By way of a late Valentines Day gift, Bloodstock is thrilled to announce 3 more bands for 2017’s event!

Arch Enemy will be joining us as Sunday’s special guests. Get a taste of their Swedish melodeath with the live video for ‘War Eternal’, shot at Wacken 2016 and check out what’s in store this August - https://youtu.be/p5etfIwlRbg. The band, now fronted by Alissa White-Gluz, are set to release a new live DVD / Blu-Ray of their full Wacken set titled ‘As The Stages Burn!’ on 31st March via Century Media. Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott states "We're very much looking forward to being a part of this year's edition of Bloodstock, which actually takes place very close to where my father was born. We'll be bringing our 'pure fucking metal' attack home... Hail to England!" 

www.facebook.com/archenemyofficial/.


Salt Lake City deathcore mob Chelsea Grin also land an early main stage slot on Friday. The band released their fourth studio album, ‘Self Inflicted’ via new label home Rise Records last summer and unveiled a video for ‘Broken Bonds’ - https://youtu.be/awa50gXnOdw.  Frontman Alex Koehler tells us “We are looking forward to heading back overseas this summer to be part of Bloodstock 2017. When we were offered the show and we saw the lineup we were extremely excited. We’ve seen tons of videos from Bloodstock in the past and cannot wait to be there.”  

www.facebook.com/ChelseaGrinMetal.


Lastly, prog metallers ONI join the ranks on the Sophie stage on Saturday. Signed to Metal Blade, these Canadians recently unveiled a creepy video for ‘The Only Cure’ from debut album ‘Ironshore’, featuring guest vocals from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe. Check it out at: https://youtu.be/ERFBmOtElKU.  Frontman Jake Oni says “In the past year, we’ve had the pleasure of playing the UK a few times, but being a part Bloodstock 2017 is a huge honour.  We are not only excited to show this festival what we’ve got, but also to see some of the masters that are playing!!! You don't want to miss this!” ONI warm up for their Bloodstock debut by traversing Europe next month with Children of Bodom.


It’s nearly the ‘last chance saloon’ for the very popular ticket payment scheme! Bloodstock’s deposit plan helps ease the pain of paying for your standard weekend ticket by breaking it up into five smaller, more manageable sums. Sign up in the ticket store before 28th Feb with your initial payment of £34.80. Thereafter, four additional instalments of £27.80 will debit your bank account on 1st April, May, June and July respectively. Job done, ticket purchased! Get full info at http://bloodstock.seetickets.com.

If you’re coming to Bloodstock by coach, you might want to secure your spot now to ensure you’re not disappointed. Big Green Coach have 21 departure cities for coaches directly to Bloodstock in 2017; Birkenhead, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Chester, Glasgow, Gloucester, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Newport, Oxford, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, and Worcester. Big Green Coach will bring you, all your camping gear, & beer supplies and drop you hassle free right inside the festival grounds. Check out the details and secure your seat for only a tenner (with the rest payable in July) over at http://www.biggreencoach.co.uk/events/bloodstock-festival-tickets-coach-travel.

Bloodstock will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 10th-13th August 2017. Standard weekend camping tix are on sale at £139 (plus booking fee), plus limited VIP packages/upgrades and car parking tickets (at a cheaper price than ‘on the day’ purchase) from http://bloodstock.seetickets.com.  Children’s weekend tickets are also available, priced £35 (+ booking fee) and under 4’s go free!  Camper van pitches have now SOLD OUT.

Children Of Bodom's prodigious debut album ‘Something Wild’ was released 20 years ago and thus  the mighty Hatecrew were born. Finland's melodic death superstars will take to the road in 2017 to celebrate 20 years of life in the form of a mind blowing classic set-list. For an entire month, Children Of Bodom will bring their reaper sound over to the UK and Central Europe, so make sure to catch the guys on one of these dates.

The UK leg will see the band hit two prestigious venues - London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Manchester’s Academy 2.

Tickets will go on sale Wednesday Dec 14th @ 10.00 GMT:

11th March 2017 – Manchester, Academy 2
12th March 2017 – London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

A few weeks ago, Children Of Bodom released a special lyric video for the song 'My Bodom (I Am The Only One)', taken from the band's latest studio album, ‘I Worship Chaos’. On October 20th, fans were encouraged via social media to submit photos of themselves with the band for a chance to be in the upcoming video. Over 300 photos were selected to be featured in the 'My Bodom (I Am The Only One)' lyric video. You can view the video here: https://youtu.be/EMje43asm-A

www.cobhc.com
www.facebook.com/childrenofbodom

It's always a special occasion when a band decides to do an album launch concert, gig, party, however you wish to term it. The truth of the matter is that not only are album launch parties great for showcasing a wide variety of bands, in this case metal bands, but also the nationalities drawn it from it. With Epica's EpicMetalFest II, people from far and wide came to the 013 Poppodium in Tilburg to witness bands from Europe and as far away as Tunisia and Canada.

(This was my first time at a concert abroad and first time flying alone having come from the UK)

Sadly despite best efforts, due to some rather annoying maintenance works going on the Dutch railway and highway between Arnhem and Tilburg, I missed Off The Cross (BE), For I Am King (NL) and Myrath (FR / TN) and so cannot really report on either band. However, by chatting to some punters who said all three bands were on the ball, I'll take their word for it and give all three bands a 7.50/10.

Dutch Modern Metal outfit Textures certainly had their A-game in check as they carried off where Tunisian Oriental Metallers Myrath had finished. By unleashing a charismatic on-stage presence with some rather tight and malicious sounding music, there was no reason why the crowd couldn't have matched the intensity radiating from Textures performance. Underrated at times, Textures have shown during this evening why they're worthy of a Bloodstock slot next year. Ballistic at all angels, Textures were simply raising the bar for the evening, was there anyone capable of stealing the show (besides Epica)?

[8/10]

Having only made their Napalm Records debut last year, Belgian Speed Metallers Evil Invaders showed exactly why the Austrian label snapped up the quartet without question. Blisteringly fast riffs crashed against all four walls of the Universe Stage, all whilst Textures were doing their own shindig next year on the Storm Stage. Evil Invaders have been knocking around for nearly 10 years and yet despite the age of the band as a unit, the members started off as teenagers, yet they're capable of proving that they've shed their teenage skins and morphed into a formidable, respectable force. By belting out songs as if they went out of fashion, Evil Invaders only had one thing in mind... total carnage and boy did they deliver.

[8/10]

One of a handful of Dutch Metal bands performing at this year's EpicMetalFest, Stream Of Passion are really no newcomers to the erotic world of female-fronted Symphonic Metal, in fact all but one band member have been in previous bands thus being no strangers to the scene. Moreover here is a band who despite their best efforts at delivering sweet music that is so sumptuously good to the ears, hasn't yet managed to reach the heights of their fellow contemporaries in Within Temptation and Epica. However their set demonstrated that they're on the path to achieve that goal and despite it still being late afternoon, had no reservations about keeping the crowd on their toes. Drinking was in full flow during their set, Stream of Passion? A Stream of alcohol more like.

[7.5/10]

Since the departure of Alissa White-Gluz (The Agonist kicked Alissa out of the band, thus enabling her to join Arch Enemy after Angela Gossow became band manager; thereabouts), The Agonist have been finding their way with their new vocalist Vicky Psarakis. Now, Vicky showed she is up to the task-in-hand by delivering a performance worthy of continuous applause if not for some of the other band members who seemed rather lost and at times not fully convincing; it's as if they haven't stepped out of the shadows of their former vocalist, resulting in a rather disappointing set. Not entirely sure what their plans were for the evening but it seemed to not involve band practise, despite this the whole set was of reasonable standard yet without a doubt, probably the most disinteresting performance of the night.

[6/10]

Herewith is an example of grandiose perversion of the extremely meticulous kind, and now you're probably thinking what the actual f*ck am I on about? It's certainly a technical sentence no? Perfect for Italy's Fleshgod Apocalypse who once again don the theatrics and emit such musical ferocity that earth tremors could be felt. Seriously enough they did not put a foot wrong, in fact they are so rehearsed in their dramatis personae that they would do well at Eurovision next year (are you reading this RAI?). Strobe lights abound and an air of operatic grandeur circumventing the venue was certainly the case, plenty more where those came from as walls of death came to and fro by the commands of Tommaso Riccardi; it was as if he was playing the king and the punters as the fools, either way Fleshgod Apocalypse demonstrated once again why they are still underrated.

[8.5/10]

Where Fleshgod Apocalypse managed to succeed in shitting the audience, Katatonia did not, instead they commenced the slitting. A once great and brutal institution has now turned for the dank and dismal worse; it was as if they weren't meant to be here because to be quite frank, the music did not fit in with the rest of the evenings line-up. That said, at least Katatonia trump Justin Bieber hands down and have the decency to sing, not lip sync live. But Katatonia just could not get the audience going, some just standing and watching bare-face, expressionless, it was as if they have been subjected to a public culling of animals, it was horrific. Despite all their might, Katatonia just did not deliver tonight... well they delivered, but the music was stale and too depressive.

[5/10]

Now whilst I interviewed Anis Jouini from Myrath, The Ocean were doing their thing (and we could hear it, so let's give them a decent 7/10). Now the time had come for the star performance of the evening, well it is Epica's show of course... joking aside, Epica are another band who know how to deliver a mesmerizing yet epic live show and they did not disappoint. Using props designed to mimic their new album's artwork (The Holographic Principle), Epica used laser deflecting pyramids to divert light beams across the stage, creating a psychedelic feeling as a result. Additionally in tow was Coen Janssen and his 'keyscooter' (let's call it that because it's a keyboard on wheels) and of course the expected pyrotechnics (which culminated in the end to a firework explosion). Epica simply were sensational, by delivering a set, performance and indeed day-concert worthy of being unleashed on DVD, all in the namesake of their new album, calling it magical is simply not enough and does not describe the overarching package that is EpicMetalFest... may the 2017 edition be as breathtaking.

[9/10]

RHYS STEVENSON

Italian melo-death band Genus Ordinis Dei who earlier this year released their debut album "The Middle" and "EP 2016" on Mighty Music are now ready to embark on an extensive 31 days European tour supporting fellow country musicians Lacuna Coil.

Genus Ordinis Dei and Lacuna Coil already know each other well as the band's "EP 2016" was produced by Marco "Maki" Coti Zelati (Lacuna Coil).

www.genusordinisdei.com/epk-page
www.mightymusic.dk

Malaysian Melodic Death Metallers NonserviaM are set to perform at the Freedom Penang Music Festival on 20th August. Joining them among a whole host of bands and groups are fellow Death Metallers Humiliation.

https://www.facebook.com/nonserviam.pg
https://www.facebook.com/HumiliationMalaysiaDeathMetal/?fref=ts

In support of their album "Episodes of Solitude", Atropas will be touring through eastern Europe and bringing along their label mates, Words That Burn, as their supporting act. Both bands have recently released their new albums through WormHoleDeath and are ready to explore new territory in the east!
 
03. SEPTEMBER: ROUTE66, BUDAPEST (HU)
04. SEPTEMBER: FLEX CLUB, ARAD (RO)
05. SEPTEMBER: RUDEBOY CLUB, BELSKO BYALA (PL)
06. SEPTEMBER: EXIT CLUB, OSIJEK (CRO)
07. SEPTEMBER: GUSTAF PEKARNA CLUB, MARIBOR (SLO)
08. SEPTEMBER: VELBLOUD MUSIC BAR CLUB, BUDWEIS (CZ)
09. SEPTEMBER: HARD CAFE, KARVINA (CZ)
10. SEPTEMBER: EXIT US, PRAGUE (CZ)

Sweden's very own Avatar just announced a European headline tour this Autumn. The band will hit the road in November & December to promote their groundbreaking latest album 'Feathers & Flesh' which was released via Another Century in May 2016.

Tickets will be on sale soon, here are the dates:
 
21.11. Belfast (UK) - Oh Yeah Music Centre
22.11. Dublin (IE) - Voodoo Lounge Dublin
23.11. London (UK) - O2 Academy Islington
24.11. Liverpool (UK) - O2 Academy Liverpool
25.11. Glasgow (UK) - O2 ABC Glasgow
27.11. Oxford (UK) - O2 Academy Oxford
28.11. Sheffield (UK) -  O2 Academy Sheffield

02.12. Milano (IT) - Legend Club Milano
03.12. Lyon (FR) - Ninkasi Kao
05.12. Paris (FR) - Trabendo
06.12. Strasbourg (FR) -  Laiterie La
07.12. Nijmegen (NL) - Doornroosjee
08.12. Ludwigsburg (DE) - Rockfabrik
09.12. Munich (DE) - BackStage Club

10.12. Berlin (DE) - Musik & Frieden
13.12. Copenhagen (DK) - Pumpehuset
14.12. Oslo (NO) - Rockefeller
16.12. Göteborg (SE) - Sticky Fingers

Finnish melodic deathsters Insomnium have announced a European tour for early 2017 to support their forthcoming release 'Winter’s Gate' - a concept album that is made of one epic 40 minute song, which they are going to play in its entirety on this tour!
 
Frontman Niilo Sevänen comments: ”We are very excited to get back on the road again! Last autumn a serious illness in my family forced us to make some drastic decisions and for example cancel one tour altogether. Since then things have progressed very well and steadily so everything looks a lot better at the moment. We’ve only made festivals and short trips this year but in 2017 we’ll be back on making longer tours all over the world.
 
The forthcoming Winter’s Gate album has been mixed by Dan Swanö and it sounds amazing. Playing this 40 minute monster song will be an interesting challenge in a live situation but we can’t wait to do this! This European tour in January will be a rare opportunity for our fans to hear the whole epic song live, so it will be a very special show every night.”
 
The new album will be released via Century Media Records on September 23rd, 2016. It is built around the short story 'Winter’s Gate' (Talven portti in Finnish) by vocalist & bassist Niilo Sevänen, which won awards and nominations in Finland back in 2007 and 2008. It’s a story about a group of Vikings who set out to find a fabled island west from Ireland, even though the winter is drawing near. 

INSOMNIUM live: 
 
FESTIVALS 2016

 22.07.2016 – Klang! Festival, Kekava, LV
23.07.2016 – Riverside Festival, Esslingen, DE
26.07.2016 – Metal Days, Tolmin, SI
13.08.2016 – Brutal Assault, Josefov, CZ
14.08.2016 – Rockstadt Extreme Fest, Rasnov, RO
19.08.2016 – Kaltenbach Open Air, Spital, AT
20.08.2016 – Rockstad Falun, Falun, SE
10.09.2016 – Metalitalia Festival, Live Music Club, Trezzo sull'Adda (near Milan), IT
 

WINTER'S GATE EUROPEAN TOUR 2017

 11.01.2017 – Matrix, Bochum, DE
12.01.2017 – Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, DE
13.01.2017 – Biebob, Vosselaar, BE
14.01.2017 – O'Totem, Lyon, FR
15.01.2017 – Le Petit Bain, Paris, FR
16.01.2017 – Rainbow Warehouse, Birmingham, UK
17.01.2017 – Sound Control, Manchester, UK
18.01.2017 – O2 Academy Islington, London, UK
19.01.2017 – Doornroosje, Nijmegen, NL
20.01.2017 – Gruenspan, Hamburg, DE
21.01.2017 – From Hell, Erfurt, DE
22.01.2017 – Lido, Berlin, DE
25.01.2017 – Im Wizemann, Stuttgart, DE
26.01.2017 – Szene, Vienna, AT
27.01.2017 – Technikum, Munich, DE
28.01.2017 – Dynamo, Zurich, CH


FESTIVALS 2017

 21.04.2017 – Ragnarök Festival, Stadthalle, Lichtenfels, DE
06.05.2017 – Karmøygeddon, 1866, Kopervik, NO
 
 
http://www.insomnium.net
http://www.facebook.com/insomniumofficial
 
http://www.centurymedia.com
www.facebook.com/centurymedia

www.cmdistro.com