The festival promises to be an electrifying celebration of heavy metal’s diverse sounds and community spirit. Held at Catton Hall, Derbyshire, the lineup is headlined by three titans of the genre: Trivium, Machine Head, and Gojira. Each will dominate the Ronnie James Dio stage on successive nights, with Gojira’s Sunday performance following their acclaimed appearance at the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony.

Fans can expect a broad spectrum of metal excellence. The Ronnie James Dio stage features acts like black metal pioneers Emperor, gothic stalwarts Lacuna Coil, and melodic death metal legends The Black Dahlia Murder. Meanwhile, the Sophie Lancaster stage includes a mix of styles with Me and That Man, Static-X, and death metal icons Obituary as headliners​. 

Adding to the experience is a heartfelt tribute to Lemmy Kilmister, with a replica of the late Motörhead frontman’s tour dressing room and a bust containing his ashes at the bar — a poignant homage to a rock icon​.

For those attending Bloodstock 2025, the festival’s big headliners will undoubtedly draw the masses, but the true fans of heavy metal know that the magic often lies in the lesser known. Below the marquee names, hidden treasures can be found, and it’s in these shadowy corners of the lineup that the discerning ear can find revelation.

Consider Emperor, who will perform under Trivium on Friday. This Norwegian black metal legend rarely graces stages, and their set is poised to deliver a spine-chilling blend of brutality and artistry. The tantalising possibility of a live collaboration with Trivium’s Matt Heafy—through his connection to Emperor’s Ihsahn—could make this one of the weekend’s most electrifying moments​. 

Saturday brings the theatrical flare of Creeper, whose punk-horror aesthetic is a rare sight on Bloodstock’s traditionally metal-heavy stages. Expect soaring melodies and dark narratives to infuse the Ronnie James Dio stage with a welcome dose of gothic drama​. 

On the Sophie Lancaster stage, the lineup becomes delightfully eclectic. Me and That Man, the dark Americana project of Behemoth’s Nergal, headlines Thursday night with a brooding set of bluesy laments that contrast sharply with his black-metal roots.

Then there’s Breed 77, whose flamenco-metal fusion on Saturday promises to be as hypnotic as it is heavy. Sunday closes with a rare appearance by the resurrected 3 Inches of Blood, a Canadian band whose galloping riffs and NWOBHM influences have reached near-mythical status​.

Don’t overlook the rising force of All For Metal on Thursday. With their Norse-inspired theatrics and epic anthems, they could well become the surprise darlings of the festival​. 

From the mosh pits to the campsite camaraderie, this isn’t just a festival—it’s a pilgrimage for the heavy music faithful.

Tickets are already on sale, with early bird packages offering fans the best deal for this epic gathering​.

So, if you are a lover led astray, you can catch Creeper on the following dates this month:
March
15 Margate Dreamland
16 Brighton Chalk
17 Milton Keynes Craufurd Arms
18 Norwich Epic
20 Newcastle Boiler Shop
21 Leeds Project House
22 Lincoln The Drill
23 Sheffield The Leadmill
25 Edinburgh La Belle Angele
26 Dublin Whelan’s
27 Belfast The Limelight
28 Liverpool Furnace
The tour is fast creeping up, so don’t get led astray. Get your tickets here.

Black Water County release ‘Second Guessing’ featuring guest vocals from Hannah Greenwood of Creeper – the third chapter In a series of singles leading to the release of their third studio album, The Only Life Worth Living.

Watch video – https://t.co/bKPs1N8NaC… pic.twitter.com/qLZQ9eqRAo

— MNPR Magazine (@mnprmagazine) September 8, 2023

The song is the third single to be released by the Bournemouth based Black Water County and will feature on the band’s upcoming album The Only Life Worth Living due to drop in November. After the fast-paced, frenetic energy set by the first two releases, “Cruel State Of Mind” and “The Only Life Worth Living,” “Second Guessing” explores the softer, more emotional side of the band with Greenwood providing the perfect partner for what is a beautiful take on a punk ballad.

Speaking of the duet performed with Byrom, Greenwood said the song “came about very organically when Shan reached out to me a few months ago wondering If I would be keen to feature on one of their new upcoming singles. I loved the song the first time I heard it being a sucker for a ballad. It was fun getting involved and embellishing the harmonies and the outro and also being part of the video. Having worked with Zak Pinchin before I knew the video would be great too!” Discussing the song,

Black Water County added, “‘Second Guessing’ is about closure between two people, in which one leaves with the words of the other echoing in their head….The song dwells on how this sinks in for that person, realising regrets and accepting that life will never be the same.”

New single ‘The Only Life Worth Living’ OUT NOW! #blackwatercounty #NewMusicFriday #music #band #single #NewSingle pic.twitter.com/k2MoAC1QAB — Black Water County (@blckwtrcnty) June 16, 2023

Following the release of The Only Life Worth Living in December, Black Water County will embark on a headlining tour of the UK in support of the album, culminating in a special finale- a hometown show at the Old Fire Station in Bournemouth on 16 December. The band will perform the new album in its entirety with special guests and live orchestral arrangements. The show will be the only date to feature the complete run-through of the album.

Creeper are gearing up for their own new album release with Sanguivore due to be released on 13 October. The band have thus far shared two singles off the record, “Cry To Heaven” and “Teenage Sacrifice.” The band, often labelled as art rock due to their ever changing aesthetic and musical sound, have been attracting scores of new fans who have been intrigued by the incorporation of everything from horror punk to emo and their gothic, vampiric image.

Creeper will also be embarking on a tour of the UK this autumn. Tickets for Black Water County can be found here and for Creeper here. Sanguivore by Creeper can be purchased on presale here. The Only Life Worth Living can be pre-purchased here.

Black Water County UK Tour:

09/11/2023 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham
10/11 – Camden Assembly – London
11/11 – Thekla – Bristol
12/11 – Junction – Plymouth
16/11 – Key Club – Leeds
17/11 – Anarchy Brew – Newcastle
18/11 – Audio – Glasgow
16/12 – Old Fire Station – Bournemouth

Creeper UK Tour:

31/10/2023 – Hard Rock Cafe – Newcastle
05/11 – O2 Academy – Bristol
06/11 – Clyde Room – Glasgow
08/11 – Rock City – Nottingham
09/11 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
10/11 – O2 Shepard’s Bush Empire – London

UK PUNX. The final @2000trees lineup is here! We’ll see you on Thursday, July 7th in Cheltenham!

Don’t miss out! Final tickets are available now:https://t.co/y3kvHoZySo pic.twitter.com/bXJogjRRBM

— Anti-Flag (@anti_flag) March 28, 2022

With exactly 100 days until the festival takes place, tickets for the event are running a little thin. Discounted early bird, and super early bird tickets have long since sold out. But what few tickets remain for the standard pricing are still available. You can look into tickets here. In a statement released recently, festival organiser and booker James Scarlett said, “There is a lot to be excited about at Trees this year,” adding, “Particular highlights for me are Twin Atlantic doing a special forest acoustic set, the Xcerts headlining Wednesday night in the Forest with a full on rock set and just generally watching the best up & coming rock acts in the world (Cassyette, Salem, GIRLI etc etc etc). I can’t wait!”

 Creeper vocalist Will Gould explained in an interview with NME, the importance of 2000trees for up and coming acts, “In some ways, festivals like 2000 Trees are more important because they highlight loads of smaller up and coming acts that are yet to break through. If you walk around that field, you will find your new favourite band. Those smaller festivals give younger acts the chance to play alongside their heroes and get a sense of what it even means to play a festival. It just prepares you for everything.“ See the festival’s full lineup below.

Last years edition of the 2000Trees Festival had been postponed due to ongoing Covid-19 issues as bands from outside the UK were not able to travel. Around 20 headliners bands couldn’t play this year including Jimmy Eats World & Thrice, Young Guns and The Get Up Kids. So just to keep thing ticking along, 2000trees joined forces with ArcTanGent at the end of last August, and put up a special replacement event in Bristol. They ran live gigs for 2 days and both announced a comeback for this year’s festivals edition.

Headliners for the show include American rock bands Jimmy Eat World and Thrice, as well as the Bristol-born outfit IDLES. However, Creeper aren’t alone in terms of being the latest additions. #7DaysOfTrees also revealed that Gloo, Sick Joy, The Regrettes, Strange Bones, Calva Louise and Puppy would be present as well. If you want to see the full line-up, you can look at their official website here.

Muchas gracias @_GigGoer_ for shouting about our penultimate #7DaysOfTrees band… @glooband!!

Don’t forget we’ve got one more band up our sleeves for tomorrow morning, and they’re itching to creep out. Keep refreshing @NME‘s feeds from 10am to see the news first. pic.twitter.com/fbWY6dFcyj

— 2000trees Festival (@2000trees) February 28, 2022

IT’S TRUE! Please welcome the incredible @puppyvybes to the 2000trees 2022 lineup for our first #7DaysOfTrees announcement!! Big to @KerrangMagazine for unveiling the news. pic.twitter.com/BSRjIL7Hw1 — 2000trees Festival (@2000trees) February 23, 2022

2000trees is known for its generosity to up-and-coming acts. Creeper vocalist Will Gould said as much in an interview with NME, arguing that they were more important to play for than popular festival sites such as Reading & Leeds or Download.

“In some ways, festivals like 2000 Trees are more important because they highlight loads of smaller up and coming acts that are yet to break through. If you walk around that field, you will find your new favourite band. Those smaller festivals give younger acts the chance to play alongside their heroes and get a sense of what it even means to play a festival. It just prepares you for everything.“

The band even have possible plans to conclude some of their work over the past few years through the festival. Following recent releases such as 2020’s Sex, Death and the Infinite Void and the 2021 EP American Noir, they’d been developing a sort of musical concept with recurring characters and ideas throughout.

When asked about how their 2000trees set will fit into this, Gould said “The characters from that story will come to life when we’re performing certain songs but we’re at the very end of this cycle now, which is mad because it’s lasted three years …. Stuff like 2000 Trees feels more like a celebration of the end rather than the start of something new.“

Concept or no concept, the band will have you know that they’re pure rock and roll through and through. Speaking on what expectations fans should have, Gould explained that “We’re just excited about it being a big rock ‘n’ roll spectacular, which is basically our M.O. these days. We want to go out and do something special. We want to create a moment in time where we can just be with each other and enjoy something a little otherworldly, bombastic and over the top. I think that’s really important in times like these, where things are so uncertain all the time. “

If you fancy seeing a whole range of great artists, both small and big alike, then 2000trees is the place to go. Happening this July from 7^th-9^th, tickets can be purchased here.

After a summer of Adoring crowds at Slam Dunk and Reading & Leeds, Creeper guitarist Ian Miles has been busy in anticipation of his first solo album. Showing his triumph after a difficult struggle with his mental health that led to him writing from a psychiatric ward. Creeper guitarist Ian Miles announced his album earlier in the year. His second single “Overwhelmed”, shares his haunting yet beautiful acoustic tone as Ian Miles explores the human psyche in a heartbreakingly honest way.  A poetically dark album on the same level as Have A Nice Life’s Deathconsciousness (2008) as it looks inside itself for the answers. You can get your copy of the album in beautiful pink and black splatter print here, be sure to grab your copy quickly before they sell out.

It has emerged.
My debut album ‘DEGRADATION DEATH DECAY’ is out now!

Consume responsibly.https://t.co/nP4oCIzpuF pic.twitter.com/rYzPROaAdc

— Ian Miles (@ianjmiles) October 15, 2021

Haven played shows across the world alongside class acts like Wargasm, Neck Deep, and All Time Low, to name a few, Ian Miles has seen it all.  After a show in which he performed his new songs, While he has no future shows planned under his own name, he will be back out alongside the rest of Creeper this December. Be sure to get your tickets here before this short run of shows sells out for good. This show will be alongside Holding Absence, Wargasm, and Static Dress.

Creeper UK December Tour:

15/12/21- O2 Forum Kentish Town- London
16/12- Concorde 2- Brighton
17/12- O2 Institute2- Birmingham
19/12- Garage- Glasgow
20/12- O2 Ritz- Manchester
21/12- Beckett Student Union- Leeds

Ian Miles’ Degeneration, Death, Decay Tracklist:

01. Audioclip – 11_11_2017
02. Blood In My Mouth
03. 08.08.13
04. Truest Blue
05. Overwhelmed
06. Priority
07. I Hope You Choke
08. Sunburn
09. Borderlines
10. They Don’t Understand

You can listen to Ian Miles’ Degeneration, Death, Decay below:

As we speculate what we can expect from the album, the first single “Truest Blue” is available now. The song is exciting and displays what we can come to expect in the month leading up to its release. “I’ve never really seen this as a solo project because I’ve been writing and recording acoustic music since I was about 15,” He explained. Continuing on he had to say: “I don’t want to be the focus of this record, it’s not about me so I have decided to hide me. I want people to solely focus on the art.”. 

I present to you the first single from my debut album ‘Degradation Death Decay’ a record that is now available for preorder along side tickets for my first ever acoustic show, all of which is available from the link below.

Please consume responsibly.https://t.co/WA3onRzVYh pic.twitter.com/lbZqxtZi7n

— Ian Miles (@ianjmiles) September 7, 2021

Degradation, Death, Decay is due to be released on October 15th. With a release show in Ian’s hometown of Southampton on October 8th. The show will be at God’s House Tower. We are not sure what to expect from the gig, but with creeper’s reputation for performance theatrics, we can expect it to bleed into the energy of what Ian is putting into this new music. With the clear horror image, the stage is sure to be set for a night we will not forget. Get your tickets to the release show here.

Tracklist:

01. Audioclip – 11_11_2017
02. Blood In My Mouth
03. 08.08.13
04. Truest Blue
05. Overwhelmed
06. Priority
07. I Hope You Choke
08. Sunburn
09. Borderlines
10. They Don’t Understand

You can pre-order your copy here.

due to the ongoing government restrictions the SEX, DEATH & THE INFINITE VOID tour has been rescheduled for december 2021. all tickets remain valid for these new dates. the tour is close to selling out, the final tickets are available at https://t.co/8dCLwhIXPa pic.twitter.com/LQ27yZNwqg

— C R E E P E R (@creepercultuk) February 26, 2021

Creeper endured a tumultuous 2020; with the release of LP Sex, Death & the Infinite Void delayed by two months from May to July, and drummer Dan Bratton departing the band without explanation in September. The glowing reviews for their second concept album would have provided some crumbs of comfort to the Hampshire five-piece, though.

Kerrang called the record a “glimmer of light amid the gloom of 2020” and hailed it as a “carnival of glorious sound” with a wide range of sonic influences. The hard rock journal’s David McLaughlin identified “reminders of the glammed-up rush of Roxy Music and David Bowie, or the art school-esque smarts of Suede, Pulp, Mansun and The Divine Comedy” as well as “clenched-fist Jim Steinman-era Meat Loaf-like pomp.” and “hints of The Bangles, Blur, Supergrass, Queen, Prince, The Protomen… the list goes on, frankly.” Elsewhere DIY labelled it Creeper’s “most astonishing and liberating move yet“; while NME dished out a four-star review to an “ambitious and nuanced album” and a “gamble that paid off“.

Sex, Death & the Infinite Void – which reached number #5 in the Official UK Albums Chart – spawned five singles last year. The most recent of the set was Be My End, a catchy pop-punk number permeated by a wonderfully overblown sense of melodrama: “Scorch my sun. Let my bones, my body decay/ When the sun comes we vanish like vampires…/Yeah this could be the end/ But I don’t want to die tonight at the hand of anybody else but you.”

Creeper have yet to announce whether they will rearrange their planned four-night stint at the Joiners Arms in their native Southampton in April, or other shows originally pencilled in for Leeds (The Key Club) and Kingston (Pryzm) in the same month. The band will be waiting anxiously for an update on the status of Download Festival, where they had originally been due to perform on the weekend of 4th-6th June. These dates now fall before the UK Government’s proposed cut-off for the removal of social distancing rules on June 22nd.

Creeper’s other British festival commitment this summer – the 2000 Trees Festival in Gloucestershire from 7-11th July – is due to go ahead as scheduled. In a press release last week, the event organisers announced they were now “FULL. STEAM. AHEAD for this July.”

When the band are finally able to take Sex, Death & The Infinite Void on the road for its belated official tour, they will be supported by London nu-metal duo Wargasm; emo-inspired Leeds collective Static Dress; and Cardiff post-hardcore trio Holding Absence, who are due to release their own second album The Greatest Mistake Of My Life in April.

The rearranged dates for Creeper’s 2021 Sex, Death & The Infinite Void tour are as follows:

15/12/21 – 02 Forum Kentish Town – London
16/12 – Concorde 2 – Brighton
17/12 – 02 Institute – Birmingham
19/12 – The Garage – Glasgow
20/12 – 02 Ritz – Manchester
21/12 – Leeds Beckett University Student Union – Leeds

In an attempt to cheer up fans and make the best of a difficult year, Creeper promised to play their early EPs this December at few hometown shows in Southampton. Due to the ongoing restrictions, the band had to cancel once again and reschedule for next year, adding additional date for Southampton, and concerts in Leeds and Kingston. The official statement bellow confirmed “original tickets will be valid & the individual stores you purchased tickets from will be in touch with further details“.

due to ongoing covid restrictions we’re unable to play the dates planned for december. they’re now rescheduled for April 2021. original tickets will be valid & the individual stores you purchased tickets from will be in touch with further details or contact them direct for info pic.twitter.com/NnvchKng9B

— C R E E P E R (@creepercultuk) November 24, 2020

Creeper’s highly anticipated second album received predominantly positive reaction from fans and critics, buidling up on the momentum from their debut Eternity, In Your Arms from 2017. Despite the delay in release, the follow-up Sex, Death & The Infinite Void came out through Roadrunner Records to achieve commercial access, climbing up to number 5 in the UK Albums Chart and reaching the top spot in the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. Xandy Barry from the production team Wax Ltd. is creddited for the production, mastering, mixing, engineering and arrangement of the album.

Shortly after the premiere of the new record, the band shared the surprised announcement that their drummer and founding member Dan Bratton had left the band without further explanation. Creeper’s current line-up consists of: Will Gould (vocals), Ian Miles (lead guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Sean Scott (bass), Oliver Burdett (rhythm guitar), Hanna Greenwood (keyboard, violin), with no official drummer confirmed yet. You can all hang out with Greenwood tomorrow at 6pm GMT on the band’s official Instagram channel, and can also check her thematic ‘Sounds From The Void‘ playlist from the link below.

Hannah will be hanging out live on our IG this thursday at 6pm UK, in the meantime you can check out her Sounds From The Void playlist here https://t.co/O8W3F9W3Vo pic.twitter.com/noHt7SeFNZ — C R E E P E R (@creepercultuk) November 23, 2020

Hoping for lifting all live performance restrictions soon, Creeper will return to touring for their rescheduled God Can’t Save Us UK Tour in March 2021 with shows in Brighton, London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds, followed by their newly re-booked series of gigs in Southampton, Leeds and Kingston in April. After all their local concerts, Creeper will play at all major European Summer festivals with highlight performances at Nova Rock in Austria (2-5 June), Download Festival (4-6 June), Rock am Ring (11-13 June), Full Force Festival (25-27 June) and Vainstream Rockfest (26 June) in Germany, Mad Cool Festival in Spain (07-10 July), and 2000 Trees (7-11 July).

The announcement of Salem comes with the promise of a debut EP coming next month (October 23), and in this regard, we actually have lockdown to be grateful for. Following the intensity of putting out Sex, Death & The Infinite Void, Gould locked himself away with Reynolds and poured out songs. With the intention of stripping back from the conceptual complexity of Creeper’s second album, Gould says that all the songs that we will get to hear next month were written in an hour.

They were never really intended for release, though – it was only when Gould began to get restless with their plans on hold, that this project re-entered his periphery. Gould told NME, “everyone is doing boring shit in bands at the moment, just sat on top of a washing machine with an acoustic guitar doing a live-stream and I hate it.” Automatically rebelling against this way of continuing his career through lockdown, Gould pulled an album out of his sleeve. In essence, Salem is the result of seriously blowing off some steam, and from the opening chord of ‘Destroy Me’, this massive release of energy begins.

Creeper’s second album actually was difficult for Gould, not that this is reflected in what they ultimately created. It is a talented and varied explosion of punk, covering everything from dynamic, guitar-led tracks to the ballad-like ‘All My Friends’, whose fantastic opening line is the album title “sex, death and the infinite void”. It had five singles. Oh, and if this wasn’t enough, it’s a concept album about the seven deadly sins, partially inspired by tv show Twin Peaks.

‘Destroy Me’ is more like all of the talent with less of the concept (even then, its release is accompanied by a high quality music video with a distinct aesthetic). Bittersweet Press are absolutely on the money with their description: “a perfect debut single”.

thank you all for spreading the good word of the @Church_of_Salem today, love you guys!

someone spiked the holy water and now we’re all fuckin’ drinking it xx

— William Gould (@willghould) September 28, 2020

You can’t quite imagine how ‘Destroy Me’ will make you feel until you listen to it; it’s instantly catchy. It sounds urgent and the guitar races through three short minutes (the lyrics, incidentally, are pretty racy). To my mind, ‘Destroy Me’ strikes that excellent balance between novelty and highly-talented-artists-taking-a-new-direction. Actually, it sounds like the few moments that we heard My Chemical Romance really let down their hair in the last two decades. Even though it’s very on brand for me to throw around My Chemical Romance allusions left, right and centre, I noticed this because Gould had previously told NME about the pressure Creeper felt because “everyone was talking about us like we were going to be the next My Chemical Romance.”

And yeah, ‘Destroy Me’ is a bit reminiscent of My Chemical Romance, or AFI, or even any number of early 2000s British guitar bands. Ultimately, though, Will Gould is far, far more than the sum of his musical influences, or the pressure to be like them. On its own, ‘Destroy Me’ is a fantastic spark of uncontainable energy. In comparison to Sex, Death & The Infinite Void, it’s a completely different display of Gould’s talent, equally uncontainable. He says that Salem “runs the opposite way to Creeper.” Gould is in a league of his own; he doesn’t even need to compete with himself.