Today would once again take place mostly at the small stage and in the small tent. The sun was already high in the sky, and inside the Metal Dome it was unusually cozy for such an early hour. I had rarely seen it this full at midday. But the four guys from Self Deception from Sweden were about to deliver quite a show.
After the dark and gloomy atmosphere inside the tent, it was time to head back out into the sunshine for Last Train from France. It still wasn’t particularly crowded in front of the stage, but their lively, rock‑driven sound immediately invited everyone to join in.
Outside, the sun was already shining again, but inside the Metal Dome things were about to get dark. Vowws is a dark‑industrial‑pop project by the two Australians Arezo “Rizz” Khanjani and Matthew “Matt” James Campbell, who are based in Los Angeles. In front of the stage it was extremely empty. Something I’ve rarely experienced before. The musical blend the two were about to present over the next 40 minutes was, however, quite unusual for a festival like this.
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.