By Monk
Bloodstock has demonstrated its continuing, unprecedented and unwavering support for the grassroots, independent metal underground by announcing the first bands to play alongside the 30 regional winners of its annual Metal 2 The Masses competition.
Death/doom devotees Void Below, alt prog rock Londoners Temples On Mars, boisterous hardcore-metal alchemists Negative Frame and Concrete Age, with their distinctive mix of ancient world music with extreme metal, will rip up Catton Hall’s third stage on the Friday.
Joining them on Saturday will be old school riff merchants Thrasherwolf, Northern Ireland melo-death purveyors Imperial Demonic, young aggressors Chained Saint and dark prog metal fiends Imbrium (featuring former members of Dreamcatcher, Memoreve and The Defiled). Not to be outdone, Sunday invites Overpower, who forge together riffs of early influences like Metallica and Slayer with the savagery of UKHC.
The #Metal2TheMasses finals will kick off in Cyprus this coming weekend and continue across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Norway and the Channel Islands, finishing in Bristol on 12 July. Once all the winning bands have been confirmed, we will present our indepth guide to each and every band playing the New Blood Stage over the weekend of 6-9 August.
Bloodstock has also revealed the full line-up for the new and improved EMP stage! Now situated in a new location in the main arena for less noise bleed, with a bigger stage and a bar, it’ll play host to more than a dozen up ‘n’ coming attention getters, so if you like to discover hot new music first, make sure you check out some bands here as well over the festival!
Friday will welcome heavy rockers Untamed Silence, melodic punkcore beasts Change Persona, metalcore headbangers After Smoke Clears, rock-metal hybrid Soulride and symphonic prog metallers Vanitas. Saturday will offer occult doomsters Goat Major, modern classic rockers Cancel The Transmission, trad metalheads Tempest Saint, power sludge duo Trollmother and hardcore punkers Dosed.
Rounding things off on Sunday will be hardcore fans Stitched, electro alt rockers Wrex, modern metal squad Following The Signs, power trio The Cartoon Cartel and dark alt crew Aethoria.
