BLOODBATH
BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2018
BLOODBATH
Playing: Friday, 10th August 2018

Stage: Ronnie James Dio Stage

BAND PHOTO GALLERY
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Bloodbath formed in 1998 when, one evening, friends Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) - Vocals, Anders Nyström (Katatonia) - Guitars, Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) - Bass, Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity) – Drums, thought it would be good to thrash out some classic death metal in the s… Moretyle of early Entombed, mixed with some of the US Florida death metal scene bands. Quite simply, Bloodbath was born out of this shared admiration for quality death metal in the old style & the guys quickly realized that they could churn some ugly metal out to a pretty high standard. From this one session the Breeding Death EP was written; the songs naturally & spontaneously coming together, and subsequently released in 1999.

Upon releasing Breeding Death, Bloodbath described their style as "a tribute to the old-school death metal that reigned in the late '80s and onward." The response to the EP's three songs was tremendous. Metal Maniacs hailed it as "the collective effort of Sweden's most prolific and talented power hitting songsmiths… Finally, a super group has taken the idea of praising the glory years of death metal...and further, this super group has done the right thing by pooling its abundance of talent to form something new instead of falling victim to the stylistic trappings of the retro movement."
It was two years later that Bloodbath were ready to unleash their debut album upon the world, to be titled ‘Resurrection Through Carnage’. Speaking of the material, Mikael Åkerfeldt (who let loose his corrosive throat on the entire album) calls it, "ten tracks of the purest form of winter like death metal"; an album of old-school head banging bliss that recalls the glory days of Swedish savagery at the dawn of the '90s.Featuring the same lineup as the EP, the album was greeted with much critical acclaim, quickly establishing Bloodbath as one of Scandinavia’s top death metal acts of the time.

And the nightmare continued! Swedish Bloodbath, mostly wrongly referred to as just a retro project or all star outfit, got fiercely back on the metal map with a new album. Very suitably entitled Nightmares Made Flesh (2004), Bloodbath were determined to prove all of those wrong who thought we were dealing with a short-lived and rather fun-orientated back-to-the-roots unity here. Åkerfeldt had recently opted to abandon the band’s ranks due to his busy schedule. After intense research among befriended and likeminded musicians, Bloodbath could proudly announce their new line-up entries of vocalist Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain) and drummer Martin "Axe" Axenrot (Opeth, Witchery) behind the kit as Swanö switched to guitar. This new musical set up added a lot of challenging variety and fresh intensity to Bloodbath's compositions (as well as the long-awaited ability for the band to finally play live shows), as easily witnessed on the featured 12 new tracks of Nightmares Made Flesh. Recorded with producer Jens Bogren in Örebro, Sweden at Fascination Street (Katatonia, Opeth, Soilwork, Amon Amarth etc.), this striking album gathered the best elements of both the Swedish death metal old school as well as the magic brutality and technical edge of US-Style death metal, highlighted by Tägtgrens heaviest, most intimidating vocal delivery ever as well very organic, full-on pounding drumming by Axenrot, into an irresistible, breathtaking mixture which will leave no follower of brutal metal questioning Bloodbath's value and qualities. Less