Tag: Metal 2 The Masses
Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses NI Grand Final – Belfast, Voodoo – 10 May 2024
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…
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Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses NI Grand Final – Voodoo, Belfast – 12 May 2023
It’s been a really strange year so far, one in which Monk sometimes feels like he had his right arm cut off, as something extremely important and close to him had been missing for the past four months. Yes, it’s been the annual Metal 2 The Masses competition, in which the bossman has been very proud to serve as a judge for its first eight years… but, in 2023’s ninth iteration of the Über Kingdom’s premier battle of the bands contest, Monk had to take the very difficult decision to step down from my equally difficult role. Having said that, there was absolutely no fucking way, unless the planet imploded upon itself, he was going miss the grand finale, the ultimate fight to the death for that extremely precious slot at this summer’s bolshier-than-ever Bloodstock festival \m/
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Imperial Demonic – ‘Beneath The Crimson Eclipse’ (Black Lion Records)
Probably the closest thing that the tightly-knit Northern Irish blackened metal scene has to what could be described as a “supergroup”, Imperial Demonic hit with something of a not insubstantial impact when they made their debut around this time last year, when they attempted to grab the renascent Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition by the balls and give it a bloody good shaking! While they may not have succeeded in that regard, they did in another – particularly in attracting the attention of the more self-righteous elements of the local keyboard warrior brigade, who decried and vilified the band for even daring to think about entering said contest, all because of the small matter of their lead vocalist having played in a previously winning act… oh, and yes, they also feature a pirate metaller of some renown in their ranks, in the shape of Alestorm’s Gareth Murdock, failing (un)miserably to hide his identity behind layers of corpse paint…
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Metal 2 The Masses NI Grand Final – Belfast, Voodoo – 6 May 2022
Monk has to admit that he has something of a love/hate relationship with the annual Metal 2 The Masses “battle of the bands”-style competition. Having been involved as a judge for the past seven years, he loves the fact that it has, in that period, introduced him to so many great new bands, and continues to open my eyes (and ears) to some incredible young (and, in some cases, not so young) talent, showing, year on year, what a massive pool of the stuff we have in this particular corner of the Überverse.
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FESTIVAL NEWS: Bloodstock’s ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ returns with a bang
The first 28 venues for next year’s Bloodstock ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ competition, which gives bands the opportunity to play at the UK’s leading independent heavy metal festival, have been confirmed.
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FESTIVAL NEWS: Bloodstock releases day tickets, announces first M2TM winners
A limited amount of day tickets from this year’s Bloodstock festival will go on sale this Thursday.
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Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses Northern Ireland Final – Belfast, Voodoo – 17 May 2019
In what proved to be the most tightly contested battle in the history of the competition, it was a case of third time lucky for Belfast-based groove crüe Lock Horns as they stormed to an extremely well-deserved victory in this year’s Northern Ireland leg of the annual Metal 2 The Masses competition to win a coveted spot at this year’s Bloodstock Open Air festival. Not that they had an easy ride, both in terms of their own performances and the sheer quality of the opposition which they faced, both throughout the competition and on this spectacular night of heavy metal beatdowns par excellence.
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