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!
Infected Dead – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Saturday
Simple things first – Where are you guys from?
We’re from the rotten shores of the River Medway in Kent.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
We initially formed in late 2014, but didn’t complete our line-up until last summer. We actually didn’t start gigging until November 2016, so we’re pretty new to the scene really.
Where does the name of the band come from?
We were looking for something distinctive, memorable and as unambiguously death metal as possible. I think we’ve achieved that and it definitely feels like we’ve grown into the moniker over the past eight months.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I’d say we’re a fast, technical, modern death metal band with a strong Lovecraftian vibe. We have a lot of different influences across the whole spectrum of death metal and I think we’ve honed that into a sound that’s pretty different to a lot of our contemporaries.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our shows are sweaty, frantic and unrelenting. You should come check out our set on the Saturday for some full-on headbanging fury and utter pit brutality.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Alex, Martin and myself are regular attendees but this will be the first BOA for Nath and Chris. It’s always an excellent event, the atmosphere is second to none and this year we’re even more pumped than usual.
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it? Which region did you win?
We won the Kent region which was split between venues in Canterbury and Gravesend. We were pretty confident going in but ended up playing our heat and semi at the venue furthest away from home. In the end, we only made the final as a wildcard, so to come out on top was really special.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
We’ll be playing our debut EP Archaic Malevolence in full, which is just under half an hour of high-speed, crushing death metal. We’re rehearsing like crazy in the lead up to the festival, so you can expect us to be at our best on August 12th.
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
On the main stage we’re hoping to avoid clashing with Fallujah and Municipal Waste. I think we’re much more worried about missing some of the amazing bands on the SOPHIE stage though, especially Abhorrent Decimation.
What are you working on at the moment?
At the minute we’re holed up with engineering genius Wynter Hereward Prior putting the final touches on our debut offering. We’ll also be making one or two really big announcements in the coming months, so right now we’re just staying focused and making sure everything’s in place.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
We’ve only just got started really, so no crazy tour stories yet. We do have plans for a run of dates with our boys in Vulgate in the near(ish) future, so I’m sure we’ll have lots of shenanigans to talk about after that.
Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Kraken, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
It’s safe to say we’re a Rum band, so Kraken all the way, maybe Hobgoblin in second place.
