BLOODSTOCK FESTIVAL, the most metal weekend of the year, is just six weeks away!  This year, Thursday (8th August) kicks off with a big party night over at the Sophie Lancaster stage, so plan to get there ahead of the hordes, grab one of the best pitches for your tent, and start your weekend early with some beers and a string of kickass bands.  Here’s what’s in store;

MOTHERLOAD bridge the divide between classic rock and contemporary metal with their monstrous riffs, singalong choruses, and big anthemic rock songs.  These guys are guaranteed to bring the fun and kick off the party vibe!

BULL RIFF STAMPEDE, last year’s top winners of the ‘Metal To The Masses’ contest, have had a kickass 12 months.  One of the UK’s hottest young metal bands, they’re hard at work on their 2nd album, ‘Enraging The Beast’, which is pencilled for a November release, but have taken time out of the studio to play not only at Bloodstock, but at the huge Wacken Open Air fest in Germany this summer.  Rock up early on Thursday and see what all the fuss is about.  The four piece enthuse; “”We are completely ‘made up’ to be invited back to the the UK’s biggest metal fest, and you can be sure we’ll be kicking off the party for Bloodstock’s hardest headbanging party animals with nothing short of an immense mass of power, distortion and grit!  Get your horns up ready, Bloodstock!! \m/ “.

OAF’s punk nonsense is guaranteed to get crowds moving.  Two men.  One drum kit.  One bass guitar.  Punk rock with a dash of prog and a hint of wrong.  A large man in a King Diamond Shirt.  A small man in a tweed suit.  Come and see the multi-talented Dom Lawson and his drummist mate, James, kick up a delightfully, ghastly OAF-y racket. With a brand new noisy album coming in a few weeks as well, you won’t regret it!

Viking metallers, RAVENAGE are set to blow the roof off with a hefty dose of Norse noise on the Sophie Stage.  Their ale-swilling, axe-swinging epic metal will set a light under the evening’s proceedings, and be sure to catch their acoustic/medieval set on the Jager stage later on in the weekend.  RAVENAGE are set to show both sides of their musical personalities at Bloodstock, so bring your sword, axe, and shield for all eventualities!

Topping out the beer-soaked evening in miraculous form are heavy metal party-band, TRAGEDY.  Massively popular with rock fans up for some fun, TRAGEDY need to be witnessed first hand!  Get set for the #1 all-metal Bee Gees tribute band (yes, you read that right) – proof indeed that metal fans don’t have to take everything too seriously!  We’ll let these videos do the (jive) talking… JiVE

Day tickets for BLOODSTOCK are also set to go on sale from this coming Monday 1st July.

BLOODSTOCK weekend tickets are on sale now, priced £125 (plus booking fee) for a weekend pass with camping.  VIP ticket packages and upgrades are also available.  Look up all the info on BLOODSTOCK 2013 so far, plus all kinds of cool coverage from 2012’s event over at www.bloodstock.uk.com or www.facebook.com/bloodstock.

BLOODSTOCK takes place at Catton Park in Derbyshire on 8-11th Aug 2013 and features SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, KING DIAMOND, ANTHRAX, DEVILDRIVER, GOJIRA, AVANTASIA, EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL, MUNICIPAL WASTE, WHITECHAPEL, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, GAMA BOMB and many more.

For travel options to the festival, including details of coaches from all over the country with Big Green Coach, the GoCarShare scheme, and shuttles from local train stations, visit: www.bloodstock.uk.com/pages/travel-info.