As ever, we’re going to try and cover every single Jäger, New Blood and SOPHIE stage band before Bloodstock kicks off on August 10th. Your chance to check them out and start planning which bands to get there early for!
Trust us when we tell you that this is bound to result in some frustrating clashes because, as ever, there are some great bands on these three stages.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Enslavement – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from all from Brighton or nearby towns.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Enslavement was formed in 2013 as a three-piece band before we recruited the mighty Harry Jones from another local band as our front man.
Where does the name of the band come from?
Our bassist (Jacob) had a parody solo goregrind project called Enslavement Through Emancipation. After Fernando, a long time friend of Jacob got involved in the project it became a serious entity with a more serious name.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Enslavement are unforgiving death metal that combines the brutality of modern death metal with the traits of old school death metal from the early 90’s. We cater musically for no one but ourselves and have always had an unshakeable aim to be the heaviest band in our town. A promoter once described us as ‘the only band he has seen that has emptied an entire room when they started playing’, a feat we are very proud of.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
We transition from blisteringly fast blast beating and technical flurries into heavy slams, breakdowns and grooves at the drop of a hat. Any individual who wants to move their head or frolic through a circle pit best come and check us out.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
We all have enjoyed the festival, but our frontman Harry Jones in particular is a die-hard Bloodstock attender who has nothing but praise for the festival, what he can of it at least.
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it? Which region did you win?
We won the Brighton leg of the M2TM heat and in all honesty we were unsure about winning it. After losing in 2015 and then in 2016 (to the mighty Vehement, who we are close acquaintances with) we decided to give it one last shot. We put an unbelievable amount of effort into practicing for the show and put more effort on our stage presence. We had an incredible show and the crowd were incredible.
What sort of set list can we expect?
We have our first full length album on its way now, due to be released early next year so the material will be mostly from the album with a couple from our early E.P’s. The set is very heavy and promises to be a great show.
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
As a group of death metal musicians naturally we are excited to see groups such as Obituary, Decapitated and Amon Amarth in particular. I (Jacob, the bassist) personally hope to catch Kreator too as they were a huge influence to me when I first got into extreme metal.
What are you working on at the moment?
We are working on our album due to be released early next year probably. We are extremely proud of the material it will have on it.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
We played at a very intimate venue in a Welsh town last year. Our guitarist who is over 6’ actually had to have his head inside a chimney to fit on the stage (the stage was basically an old fireplace). The time I accidentally ordered and had to eat a five-course curry before playing a show in Camden definitely sticks in my mind, too.
Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Kraken, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Hobgoblin Ale every time. Jager tastes like fizzy Benylin.
