Bloodstock has named its 2027 headliners, revealing them from the Ronnie James Dio stage during this year’s festival immediately after Municipal Waste‘s set.
The 2027 edition runs August 5 to 8 at Catton Park in Derbyshire.
Mercyful Fate take Friday night on the main stage, returning after headlining the festival in 2022.
King Diamond‘s comment carries more weight than a standard festival quote: “Mercyful Fate is honored and looking extremely forward to playing Bloodstock again, last time was awesome, and this time with a brand new album out, FINALLY!!!”
That is the firmest indication yet that the band’s first studio album since 1999’s 9 will be released before August 2027. Bassist Becky Baldwin told “The Metal Voice” recently that the record had reached demo stage with King Diamond working on the songs, and that his solo album and a tour behind it come first.
The booking also reorders the band’s return. Mercyful Fate announced yesterday that they would play Leyendas Del Rock in Spain from August 11 to 14, 2027, their first show since Summer Breeze Brazil in April 2024. Bloodstock falls the week before it.
Electric Callboy headline Saturday, their first time topping the bill at Bloodstock. The German band combine metalcore with electronic dance music and a heavy dose of comedy.
“Our first-ever Bloodstock. Heavy music, questionable outfits, and thousands of metalheads? Sounds like a perfect fit to us. We’re in. See you there!” the band said.
Motionless In White close the festival on Sunday, also headlining for the first time. The booking follows a year in which their single “Afraid Of The Dark” became their first number one on Billboard‘s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, released in January to mark the band’s 20th anniversary, ahead of their seventh album Decades.
“Bloodstock! We were told that we are one of the most requested bands to perform at your legendary festival, so it is with great honor to announce that we are answering the call and will be seeing you next year for our first ever European festival headlining show, and only U.K. show of 2027! Thank you so much! Let the countdown begin,” said Chris Motionless.
Sophie Lancaster Stage Headliners
- Thursday – Madball, more than 35 years into their run as one of New York hardcore’s defining bands
- Friday – Gaerea, the Portuguese black metal group whose records have grown steadily more expansive
- Saturday – Kanonenfieber, the German blackened death metal project built around First World War diaries and accounts
- Sunday – Dethklok, the band that began as the fictional group in the animated series “Metalocalypse” and now tours as a working melodic death metal act, closing the festival
Special Guests On The Main Stage
Acid Bath take the Friday special guest slot, the Louisiana sludge band whose blend of doom, blues and southern gothic imagery has held a cult following for three decades. Green Lung occupy Saturday with their occult-tinged heavy rock.
Sunday’s special guests are Children Of Bodom, returning to perform in tribute to the late Alexi Laiho and the melodic death metal sound the band built.
Also Confirmed For The Ronnie James Dio Stage
- DevilDriver
- Corrosion Of Conformity
- Imminence
- Wind Rose
- Sylosis
- Decapitated
- Witch Club Satan
- HammerFall
- Hypocrisy
- The Halo Effect
- Tortured Demon
- Gutalax
- Humanity’s Last Breath
- Conan
Also On The Sophie Lancaster Stage
- Dool, the Rotterdam band who have just finished writing a new album
- Pig Destroyer, the Virginia grindcore group fronted by JR Hayes
- Fulci, the Italian death metal band named for and themed around director Lucio Fulci
Around 100 more acts are still to be announced.
Early bird standard weekend tickets are on sale at the main entrance box office throughout the current festival at £210 with no booking fee. Once those go, and the festival expects them to sell out on site, the price moves to £235 plus booking fee. General on-sale opens Monday, August 10 at 9 a.m., making the on-site early bird a saving of £34 per ticket.
Wednesday early access is available for some campsites, along with child tickets. Under-fours enter free. The instalment scheme returns on Wednesday, August 12. Coach packages go on sale Monday, August 10, with VIP and campervan tickets from Wednesday, August 12 at 9 a.m.
New for 2027 is a second luxury option. Alongside the existing Serpent’s Lair VIP campsite, which offers pitches and pre-erected tents, the festival is adding the Serpent’s Lair VIP Sanctuary, deluxe pods set in wooded glades roughly five minutes from the campsite and the main arena.
