By Monk and The Dark Queen
It could be argued that, despite what had gone down the previous evening in a field just a mile or so south of tonight’s venue, this was the most important gig of the year to date on the Belfast music scene. Yes, “The Boss” may have enjoyed one of his farewell flings just 24 hours previously, but tonight was about six of this city’s finest proponents of the art vying for the honour of, well, playing a field, albeit in the heart of south Derbyshire, as the first contestants to draw blood (sic) in the final rounds of this year’s Metal 2 The Masses took to the stage for a fiercely fought competition in which there could be only one winner but ultimately no losers…
With 24 bands having entered this year’s competition, we had been treated to performances from every gamut of the rock and metal genres, from blues-infused NWoCR to old-school thrash, febrile funk to sublime sludge, psychedelic doom to grinding deathcore, all reflecting the depth, lucidity and vibrancy of a scene those in the mainstream media propound as being dead and buried: well, M2TM once again has defiantly proven otherwise and tonight offered up its ultimate showcase, and in front of a sold-out crowd to boot \m/
As ever, tonight’s running order is drawn at random, which means that the first knights into battle in tonight’s arena are Armagh antagonists Astralnaut. And they certainly set the bar high right from the off with their taut and tense brand of dense doom-infused stoner groove, delivered with their usual verve and vivacity, especially on the part of energetic frontman Thomas, who spits and snarls his vocal invocations over the top of some of the heftiest riffage this side of New Orleans.
Next up are a band who have really grown into their stride as the competition progressed, and tonight Nihilanth are on complete fire, their brand of intense, uncompromising deathcore mixed with nu-metal enervation, evident especially on the breakdowns in their newer material, delivered with a ferocious intent and determination. A superb executed set from a band who have grown in confidence since their regeneration a while back.
Next into the fray, Solothurn had bulldozed their way through the competition so far, and again proved why they are one of the most exciting prospects in this corner of the Überverse with their dense, throbbing, metalcore-infused atmospherics mixed with deep bass tones and rich space-psyche vibes. I know of quite a few punters who would have placed heavy wagers on these guys to go all the way to Catton Hall, and it’s not hard to see why, as it’s another dominant and domineering exhibition from these rebranded veterans.
Pretty much an outside bet in this year’s stakes, ForeignWolf bring another musical dynamic to the proceedings, with their grunge-inflected, nu-metal infused twin-guitar classic rock groove and harmonics, delivered once again with aplomb, panache and supreme bravura. Like all the other acts tonight, they don’t fuck about, eschewing the niceties in favour of letting their music make their impression for them, and boy do they succeed.
Time to get brutally honest here and declare that next up we have the band I personally (along with several other scene insiders, it has to be admitted) believed were the odds-on favourites tonight. After all, they had been the first band in the history of the competition to attain perfect maximum scores from all the judges in both the heats and the semi-finals. As, it is, The Boat Sank prove why they are worthy of such confidence and support, their massive riffs, coupled with titanic (sic) bassy riffs, heavier than having ten tonnes of concrete dropped on your head, yet possessed of enough harmony and melody to both get your feet tapping and your brain swearing that you can actually hear vocals where none exist.
Finally, the luck (or otherwise) of the draw serves us up a band whom I had regarded as something of a “wild card”; in their heat, I didn’t quite know what to make of Mr Pink, but over the course of the competition they have impressed me more and more with their taut variation on deep-fade funk-infused space rock, which in a way reminds me of, and perhaps places them as natural successors, to now defunct local loonies NASA Assassin, especially on the likes of the hugely infectious ‘Psycho’. Something a bit left field, but hugely enjoyable for being so…
So, six bands and six genuinely OTR performances. Decision time. And I’m glad I’m not the one doing the “honours”: no, they fall to Bloodstock booker Simon Hall, who bravely climbs the stage to announce his choice… and 2024’s winner is Nihilanth who once again, along with all of their Belfast brothers-in-arms, have set the bar extremely high for those who soon will be tasked to join them on Bloodstock’s always revelatory New Blood stage in August.
In conclusion: having watched every last second of every one of the 40 performances over the course of the ten weeks of this competition, I can safely say that I did not see one single band who did not lay everything they had on the Voodoo stage in that time. Yes, some of them are very much works in progress with some way to go to make it to the grade enough to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Lock Horns (who returned to the M2TM arena for a devastating “comeback” special guest appearance during the second semi-final), Shrouded, The Crawling, Haint and last year’s champions Acid Age (themselves an exemplar of what a band can achieve by constant grafting, honing and sticking by what they believe).
Well done to everyone concerned, and especially to Sir James Loveday, for his continued faith in the vibrancy and vitality of the metal scene, and of course the good folks at Bloodstock, without whose commitment to growing new talent none of this would be happening…
The Metal 2 The Masses finals continue across the ÜK until mid-July:
- Photos © The Dark Queen/Über Rock.
- Bloodstock takes place over the weekend of 8-11 August.
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