amarth or the modern day appeal of Saturday headliners Architects, Opeth are simply in a class of their own when it comes to flawless progressive death metal. Here at Bloodstock Open Air in front of a worshipping crowd, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt leads the band through a sombre, haunting set from their genre-defining catalogue and, as the sun fades on this first day at Bloodstock, there couldn’t have been a more apt way to bring it to a close.

Bloodstock Open Air returns in 2025, when it will be headlined by Trivium, Machine Head and Gojira. For more ticket details, head over to the Official Bloodstock Website.

Check out our extensive gallery from day one here:

Bloodstock Open Air (Day One) @ Catton Hall (Derbyshire, UK) on August 9th, 2024

130 photos