The last day of the festival brought with it the heat and the sun shine. As a result, as a caveat before we get any further, I did end up with heatstroke midday and missed a little while. Sorry.

We headed in early to see a band that kicked up a lot of fuss dropping out of Download, and one who are gathering a lot of momentum outside of that, Zulu. I hadn’t heard their music before their set, just good things. I ended up loving them. From their music to their stage presence to their message, it was all excellent. Those kids bounced around the stage for the full 40-minutes of their brutal set, and it was great fun to watch. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on them moving forward, and already have added a few songs to my playlist!

I enjoyed Skynd a lot more this time than the last time I saw them live. I feel like I get them a little more, and after having a few drinks the slight controversial nature of their songwriting had less of an impact. They’re such an interesting, unique band that it’s hard not to at very least admiring what they are doing. Her vocals are fantastic, effects or not, and songs like ‘Columbine’ and ‘Michelle Carter’ are awesome live, as they are on track. The band have very much won me over with this performance, and they’re another one that I’ve listened to a lot since coming home, so they must be doing something right! For anyone into the weird, the dark or the industrial, this is certainly the band for you!

Atreyu is where I start getting a touch hazy. Don’t get me wrong, I was also drinking more on the Sunday, trying to use up the last of the tokens, but the heat didn’t help. Still, I remember them being really good, so good that I managed to talk the mrs into pitting with me for them. Don’t get me wrong, they didn’t play too much of the stuff I’d have loved them too (I’m a big fan of Congregation of the Damned and Baptized), but it didn’t matter, they were good non the less. Brandon stepping out from the drums to be the main frontman was an interesting choice, for sure, but it has more than paid off. He was a great showman, and his vocals alongside Marc made it all sound awesome. Another fantastic set from a great band!

Oh look, it’s another first time band for Joe. And goddamn, Extreme fucking KILLED it. I mean, of course they would, it’s Extreme, but they were even better than I expected them to be. Nuno is an absolute god on the guitar, and blew my mind multiple times throughout the set. Meanwhile, Garry is such an incredible frontman and vocalist, he more than carried that end. They also ripped through an incredible set of old classics and new bangers, from ‘Decadence Dance’ to ‘Whole Hearted’ to ‘#REBEL’ and ‘BANSHEE’. I hate that it’s taken me so long to see them live, and I am already desperate to see them again. Another huge highlight of the whole festival.

I was definitely hazy by the time Black Stone Cherry took the stage. They’re one of my favourite bands, and I at least don’t remember the last two or three tracks they played, sadly. Still, I remember them killing it and really enjoying their set, and they played a fantastic collection of songs. The new songs fit right in with the old stuff, and I was not expecting (yet loved) the cheeky ‘Cheeper to Drink Alone’ appearance. It’s still crazy to see a band that are so massive in the UK be lower down and not have a packed out crowd elsewhere, so I probably looked like a drunk madman screaming every word to every song. But damn, I can’t help it, they were awesome and I love the band! It just means I’mma have to get tickets to their tour in winter, now…

Malevolence… what do I remember about Malevolence… it was fucking heavy. The crowd were big into it. The band, as usual, were insane live. But that’s sadly about it. I don’t remember any of it clearly, just an overall, overwhelming sense of ‘fuck, this was awesome’. Sorry guys. I’ve seen them rise through the ranks in the UK and am desperate to see them again, even more so after being only half-present for this set.

I got a full two tracks into Body Count before I had to go back to the tent and fully passed out. I saw our lord and saviour, Ice T, saw ‘Body Count’s in the House’, their Slayer covers, ‘Bowles of the Devil’, and then the next thing I know I was waking up on the floor of my tent 😅 They seemed really good, and I loved them the last time I saw them so know they’d be good. Thankfully, I having seen them before, I wasn’t hugely fussed about missing them again. But damn, I can recommend to see them live to every single person reading this. Ice T is still one of the best frontmen around today, and the crowd were loving it.

Thank god I managed to make it back in for Slaughter to Prevail. It also meant that, somewhat thankfully, we didn’t get that close. In my delicate condition, the last thing I needed was a Slaughter pit! The place was packed out though, and rightfully so; the band are getting massive online. They bring the same intensity of their tracks and videos to their live shows, and it’s fucking insane. Multiple times they had to stop due to people getting injured in the pit or the crowd breaking the barriers. And as for the setlist, it was awesome. Going from ‘Bonebreaker’ into ‘Baba Yaga’ was brutal, as was them closing on their cover of ‘Du Hast’. And personal favourite ‘Viking’ was incredible. It was 50-minutes of heavy carnage, in the best way possible.

We split our time between Igorrr and Scorpions next. The French proggy genius put on one hell of a show in the Marquee, bringing his unique blend of metal, symphonic and electronic sounds to a packed out tent. ‘Downgrade Desert’ is my favourite track from him, and fuck was it awesome live. After that we wandered off and checked out the back-half of Scorpions. They’re another band that I’d never seen live, due to their lack of touring the UK, and I found myself enjoying them for what they are; a nearly 60 year old band far past their prime. However, having said that, hearing songs like ‘Crossfire’, ‘Wind of Change’, ‘The Same Thrill’ and ‘Still Loving You’ live was still amazing, regardless of how old Klaus sounds nowadays. They put on a fun, classic show with a greatest-hits setlist, playing it a little safe but was damn enjoyable for a first timer.

The final band of the weekend, Machine Head, also gave me mixed feelings. Don’t get me wrong, they were fantastic, as they always are. But having seen them at Graspop last year, they played a pretty similar set both times. Eight out of the 13 songs on both sets were the same both years. Out of the five different ones, there was a new album change which (sorry, I did like the album, but…) meh, and set highlights ‘Old’ and ‘Aesthetics of Hate’ from last year were dropped. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to hear Bloodstone and Diamonds finally get some love again with ‘Now We Die’, and ‘Darkness Within’ will forever be a perfect song. But damn, they could have done something special with two years on the trot, while instead we just got a general Machine Head set both years, with a few expected swaps. They were still one of the best bands of the weekend, but I did feel slightly robbed having a very similar thing two years in a row.

And there we have it, folks! Another incredible, if crazy, year of Graspop. I cannot recommend the festival of any of the bands enough, it was one of the best weekends ever. I love this festival and it has very much become my go-to for big heavy music. Until next time!