By Monk and The Dark Queen
“If we don’t support this scene, Live Nation sure as fuck won’t” declared Bloodstock booker Simon Hall as he stood proudly (and humbly) before this sold out Belfast crowd at the finale of this year’s tenth iteration of the franchise that does more than any other to encourage and promote the underground rock and metal scene, not only in this little corner of the Überverse but much further afield (as proven when, just two weeks previously, the big lad had to endure sipping cocktails on a beach in Cyprus in the cause of this very mission).
Before we get down to the business end of tonight’s proceedings, in terms of the five bands battling it out for that coveted slot on Catton Hall’s infamous New Blood Stage, please permit me a few sentences to reflect on this year’s competition as an overall entity.
And, yet again, what a competition it was… Being a part of the judging panel is always a huge honour and privilege. It is also a massive challenge: after all, at the very minimum it takes ten weeks out of your life, spending five hours every Friday night for two and a half months knowing that you could be holding the future prospects of the artists laying their souls in front of you in the palm of your hands, deciding whether or not they go on to greater things or sulk back down that dark back street outside the venue to go and consider their very futures in this cut-throat business.
Let me make one thing clear. This may be a competition but, in the eyes of myself and everyone involved (and I know I include the top echelons of the Bloodstock hierarchy in this), everyone who participates in this battle is a winner. Every single artist gives everything they have to doing the best they can do. They pour their blood, their hearts, their souls and, above all, their belief into their performances, leaving everything they have behind them. And, for that, each and every person who stands on that Voodoo stage has, and always will have, my utmost admiration and respect. You make my job extremely difficult, but I love you all for it…
So, down to business and the five bands out of the 32 who stepped up to the plate who have made it to this final face off. Yes, there were supposed to be six, but (odds on favourites in my book) SOMA unfortunately had to pull out at the last minute, and rather than number crunch down to infinitesimally small fractions of margins to find the “best of the rest” to fill the gap, the legend that is promoter James Loveday took the wise decision to go with adding in a guest headliner to round out the night…
As with the rest of the competition, the running order is drawn at random earlier in the evening, with the result being that, IMO, the bill is very sandwiched, with two of the remaining favourites at the opening end and the band that could be the surprise outsider coming up on the rails at the end…
Opening proceedings, From Ruins were one of the bands who had bulldozed their way through the competition, and you can immediately see why with their brand of atmospheric, proggy metalcore with a thrashy edge, which is both dynamically intense and intensely dynamic. But, tonight there is something elementary missing: the bass is just too loud (something we don’t normally complain about) and the vocals, normally so acerbic in both the clean and dirty deliveries, are off key. Nevertheless, they impress with their commitment and set the bar high in terms of laying everything on the stage…
It’s a challenge another of my personal tips, If It Bleeds, take up, and they hold the gauntlet high with their declaration that there shall be “no monkey business, no fucking shit”. Well, they’re well on the mark, as there is none of either present. You want to ‘Fuck Around And Find Out’ the consequences of not obeying the law laid down here, then get yourself a massive reality check courtesy of IIB. ‘We Can Kill It’ they declare on their showstopping final song… and the emphasis is on KILL, ‘cos that’s exactly what these bais did (and, as far as I can tell, they’re still digging up the bodies!).
Next up, Microtonal are definitely the “new blood”: hell, their guitarist looks about 14, even with the bum fluff on his upper lip (but, boy, can he shred!). When these guys played their heat, they showed plenty of promise, but their vocalist was all over the place, seemingly not confident in his role. As the competition has evolved, however, things have followed their logical and natural path, and now it is he who is carrying the band’s performance, instead of the other way round, as evinced when the bassist almost immediately suffers massive technical problems. A determined and intense set which bodes well for the band’s continued development.
Apart from being the obvious wild card on tonight’s bill, Divides Unfold are also the most experienced, having been here twice before. They may not be the most “metal” band on the bill, but they lack nothing in heaviness with their dense alt-rock style, which is very much in the Tremonti vein. As taut and precise as you would expect from a band who have been together for nearly a decade, they still display plenty of energy, with their guitarist bouncing on and off the stagefront wedges like Zebedee on steroids, their accomplished set is tightly delivered and finishes with a new song, ‘Heaven Help Us’, which has all the promise to be one of those viral interwebby hittymajig things when released…
Another change in mood, which serves to highlight the diversity of the competition, sees hardcore bruisers Frayed Ends BC closing out this section of the proceedings in suitably frantically frenetic, in-your-face style delivered with venomous intent. The second band of the night to find out what happens when we fuck about, their street attitude is combined with back alley garage mentality and commitment. New single ‘They Deserve Better’ demonstrates their overtly political stance, which they defend with admirable aplomb and uncompromising dedication.
Following a typically face-shredding guest headline slot from death dealers Strangle Wire, it was time for the big reveal as to which act would become the latest injection of Belfast #NewBlood to introduce themselves to the rabid and always appreciative masses (sic) at the ÜK’s premier metal festival at the beginning of August. It’s the sort decision I’m glad I do, ‘t have to make, as there have been enough tough judgement calls made in the nine weeks leading to this decisive moment…
But, at the of this long road, there can be only one “victor” and on this occasion the laurel wreaths are deservedly bestowed upon the heads of If It Bleeds, who undoubtedly will stomp the muddied field of Catton Hall more than a new one on the Friday night.
As I said at the top of this piece, everyone who enters this competition is a winner in their own right, But, the biggest winner is “Belfast fucking heavy metal underground” (as Strangle Wire frontman Pete had so eloquently put it) – and, indeed, the entire underground scene, not just the metal one, as evinced by the fact that just tonight but almost all of the six heats and three semi-finals had the “sold out” signs on the door days in advance, itself a defiant middle finger to the mainstream media and the corporate conglomerates who do their best to ignore its living, breathing vibrancy.
- Bloodstock takes place over the weekend of 7-10 August.