Bloodstock 2025 Band Feature: Adfeilion

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s Bloodstock time and 2025 is looking to be one of the best events the festival has ever put on, if we’re judging it by bands… which we are, of course.

Taking place at Catton Park, Derbyshire from August 7th to August 10th, Bloodstock Festival 2025 has not only sold out all its weekend tickets, but it also sold out day tickets for the Saturday and the Sunday and it seems likely that Friday will follow suit before the festival actually starts. Boasting a lineup that includes the likes of Emperor, Lacuna Coil, Ministry, Mastodon, Fear Factory, Static-X, Nailbomb, Kataklysm, Obituary, and headliners, Trivium, Machine Head, Gojira, and so much more spread across four stages, it’s going to be one hell of a weekend.

Adfeilion

From the mists of the Celtic Otherworld in borne Adfeilion, an atmospheric and experimental folk metal band from Swansea that weaves sonic landscapes of enchanted forests, ruined castles and silent cities. The band have honed their live show by playing extensively across South Wales and finished their successful 2024 by winning the annual Swansea Battle of the Bands at the first sold-out final in the history of the competition. The band then continued their momentum in 2025 by winning the South Wales Metal 2 The Masses competition, impressing judges and audiences with their immersive storytelling and instrumental rituals.

Adfeilion will release their album ‘Rhyfelwyr’ on June 20th. The album title translates as ‘Warriors’ and pays tribute to it being recorded as a prize for winning the Bunkhouse Battle of the Bands in 2024. It is a reimagining of their debut, ‘Hela’, reflecting the band’s current live sound and evolution since its release. This is the definitive sound of Adfeilion, and the first single ‘The Hallowed Glade’ is out now.

Bloodstock fans can experience Adfeilion in all their glory when they take to the New Blood stage on the Saturday of the festival. We’re excited to see them, so asked them a few questions. Namely, what it means to play the festival this year, what Bloodstock overall means to them, and what attendees can expect from their set. This is what they had to say:

Playing Bloodstock means the Old Ways are returning! Bardic Storytelling and Folk infused Metal. This will be a sacred journey for all of us in the band, and after facing such incredibly fierce competition in the South Wales M2TM, we are deeply honoured to have been chosen to represent Swansea and South Wales at the New Blood Stage. Our sound is quite unusual, blending elements of Folk Metal, Dungeon Synth and Post Rock/Metal, and to be able to bring this sound to Bloodstock gives us immense confidence that the music which burns in our hearts is ready to be heard and enjoyed by a wider audience on big stages.

For us, Bloodstock represents a sacred space of freedom and expression. A celebration of Metal that spans its epic genres and gives life to both new and highly established bands, creating a living, deafening tapestry to depict the story of Metal unfolding each day. Such a celebration of Metal is only made possible by the legendary and beautiful Bloodstock community, from the organisers, fans, bands, stage technicians, caterers and merchants. We are very honoured to be part of such an incredible community and to have the opportunity this year to write our own little story into the grand Opus that is Bloodstock Open Air Festival.

The unexpected! Our most common feedback from new fans is that they have never seen or heard anything like our sets. A fusion of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, intricate Celtic Melodies and slithering, crushing atonal riffs. We enhance our music with storytelling, staging and costume to create a performance borne from the mists of the Otherworld to weave sonic landscapes of enchanted forests, ruined castles and ancient Welsh tales. We’ve struggled to define our genre in the past and ultimately have settled on ‘Post Folk Metal’, with strong musical, aesthetic, and thematic influences from Post Rock’s God is an Astronaut, Atmospheric Folk metal’s Saor and Can Bardd, and Dark Pagan Folk bands like Heilung and Nytt Land.

Find out more about the band via the links below:

Website | Facebook | Instagram