After a short but well-received run of bands on Thursday, Friday saw a tenfold increase in the crowd’s excitement and enthusiasm: all eyes were on Opeth to knock their headline set out of the park, as well as on Hatebreed, who aimed to celebrate their 30th anniversary in style. As you might expect, the day did not disappoint.

Opening the Dio stage were Oxford’s Desert Storm, who brought a suitably heavy sound to an already pretty large audience. The band’s sound is like heavy rock taken to the absolute extreme, amping up blues-based riffs with dirty tones and thick, pummelling rhythms. The drums were impossibly powerful, with the kick being almost unduly loud— it was a bold decision, and a controversial one, but cuts like ‘Black Bile’ were only elevated by how crushing the mix was. Desert Storm were a brilliant beginning to the day, no doubt.

Nervosa would up the tempo soon after, bringing their classic thrash sound to Bloodstock. The all-female group had a great crowd reception with circle pits and crowd-surfers galore, and frontwoman Prika Amaral was wonderfully impassioned in her vocal delivery— her small speech about people ‘never being along’ was a lovely moment in the midst of an otherwise upbeat show. Musically, however, the band left something to be desired, falling into similar patterns from song to song. The kick had not been brought far down enough from Desert Storm’s set, spoiling an otherwise well-balanced mix, and the guitar solos— a key part of any thrash band— were hardly noteworthy. Nervosa went down as one of my least favourite bands of the fest, even if many fans would be keen to disagree.

Green Lung’s giant banner and goblin statues set some high expectations for their set, though these were quickly exceeded. Described by one Bloodstock attendee as ‘Black Sabbath meets Ghost,’ the band blazed through a number of their hits, with a wonderful fan reception to ‘Let the Devil In’ in particular. The band were far from a one trick pony, however, with the ambient theatrics of ‘Song of the Stones’ and the unusually heavy ‘One for Sorrow’ making for particularly memorable moments in an already distinctive, confident and wondrous performance.

If Green Lung’s banner was impressive, Grand Magus’ was even more awe-inspiring, displaying the eagle from the ‘Sword Songs’ album art. The three-piece band certainly looked the part, wearing leather jackets and aviators, and launched into their set with enthusiasm. Fox Skinner’s call for ‘more bass’ in their soundcheck was the downfall of the mix, unfortunately, as his grooves drowned out much of the guitar and vocals throughout. Despite this, however, the band still managed to entertain the vast majority of attendees: as the show came to a close, the fans’ calls for ‘Hammer Of The North’ were answered, and not even Skinner’s bass cutting out could kill that momentum as the crowd continued to sing the song’s key melody until the group could finish what they’d started— that, more than any other moment of the festival, demonstrated the community and love of heavy metal at Bloodstock.

Following this were standout act Rotting Christ, who had taken their brand of black metal to a whole new height on the Dio stage. Frontman Sakis Tolis was a sight to see, having the time of his life as the band blasted through one of the heavier sets of the festival. The rest of the band were absolutely locked in, performing each guitar groove and drum fill with absolute precision, but it was the chanted vocals that made this one of the most memorable and exciting performances here— not a single attendee spoken to didn’t list Rotting Christ as a highlight, and the reasons were very clear to see.

The reaction to symphonic death metal group ‘Enslaved’ was more mixed, and for good reason. The band’s performance was, for one, plagued by more mixing issues, with the various vocal layers being mostly drowned out by other elements. Even if these had been fixed, however, the show would still have felt rather confused, with each song winding its way through various parts that never seemed to reach a satisfying conclusion. That may be more of a criticism of the band’s songwriting, however: in terms of performance, each member was clearly experienced, with the drummer pulling off some impressive rhythmic changes. Enslaved hardly put on a poor performance here, though not one many were keen to praise.

Hatebreed could probably have headlined this year’s festival, and I doubt too many of their fans would have complained— even one of the security guards had a tattoo of their logo! Blitzing through their plethora of hardcore hits, the band looked suitably pissed off, with singer Jamey Pasta claiming that ‘our job is to make you guys lose your voices.’ Hatebreed had one of the rowdier crowds of the fest, with an unreal number of crowd-surfers coming over the rail to ‘Looking Down The Barrel Of Today’ or ‘Destroy Everything.’ The band also had tonnes of fun unveiling their ‘Ball of Death’— a giant inflatable that no doubt caused some injuries as it bounced around the pit. The show was a celebration, plain and simple, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t one their fans adored.

Coming off of that whirlwind of a performance, Clutch’s hard rock grooves were a welcome change. The band were disappointingly static— Tim Sult, in particular, refused to look up from his guitar— except for frontman Neil Fallon, who was simply electric: it was impossible to look away from his confident mannerisms and commanding stage presence. The group ran through much of their storied discography, with hits like ‘Spacegrass’ delighting many fans of theirs. The band even had some crowd-surfers— unusual for a rock band— though the inflatables the audience were tossing around were much more fitting for such an upbeat, fun act.

And finally, the headliner: Opeth. The Swedish prog band are more niche than might be expected of a Bloodstock headliner, breaking up their death metal riffs with folk and jazz interludes: if a festival-goer could accept that, however, then there was no debate that the band excelled. Opeth dialled in a heavier mix than normal, emphasising their rhythm section: this worked wonders for the infectious grooves of ‘The Grand Conjuration’ or the doom-metal passages of ‘Heir Apparent,’ bringing the band to new heights of brutality. Their softer passages, meanwhile, were as heartfelt and sorrowful as ever, adding a layer of nuance that few bands of the day had managed to achieve— that didn’t stop fans from ironically moshing to ‘In My Time Of Need,’ however. Ending things on fan-favourites ‘Sorceress’ and ‘Deliverance,’ Opeth put on a dazzling display, filled with far more light shows and theatrics than their contemporaries: frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt’s dry sense of humour also seemed to be a hit, cementing this as a truly memorable and all-encompassing show. Though they are niche, the group nonetheless managed to prove themselves worthy of the headliner spot, putting a beautiful bow on a brilliant— if slightly inconsistent— Friday lineup.