Bloodstock 2026 Band Feature: Tempest Saint
Where does the time go!? Once again, Bloodstock is right around the corner, and once again, it is shaping up to be one the best festivals of the year. Not just because there are a variety of bands spread across its main two stages, not just because it is packed with fun things to do, great food and drink to enjoy, and tons of likeminded people to experience it all with, but because it champions the future of the scene with its New Blood and EMP stages. Where unsigned bands, some handpicked, but most coming through the Metal 2 the Masses events, get to play the festival.
It can be an absolute gamechanger for a band to play the New Blood or EMP stages and plenty have gone on to bigger and brighter things. We know, we’ve been paying a lot of attention to that side of things for a long time now, and every year, tried to feature as many bands playing as we could. While we can’t promise that we will see all these bands at the festival, we can promise that you will find a wealth of talent should you wander over to either.
Who knows, you may even end up finding your new favourite band.
It’s almost time for BOA 2026, so it’s time to get to know some of bands who will be playing the New Blood Stage or the EMP stage. This is Tempest Saint!
First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself. How and when did you get started?
Well, we are Tempest Saint, we’re a “Trad” Metal band, Trad being short for Traditional, aka NWOTHM, established in 2023. We play old-school Heavy Metal, With hard rock sensibilities.
Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
You could sum it up as Judas-Van-Snake; Three very influential bands that define our sound, Priest, Van Halen and Whitesnake. We’re also big fans of Badlands and Thin Lizzy, but we refuse to get boxed-in to anything, and we also like to draw from modern hard rock, to keep things fresh.
How has playing Bloodstock 2026 come about?
We Emailed the organisers in 2025, seeing if there were any slots free. It was all booked up at the time, so we played M2TM in February of 2026, and lost. A few weeks later we were contacted by the organisers again, once a slot at EMP Became available, and we gladly accepted.
What does it mean for you to play the festival this year?
The world, it means the world to us. Joe and James made a pact in 2023, after James saw KK’s Priest at bloodstock ’23, to never go to bloodstock again until Tempest Saint were playing it. By some miracle It’s only taken 2 more Bloodstocks to make that a reality!
What’s the setlist looking like and can we expect any surprises?
We always aim to pleasantly surprise the crowd somehow if we can, the setlist so far is going to be a mixture of the debut album “Hyperbolized”, and the new album, which we hope you’ll all enjoy. Its fast, furious, and carries a party-metal ethos, while retaining that aggressive Hard-Rock core.
Who are you looking forward to seeing, provided they don’t clash with your set?
We’ve all seen Judas Priest and Saxon, but don’t think that’ll stop us seeing them again, haha! We’re also hoping to Catch Wednesday 13, and we’re DEFINITELY going to pop down to the VIP area, with a few beers for our mates in Wailing Banshee. They kicked off the year with us, with our first gig of ’26 at the legendary Cart and Horse, so it’s only fitting we kick back together with them, after their set, at the best metal festival in the UK.
Ignoring the obvious (tent, sleeping bag, toilet roll, etc.) what’s one thing you should always take with you to a festival and why?
OUR PLAYSTATION 2! Our “Tour-Bus” is our guitarist’s VW Passat, which not only has space for all our gear, and comfy leather seats, but also has a PS2 and entertainment system hardwired in, so, the second we park up, you can be sure we’ll be on Need for speed, Star Wars Battlefront, or Guitar Hero!
It’s post-set, you’re packed away and your press is all done. It’s finally time to kick back and relax, what are you drinking and what are you eating?
We’ll be eating something hot, drinking lots of beer, and kicking it hard to some amazing bands. Cheers!
Tempest Saint play the EMP stage on the Saturday of the festival. Limited Bloodstock tickets are on sale now and you pick them up here.
