After the reverent sounds in the Marquee tent, the day’s finale took me back outside to the North Stage. This was where Poland’s biggest export in the realm of black and death metal was about to hold their mass. Just like Opeth, they are true regulars at Graspop, as this would be their incredible ninth appearance on the Belgian field. And the parallels didn’t end there: they were also founded back in 1991 and have released 13 albums to date.
After Jinjer, I made my way back toward the Main Stages in a relaxed fashion. But not to see Slipknot for the third time (even though they had just started their show as part of their 25th anniversary tour). Instead, I headed once again into the large Marquee tent. This was where the greatest champions of progressive metal, second only to Dream Theater, were about to take the stage: Opeth from Sweden had arrived.
The evening moved on, and after Polaris I stayed at the Jupiler Stage, because this was where the band I had been incredibly excited to see all day was about to perform. Jinjer from Ukraine made a stop on their European tour on this Belgian field to fire up the crowd with their full-force prog‑metal power.
As I said, today was a real walking day, and so it was from the South Stage all the way back to the other end of the festival grounds to the smaller Jupiler Stage. I was genuinely surprised when I arrived as I hadn’t expected it to be that packed. Because of that, I could only watch the show by Australian metalcore band Polaris from a bit further back.
Another metalcore band was up next. For the third time, The Ghost Inside were guests at Graspop Metal Meeting and took to the South Stage to showcase what they could do with their latest album "Searching For Solace" from 2024. Leading the charge was vocalist Jonathan Vigil, who delivered a solid performance.
And from the sun‑drenched area in front of the Jupiler Stage, it was back into the shaded but still rather warm Marquee (I really covered some distance today). From the stage, red eyes staring out of eerie masks looked back at me. Green Lung from London were celebrating their Graspop debut and delivered their occult, mystical, witch‑themed aesthetic with great impact.
From the shaded, though far from cool, Marquee tent, it was back out into the blazing sun in front of the Jupiler Stage. Employed To Serve were supposed to start their set at 15:00, but due to technical issues things didn’t kick off until ten minutes later. The five Brits came armed with gritty metalcore and tried to launch into the set with full force.
After the rock‑driven sounds of As Everything Unfolds, it was time to move from the small tent to the big one. On the large stage in the Marquee, everything was already shrouded in fog to present the Spanish band Bloodhunter in proper style. They’ve been making music since 2008, though they’re still relatively unknown overall. All the more surprising that they were able to showcase themselves in this setting.
From the blazing sun, the day continued over in the Metal Dome across the way, where the British outfit As Everything Unfolds was warming up. The band had been shaken by tragedy just last year when their drummer Jamie Gowers passed away, but this summer they’re back on the festival circuit with Louis Doran filling in as their live drummer.
The second day began at noon on the smaller Jupiler Stage with Static Dress from the UK, who are still essentially newcomers. The group around vocalist Olli Appleyard consists of guitarist Vincent Weight, bassist George Holding, and drummer Sam Ogden.