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The sun has made a surprise guest appearance for the third day running this weekend as Indian nu metal sensations Bloodywood arrive on the Apex stage for their second ever Download appearance. Having opened the festival’s main stage at its humungous twentieth anniversary edition in 2023, the Delhi crew have jumped up a few spaces this year, their enthralling mash-up of millennial metal riffage and powerful traditional Indian folk music deemed the perfect early afternoon gear change.
Turns out it’s a spot-on call: the six-piece’s irresistible groove sees a sunshine-drenched Donington kick up a storm, full-throttle circle pits opening up from the second they bounce on stage. Bloodywood’s energy and earnest excitement is infectious, and it’s nigh-on impossible to avoid damn near banging your head off as the likes of Gaddar and Aaj throw out riffs so bouncy they’d make Godzilla’s knees wobble.
Jayant Bhadula and Raoul Kerr are a formidable frontman tag team, Jayant’s powerful bellows the perfect foil for Raoul’s gruff rapping. “We want to take you back to where it all started!” growls Raoul before Bloodywood drop a thunderous Nu Dehli, the set’s highlight alongside an airing of giddy Babymetal collab Bekhauf.
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On a weekend where nu metal nostalgia is running rampant – Limp Bizkit, P.O.D., Drowning Pool and Snot having already taken up prime lineup estate with Spineshank and Sunday headliners Linkin Park still to come – it’s refreshing to see a band taking the spirit of that genre and moulding it into something genuinely fresh, exciting and vital.
As Raoul and Jayant skip down the Apex stage’s ego ramp and Karan Katiyar’s riffs send Donington dizzy one more time, Sarthak Pahwa headbanging as he smacks the shit out of his dhol 50 metres behind them, you can’t help but believe Bloodywood will be making another jump up the bill the next time they play.