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It’s funny how a single song can change your life. Hearing Trivium’s Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr on a Metal Hammer cover CD in early 2005 blew open a whole world of new bands for me. After an upbringing with classics like AC/DC, Motörhead and Bon Jovi, finally I’d found a band that represented something completely new, dragging my tastes (literally) screaming into the 21st Century.
I certainly wasn’t alone. A generational talent, Trivium represented an exciting new breed of metal band, acknowledged and respected by the old guard while acting as a lightning rod for emerging talent as the new school took hold. So when the band announced their massive anniversary celebration for 20 years of Ascendancy, naturally I – and a bunch of friends I’ve known for about as long as that record has existed – got tickets for the Poisoned Ascendancy tour and sang our asses off when the night finally came around.
But when the band announced they might continue the album-in-full celebrations as part of their Bloodstock headline show, I’ll admit I was disappointed. Brilliant as that album is – and as powerful as nostalgia is – it felt like a lesser thing to have them trot it out when headlining a major metal event. Thank Christ they didn’t.
Trivium’s Bloodstock show isn’t just a masterclass in how to put on a stellar, headline-worthy performance, it’s an affirmation of just how special that band are. With jets of flame, gigantic inflatable mascots and guest appearances from Robb Flynn, Sleep Token guitarist III, Ihsahn and Malevolence’s Josh Baines, Trivium put on a spectacle worthy of any arena or main stage in the world.
And that’s before we even get into the songs. Naturally, the Ascendancy stuff – A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation, Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr – have the well-worn feel of festival classics. But it’s indicative of the excellent form Trivium have been on that newer tunes like Catastrophist, Bury Me With My Screams and The Heart From Your Hate are just as anthemic, landing with the power and unifying energy of any classic metal song.
That’s not just hyperbole. Covers of Symptom Of The Universe – dedicated to Ozzy – and a hale Master Of Puppets don’t arrive as standouts, but another tool to be deployed in a set that celebrates heavy metal in its entirety. Trivium know just what to do to make this event something truly special, setting an exceptionally high bar that feels like the best headline performance at Bloodstock – or any other major metal event – in years.
20 years ago, Trivium made their UK festival debut with a legendary performance that cemented them as the vanguard for a new school of metal. 20 years on, they remain an aspirational force, and at Bloodstock they might just’ve added another legendary event to their story. Suddenly Matt Heafy’s jokey “kings of metal” tag doesn’t sound so daft.
Trivium Setlist Bloodstock Open Air 2025
Rain
Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr
Like Light To The Flies
Catastrophist
Until The World Goes Cold
Symptom Of The Universe (w/ Robb Flynn)
Throes Of Perdition (w/ Sleep Token’s III)
Master Of Puppets
A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation
Strife
Bury Me With My Screams
In Waves (w/ Ihsahn)
The Deceived (w/ Malevolence’s Josh Baines)
The Heart From Your Hate
Down From The Sky
The Sin And The Sentence
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