Download Festival welcomes WWE NXT UK to Donington Park for 2019

Download Festival, the champion of rock events, is pleased to welcome WWE NXT UK to the hallowed
grounds of Donington Park across 14-16 June 2019, as well as SEVENTEEN further bands including
supergroup Simple Creatures, The Wonder Years, and Dinosaur Pile-up.

WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm, and Tyler Bate will
be among the NXT UK stars parading thrilling displays of dynamic athleticism during the bonafide full-scale
ring bouts in the festival arena, which for the first time ever will be taped and aired as part of the weekly
NXT UK show on the WWE Network. Superstars Trent Seven, Walter, Rhea Ripley, Jordan Devlin, NXT UK
Tag Team Champions The Grizzled Young Veterans, Travis Banks, Gallus and many more to be announced,
will descend upon Download for a weekend of high flying maneuvers, action-packed matches and
unexpected surprises. NXT has made a massive impact at the festival in previous years, performing to
capacity crowds throughout the weekend, featuring impressive debuts, shocking returns and exciting
moments. This is the ultimate win for wrestling fans!

Joining headliners Slipknot, Tool and Def Leppard and a host of acts already announced for the annual rock
spectacle, are SEVENTEEN other amazing acts. In a UK Festival Exclusive is supergroup Simple Creatures,
comprising of blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth, who will headline the Avalanche
stage on the Saturday night. Known as legends of the pop-punk scene, the pair will give an unmissable
exclusive and first UK Festival performance at this year’s Download. Already releasing two infectious singles
‘Strange Love’ and ‘Drug’, Simple Creatures will release their debut EP Strange Love on March 29th.
Simple Creatures said: “An evening of Trash-Pop reverie awaits you at Download Fest. There will be
Creatures. They will be Simple. There will be singing and dancing in a big tent. What more could you possibly
want?”

Also added are Dinosaur Pile-up who have spent the better part of two decades as purveyors of riff laden
ginormous rock and are well versed in whipping the crowd into a frenzy, the powerhouse blend of
psychedelic with grunge from Allusinlove, and Liverpool’s Queen Zee who are ready to cause a commotion
with their inspiring anthems through their fluid expression of brash queer punk. The Wonder Years will
smash a punk shaped whole through Donington with a raucous set of anti-suburban anthems, and they will
be in good company with UK pop-punk upstarts Roam, known for their energetic and frantic live shows.

Norway’s Kvelertak are on their way to lead the crowd through a relentless onslaught of exciting ‘black n
roll’ and join this year’s line up, as are the aptly named Hot Milk who are one of the hottest upcoming names
in UK rock, Finland’s own thrash prodigies Lost Society bringing with them their relentless insanely fast metal
for head banging aplenty, the grime meets punk London duo Nova Twins, and dirty blues rockers The
Picturebooks. Graveyard will be making their welcome return seamlessly blending rock, soul, 60’s acid fuzz
and of course a big dash of heavy metal into an infectious musical stew, alongside Mongolian internet
sensations The Hu which is a genre you didn’t know you needed in your life. Goodbye June, Vambo, Cloud
and Kim Jennett also set to play.

First DOWNLOAD 2019 Announcement!

DOWNLOADERS! It’s time, your first announcement is here and we’re hyped to reveal that your #DL2019 headliners are Def Leppard, Slipknot and ToolPlus, SEVENTEEN of the most awesome bands in the world including Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Whitesnakeand Rob Zombie are also coming to rock Donington Park to its metal core on 14th-16th June 2019.

Classic rock powerhouse Def Leppard are making a spectacular return to headline the Main Stage on Friday at Download and we cannot wait.

In what will be their ONLY UK appearance of 2019, the Sheffield legends will be playing their seminal album ‘Hysteria’ in full and more.

Def Leppard front man Joe Elliott has said: “We are delighted to be going back to headline Download in 2019! The festival has a very special place in our hearts and it’s such a great place to play. We will be playing Hysteria in full – yes, in full! – plus a load more of the hits, and we are going to put on a very special show for our UK fans. Can’t wait to see you all there!”

The forerunners of the new wave British heavy metal movement, Def Leppard have sold over 100 million records. Donington is going to be the ONLY place in the UK this year where you can watch them rip through a full-throttle stadium-sized show and scream along to classics like ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, ‘Love Bites’, ‘Rock Of Ages’ and countless more.

So, get set to rock like an ‘Animal’ as it’s going to be unforgettable Main Stage headline set for the Download family.

Meet your next headliners, the mighty masked metallers Slipknot! One of the most defining acts of the last two decades, the sheer power of Slipknot’s live sets have gone down in Download legend.

With a back catalogue of rock club classics – ‘Duality’, ‘Spit It Out’, ‘Before I Forget’ and ‘Psychosocial’ – Iowa’s sickest sons are going to bring the mosh for their Saturday headline set.

An appearance thirteen years in the making, we are totally psyched to announce that Tool will be making their grand return to headline Sunday at Download.

The Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum, prog-metal titans are set to take you on a grandiose career spanning journey of classic albums ‘Undertow’, ‘Lateralus’, and ‘10,000 Days’.

If those legendary headliners weren’t enough we’ve got SEVENTEEN more bands to announce today.

After slaying the Main Stage with Guns N’ Roses at #DL2018, living guitar god Slash couldn’t stay away and is riffing his way back to Donington for #DL2019 with Alter Bridge frontman for Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators.

Fresh from releasing their phenomenal third album ‘Living The Dream’, Slash and Myles Kennedy and The Conspirator’s set is going to have you wailing to signature slick solos and out of this world rock anthems.

“Here I go again on my own, Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known!” is going to ring out loud and proud over Donington Park as Whitesnake are coming to Download 2019.

Whitesnake front man David Coverdale said: “Once again, we’ve been honoured to be invited to participate in the legendary DOWNLOAD 2019…Can’t Wait To See You All & Kick Arse Together!!!…So Ready 2 Rock!!!”

If metal is your lifeblood, get ready for a large transfusion as Rob Zombie is once again going to turn Download into his own twisted carnival with a set bursting with stomp-laden classics and new tracks.

Plus, Trivium will be taking Donington by the horns to turn your stomachs with their roaring metal, Swedish death metallers Amon Amarth are going to pack a deadly punch with their Viking inspired cinematic metal and Carcass will remind you why they’re the gore-grind forefathers.

Still want more? Dutch outfit Delain, led by the world-class frontwoman Charlotte Wessels, will be a must-see for all of you symphonic metal fans. Whilst, in a Download first Die Antwoord will be getting you bouncing hard to their Zef style hip-hop.

And, punk rock covers supergroup Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, featuring members of NOFX, Foo Fighters, Lagwagon, Swingin’ Utters, are going to have you and your mates gasping for breath shouting along to their rapid-fire covers.

If you’re looking for a one way ticket to prog paradise, Sweden’s Opeth are going to deliver a set filled with classics and tracks from their 2016 acclaimed album, ‘Sorceress’.

New-school thrashers Power Trip are going to make their Download debut and get you headbanging to tracks from their sophomore album, ‘Nightmare Logic’.

And, Californian ska-punk heroes Reel Big Fish will get Donington bouncing to some solid rocksteady riffs.

Download Festival favourites Skindred are going to shake the Donington hills with their ragga metal. The unmatched energy and exuberance of frontman Benji Webbe is sure to see the return of the Newport Helicopter originating at Download 2011.

Hotly-tipped sci-fi, conceptual rockers Starset also join the line up with an ambitious, gigantic rock set that is destined for the stadiums in the future. And, Tesla will serve up classic hard rock anthems in mammoth portions for you to sink your teeth into.

Ready to give us a surefire singalong are Queensland metalcore veterans The Amity Affliction with syrupy hooks, melodic metalcore and ferocious breakdowns.

And, finally open your arms wide to welcome back post-hardcore pioneers Underoath as the trailblazers make their first appearance back at the festival since 2005.

Review: Bloodstock Open Air 2015

An entire weekend of sunshine is an absolute rarity during British summertime, but a weekend at Bloodstock Open Air where you’re not at risk of trench-foot even more so. This year’s BOA, hidden in the depths of Derbyshire at Catton Hall is awash with lobster-faced metalheads having a ruddy good time, and the kind of lineup that is set to shake your bones.

Taking a little tour of the arena shops and eateries you can get your hands on pretty much anything your little black heart desires, from limited edition vinyl to second hand band tees to support The Teenage Cancer Trust or a huge portion of brisket-inna-bun from The Texas Smokery. People are whizzing around on fairground dodgems or being shot up into the air in a bungee cage with unrivalled glee, it’s just a shame for Sophie Stage Bands that have to compete with the blaring music coming from the rides. One such band is German power metallers Messiah’s Kiss who’s tight-pants, crimped-hair and solid rocking set is unfortunately overshadowed by the twister ride’s expulsion of Welcome to the Jungle.

Donning the traditional black metal corpse paint the indiscernible growling of Belphegor is pretty one-dimensional overall, though die-hard fans crowd the front, the main contingent of the arena is set on lounging around with ice-creams, hitting each other with blow up guitars or having a good old nap. Enslaved come with a rockier shred-heavy edge yelling to the sunbaked crowd “We are Enslaved from Norway, Hello Bloodstock England!” before Ihsahn (of Emperor fame) takes to the main stage with his own brand of black metal prog. For such an unassuming quiet sort, he certainly knows how to captivate a crowd, but unfortunate technical difficulties (or is it perfectionism?) seem to put him on the back foot from the off, it’s clear he’s not happy with the sound.

Overkill

Hyperactive Jersey boys Overkill were a huge hit last time they graced BOA and this year is no different, coming in loud and confident they proceed to blast through their brilliant screechy eighties thrash set yelling “We are your cousins from Jersey, whether you like it or not!” and doling out some serious face-melting guitar solos. I am I with former Dragonforce vocalist ZP Theart gather a decent crowd on the Sophie Stage, but it’s Swedish extroverts Sabaton who take the prize for best of the day on the main stage, with their huge stage set. What’s not to love about a band who sets their drummer atop a tank which actually fires pink pyro? With matching camo-trousers, black ops vests and mirrored aviators they could have walked right out of a 90’s Smash Hits boyband centerfold but luckily for all involved they sound considerably better and it’s a wave of flame cannons, ticker tape explosions and full throttle heavy metal. Joking around the crowd chant of ‘Ikea’ is quickly picked up as frontman Joakim Brodén tries to sell his bandmate “If you want this guy, you can find him in the Ikea catalogue. He comes this big… and you fold him out. He comes under number 666 I guess…” before dropping into fan favourite ‘Swedish Pagans’. Following Sabaton’s explosive finale, as has become BOA festival tradition, the first band of the 2016 line-up is announced to be homegrown heroes Venom, to a massive roar from the crowd.

Sabaton

As hot day turns into chilly night, Trivium hit the stage to an intro of Maiden’s iconic Run to the Hills, giving everyone a chance to air guitar it out and warm up a bit. With twin creepy skull things hovering above the stage (they sort of look like Frank the dead bunny from Donnie Darko…) and blasting smoke cannons, the sound is the clearest it has been all day, and Trivium give a good solid, if not exactly awe inspiring mix of old hits and new material. Technical difficulties cause havoc for guitarist Corey Beaulieu who misses playing the first two songs due to “getting electrocuted by [his] microphone” and soon after throws the mic stand claiming “my face is getting shocked to shit!”. Despite the setback ‘Becoming the Dragon’ and ‘Strife’ get a small circle pit going and they finish strong on ‘Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr’ to cheers, despite the fairly thin crowd in front of them.

Saturday sees another corpse-painted posse 1349 bring some doom and gloom to an otherwise sunny day, everyone seems to be loving ‘Atomic Chapel’ but it’s all a bit hard to take seriously in the nice weather and I kind of want someone to tell them it looks like they haven’t rubbed their suncream in properly. Plenty of panda-faced people with yesterday’s sunburn and hangover-applied mascara actually look sort of similar. Finnish folk-metallers and lords of the extraordinarily tight-pants, Korpiklaani are unashamedly fun and upbeat. You can’t beat a good silly jig around in a field with your mates, toasting with ales from hollowed out horns, and Korpiklaani bring exactly that to the party. With a giant inflatable football making its way across the crowd and super catchy ‘Vodka’ (or Wodka as they seem to say it) they just put the life back into the arena after a sleepy afternoon.

Korpiklaani

Local lads Napalm Death always bring the noise, frontman Mark "Barney" Greenway looks like a toddler having a rage tantrum but the sentiment is as usual anti-establishment for ‘When All is Said and Done’ and ‘Scum’ and it is pure gritty energy. 25 years after their last time in the UK, thrashers Dark Angel lead some sweaty circle pits with doom riffs and serious shredding a pretty big crowd has turned out to hear them play and give some crowd-surfing a go.

Last time Opeth played BOA, there was a definite lack of spark and a pretty sparse turnout, but today, this is the aligning of the powers that be and they are joined on stage by the perfect sunset for their eerie but beautiful music. Opeth greet the mesmerised crowd “Good evening… er where are we… Derby. Good evening England. We came all the way from Stockholm Sweden to play for you… which takes a long time if you’re walking like we do.” and joke about a night out after mixing their record here some time ago, and getting fish, chips and a glass of milk. Countering, the crowd keep up the earlier joke of chanting ‘Ikea’ only to hear back “Are you saying Ikea? It’s Swedish… is that what they’re saying? Why not, I have a shitload of Ikea furniture at home. You know Volvo too? Also Swedish…” and they finish up with epic ‘Deliverance’.

Back in the olden days (ten long years ago) when Bloodstock was a little metal fest held in the Derby Assembly Rooms, tonight’s headliner Within Temptation blew our metaphorical socks off. Back tonight with an epic stage set and a number of costume changes the symphonic melodic metallers soar to new heights. Dressed in a white PVC bustier, black pleated skirt and some sort of binbag-esque cape, Sharon headbangs her way through the set with so much energy it’s amazing that she never breaks song once, the vocals are immaculate and when she stops to mention that guitarist Stefan “…had an accident last week, he has a bruised rib. He’s trying his best, he’s here for you tonight” a roar of approval is elicited from the now densely packed crowd. ‘Our Solemn Hour’ and the refrain “Sanctus Espiritus” have even the clueless chanting along and the energy the band exudes is infectious. With the full force of ‘Stand My Ground’ ringing through the arena, bursts from flame cannons and an elevated platform for lead vocalist Sharon to run around on top of, it’s clear this band mean business. With the addition of some fringed arm gauntlets, a cellist and the help of some smoke cannons the band sail through their jam packed set, with Sharon pausing to ask “This is a male dominated festival… where the girls at?”. Whilst she could of course be talking about the sea of people in front of her, it is a good question raised at the overwhelmingly male dominated main stage acts this year.

Unfortunately a massive sound blunder befalls the unlucky band as they try and fail to start ‘Ice Queen’ once, twice and then “You wanna try for a third time? You sure? Okay, third time it goes otherwise I’m going to skip it… maybe this song is cursed!” yes, you guessed it – on the drop for the third time the PA completely loses its shit again. Of all the places for this to happen though, Britain absolutely love an underdog. The crowd cheers on through a massive drum solo and stick it out for massive finale with ‘Covered by Roses’ and the incredible ‘Mother Earth’. Floating above the stage in a billowy white cape Sharon calls out “We waited ten years to come back here, thank you so much for having us”, and we hope it won’t be another ten years before we see them here again.

You could definitely do worse for your hangover than starting Sunday off with a big old heap of Orange Goblin, who rock the cobwebs right out of your dusty ear-holes, but its Pro-Pain’s chuggy steam roller metal that instantly blows a speaker with their heavy riffs. It’s a pretty good sized crowd in the arena but the effects of possible liver damage and sunstroke seem to be weighing heavy today. Luckily Sepultura are on hand to deliver a downright dirty and dark set, with rolling drum and a celebration of their thirty year anniversary.

Finnish fury Ensiferum take to the stage with a melodic Viking style intro and proceed to windmill their hair in dangerous ways, but the ever creepy Cannibal Corpse really dig deep into the weirdness, singing songs about “shooting blood from your cock” and growling at the crowd “Don’t sit around rubbing your girlfriend’s tits and ass, she’s not here to look at you… she’s here for ME!”.

With all the dark and heavy stuff that’s graced the stage this weekend, it’s a nice change of pace to have Black Label Society providing the rockier edge, and Zakk Wylde sporting a signature flamboyant guitar is as ever shred-heavy and brilliant. Following BLS Bloodstock’s second band announcement for 2016 is revealed to be epic 2012 headliner, Behemoth.

As the skies darken on the final night of Bloodstock 2015 and the painted up zombies come out to play, the stage comes alive with the monstrous legends of film on huge backdrops for headliner Rob Zombie. Whilst this isn’t the stage sets we’ve become accustomed to seeing at bigger festivals, it allows Rob to really showcase himself as the attraction. With some serious dance moves, a good bit of lunge-work and some fairly seductive gyrating, he’s a force to be reckoned with. The rowdy frontman rocks hobo-chic in a way that makes you think vomiting in your own dreadlocks and sleeping in a bog look like it might actually be a good fashion choice, but the music is what’s really pulling us in tonight. No-nonsense gut busting drums, huge riffs and dirrrrty lyrics is what takes Rob Zombie from comedy metal to genius, and absolutely everyone is going full throttle mental for ‘Living Dead Girl’. Especially the female zombies in the audience who actually are living dead girls tonight. A little bit of James Brown funk thrown into the mix does no harm “You can’t listen to metal all day right?” says Rob (and really, who doesn’t want to see Rob Zombie studio-54 it up whilst singing about being a Sex Machine?). Rob is also suitably impressed at the calibre of crowd surfing in the UK “That’s some crazy fucking crowd surfing using a couch… I remember when it was a chair, now it’s a sofa?!”.

Mass crowd pogo-ing, chants of “We wanna fuckin party” and LED lit guitars all add to the spectacle, but it’s being told that “The past few years doing shows in the UK have been some of the most fun we’ve had in twenty fucking years” that really gets us to put our hearts on our sleeves for Rob Zombie, we know Rob, we know we’re awesome at metal. You’re welcome.

Kicking out big blow up balloons into the crowd and dropping a cheeky Ramones cover (Hey Ho, Let’s Go – Blitzkrieg Bop obviously) is great but still doesn’t hold sway against classic (and Guitar Hero favourite) White Zombie song ‘Thunder Kiss ‘65’ as the call goes out for “All the young people, put your hands in the air. Now turn around and wave at all the old people in the back. Remember when you used to stand in front?”. A little snippet of fellow gore loving metal icon Alice Cooper’s ‘School’s Out’ is snuck in alongside a huge guitar solo, played on the tiniest guitar ever and after a short encore Rob Zombie return for an encore in matching Union Jack trench coats to a massive roar of appreciation from the crowd. We might not be the most outwardly patriotic of countries, but damn do we love it when those treasonous scallywag Americans decide to rock our flag.

Closing out the night with firm favourite ‘Dragula’ is the perfect note to end on, and happy little rotten-to-the-core metalheads go forth into the night satiated after rounds of raucous applause and chants of ‘Zombie’. It’s been an incredible set, night and weekend for Bloodstock-goers and with next year’s tantalising announcements, there are sure to be immediate ticket sales during tomorrow’s early bird release. So it’s with a heavy but happy heart that we doff our caps/bandanas/horned helmets and Stetsons to the BOA organisers and look forward to more exciting announcements about next year’s lineup.

Bloodstock Open Air – Two weeks to go, final bands announced!

It’s fever pitch over at BLOODSTOCK HQ with just over two weeks to go!  That doesn’t stop one last HUGE announcement of bands who’ll be joining the Catton Park bill!

Picking up the last Ronnie James Dio main stage slot on Saturday are Brit metal merauders, SAVAGE MESSIAH.  Get a taster of their sound with the video for ‘Hellblazer’, taken from current Earache Records album, ‘The Fateful Dark’ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMLgbl7yU98.

 

A wealth of successful ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ winners also line up for the New Blood stage.  On Friday, you can bang your head to the Bristol final winners, MORTISHEAD (www.facebook.com/mortishead), Nottingham’s winners, FORGOTTEN REMAINS (www.facebook.com/forgottenremainsband) and KRYOCELL (www.facebook.com/kryocell). On Saturday, we have the victors from the Manchester, Wales, Burnley and Corby finals; AMETHYST (www.facebook.com/aovuk), CHAOS TRIGGER (www.facebook.com/chaostrigger), BLOODYARD (www.facebook.com/bloodyard666) and FROM EDEN TO EXILE (www.facebook.com/fromedenttoexile).  Sunday’s bill swells with the inclusion of Oxford’s winners, HELLS GAZELLES (www.facebook.com/hellsgazelles), Birmingham’s victors, BURDEN OF THE NOOSE (www.facebook.com/burdenofthenoose666), plus Nottingham’s SPIRYTUS and the Black Country’s LEFT FOR RED (www.facebook.com/leftforreduk).

 

Joining the Jagermeister stage bill on Friday are Leicester death metallers, FOUL BODY AUTOPSY , Brum heavy metal beasts THE MIGHTY WRAITH and Notts stoner grunge squad, WITCHTRIPPER.  Saturday sees the addition of Kettering’s symphonic metal outfit, DIVINE SOLACE and Blackpool death metal machine, CIRCLE SPECTRE HAUNTING.  Also added on Sunday are Bristol prog metallers ENDEAVOUR, Norwich thrashers KILLER HURTS and Wigan hard rockers, BIG FOOT.

 

BLOODSTOCK is also pleased to announce its partnership with TEENAGE CANCER TRUST for the fifth year in a row.  Since kicking off a relationship in 2011, over £21,000 has been raised for the charity, with the money going to help the UK’s teenagers & young adults with cancer.  To celebrate hitting the £20k mark and this special anniversary, this year we’ve set a fundraising target of £12,500 so we need your help to shatter that!  Once again the charity will have a stall in the market area, where you can purchase Teenage Cancer Trust merchandise and join in the popular ‘T-Shirt Amnesty’ (clear some drawer space and bring your unwanted band t-shirts to donate or swap).  There are also three very special raffle prizes up for grabs.  On Friday, you could meet headliners TRIVIUM and watch their first three songs side of stage, while on Saturday, WITHIN TEMPTATION offer the same prize. On Sunday, one lucky winner could be taking home a black gloss BC Rich Warlock Edge guitar, signed by 2014 BLOODSTOCK headliners, DOWN. To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is purchase a raffle ticket for £1 at the charity stand, so stop by, pick up a ticket and be in with a chance of winning.

Bloodstock Open Air – Three weeks to go!

BLOODSTOCK HQ is a-buzz with activity with just over three weeks to go!   There’s still more bands to announce and we also welcome the return of the brutal-yet-amazing ‘Battle Of The Nations UK’ historical fighting team!

 

The New Blood stage on Friday sees a brace of additions; Hertfordshire melodic death metal outfit and Luton ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ finals winner, COUNTLESS SKIES (www.facebook.com/countlessskies) and Gothenburg, Sweden’s WE ARE THE CATALYST (www.facebook.com/WATCofficial) – who also won DELAIN’s competition with Metal Hammer magazine to win a support slot on the Dutch symphonic rockers’ UK tour.  Joining the New Blood bill on Saturday are Midlands-based prog metallers, MARTYR DE MONA (www.facebook.com/martyrdemona, groove metal outfit and Norwich M2TM winners, SOULBORN (www.facebook.com/soulborn) and self-proclaimed ‘hobo sludge’ gang and Reading’s M2TM winners, VICTORIAN WHORE DOGS (www.facebook.com/VWDBAND).  Sunday welcomes London death metallers SKARTHIA (www.facebook.com/skarthia), hard rock funk/schplunk metal men and London final M2TM winners, WRETCHED TOAD (www.facebook.com/wretchedtoad) and lastly, the winners of the ‘Metal To The Masses’ Hobgoblin online video upload competition, Newcastle groove metal beasts, TOMBSTONE CROW (www.facebook.com/tombstonecrowofficial).

 

Over on the Jagermeister Stage on Friday, hard rock four-piece CITY OF THIEVES (www.facebook.com/cityofthievesuk) join the fray.  On Saturday, the blues-based rockers PIG IRON (www.facebook.com/pigironmc) grab a slot, as well as stoner/sludge squad, MORASS OF MOLLASSES (www.facebook.com/MorassOfMolasses) and straight out of Valhalla, the truest of true cover bands, HANOWAR (www.facebook.com/Hanowartruemetal); a bit like Manowar, but…well, you do the math!  Lastly for this announcement, Sunday sees horror-metal punksters, THE HELL PUPPETS (www.facebook.com/hellpuppets) join the Jager bill.  Final additions to all stages will be announced next week!!

 

There’s plenty more on site to see and do besides watching the awesome bill!  Returning this year for Friday-Sunday are the very popular BATTLE OF THE NATIONS UK historical fighting team!  These guys have to be seen to be believed.  Catch their regular ‘demonstrations’ (read: ‘full-on’, no-holds-barred fighting with broadswords, maces and plenty of other historical weaponry) in their designated pen in the main arena.

 

All these stellar bands are on the bill!  Friday’s headliner TRIVIUM and special guests SABATON, Saturday’s headliner WITHIN TEMPTATION and special guests OPETH, Sunday’s headliner ROB ZOMBIE and special guests BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, plus CANNIBAL CORPSE, IHSAHN, SEPULTURA, ORANGE GOBLIN, DEATH D.T.A, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, 1349, NAPALM DEATH, DARK ANGEL, ARMORED SAINT, BELPHEGOR, OVERKILL, ENSIFERUM, AGALLOCH, KORPIKLAANI, PRO-PAIN, ENSLAVED, RAGING SPEEDHORN, XERATH and WOLF.  Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, there’s headliners DELAIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, GODFLESH and ARNOCORPS, LAWNMOWER DETH, MORDRED, ETHEREAL, ONSLAUGHT, OAF, CONAN, PLANET OF ZEUS, GODSIZED, plus many many more.