ENSLAVED's IVAR BJØRNSON - "There Is New Material In The Works... We've Never Had A Stronger Lineup"; Video

August 14, 2024, 4 months ago

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ENSLAVED's IVAR BJØRNSON - "There Is New Material In The Works... We've Never Had A Stronger Lineup"; Video

Enslaved guitarist Ivar Bjørnson took some time out to talk with Bloodstock TV’s Oran O’Beirne about the process of how the band approach writing music over the three decades of their career, updates on their new album, the rising costs of touring, and more. Watch below.

Next year's Bloodstock Open Air will take place at Catton Park in Derbyshire, UK from August 7th-10th, 2025. 19 bands have been revealed including all headliners.

With 2024's event underway and already laying claim as one of the biggest and best Bloodstock's ever, festival HQ have set the wheels in motion of 2025's heavy metal juggernaut by announcing not one, not five, but nineteen bands for its hottest summer yet, including all headliners.

Full info on how, when, and where to buy tickets - including cheapest options and when high demand VIP packages go on sale - can also be found below.

Bloodstock is thrilled to reveal Friday's headliner are the UK's adopted sons, gargantuan riff goliaths Trivium. Matthew K Heafy declares, "We've always said that the UK is a second home to Trivium. It's where our band really took root way back in 2005 and our relationship with it has only grown deeper over time. Our headline set will span our entire 20 year history and we'll also celebrate 'Ascendancy' by bringing both the music and art to life. Bloodstock is the home of heavy metal in the UK and we're thrilled to once again be called upon to headline it along with two long time friends. We promise you this will be the biggest and best Trivium set you have ever seen!"

Saturday's headliners are none other than masters of metal and mayhem, Machine Head. Robb Flynn enthuses, "We honestly couldn’t be more stoked about hitting the stage at one of our favourite festivals to play. Bloodstock will forever hold a special place in our blackened hearts after our, now legendary, not-so-secret-secret-show on the Sophie Lancaster Stage back in 2022. That show, which marked our return to the live arena post-pandemic, was one of the hottest, wildest and most intense shows we’ve ever played on UK shores and we now want to recreate that magic again, and take it even higher in August 2025. Bloodstock, get ready because Machine F**ckin’ Head is coming to town and we want to see all you Head Cases lose it! BEERS UP!"

Sunday's headliners dazzled the world with a gold-medal performance at the Olympics opening ceremony just two weeks ago... the almighty Gojira! Last headlining Bloodstock with an all killer no filler, jaw-dropping spectacle back in 2018, we can only dare imagine what the band will have in store for 2025. Keeping it succinct, Joe Duplantier states, "We are psyched to play Bloodstock again next year! Hold on to your socks, it’s gonna be brutal!!!” Of that there is surely no doubt.

Not content with unveiling the Ronnie James Dio stage headliners, Bloodstock can also excitedly divulge all headliners for the Sophie Lancaster stage!! Wrapping up Thursday night will be Nergal's bewitching side project, Me And That Man. Friday night concludes with impressive Canadian death metal beasts Kataklysm. Sure to set sparks flying as they close Saturday's shenanigans, it's Static-X! And there's nothing like some seminal Floridian death metal to finish your neck off late on Sunday, so that can only mean the last band taking the stage at Bloodstock 2025 will be the legendary Obituary.

Swooping in as special guests under Trivium on Friday are influential black metal icons Emperor. Start your petition for a bonus Heafy x Ihsahn Ibaraki live track now.

Elsewhere on the RJD Friday bill you'll be able to catch the ever glorious, gothic metal act Lacuna Coil and in their only UK festival slot for 2025, the unmissable Orange Goblin.

Shaking things up in the pit on Saturday's RJD stage will be boisterous horror punks Creeper and modern metal bruisers Kublai Khan TX.

Joining the Ronnie James Dio line-up on Sunday will be melo-death squad The Black Dahlia Murder, medieval metalheads Feuerschwanz, theatrical dark rockers Lord Of The Lost, and metalcore mainstays August Burns Red.

Bloodstock is also delighted to reveal special guests on the Sophie Lancaster stage will be Norse-inspired warriors All For Metal (Thursday), flamenco metal fusionists Breed 77 (Saturday) and NWOBHM-meets-power-metal kings 3 Inches Of Blood (Sunday). Friday's guest - and around another 100 bands across 2025's heavy metal party of the year - are still to be announced!

Get full information on tickets, camping and everything else over at Bloodstock.uk.com.


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