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Tuesday 19 February 2019

Metal To The Masses South Wales 2019 Heat 2 Preview

Bloodstock Metal To The Masses South Wales 2019 – Heat 2 Preview

We go again! Heat 2 has seen the late withdrawal of Prophecy who we wish all the best for 2019 and beyond. With two new bands added to the fray, this should be another interesting and entertaining heat. We start with wintery bleakness of Black Pyre.

Black Pyre

Let’s start with some background. Give us a potted history of the band. “In the beginning there was a dark realm, and from the dark realm there was an egg, and from the egg was birthed the nefarious Asbjorn, Daemonium de Noctis; born skilled in vocals and with knowledge of the guitar… and so, the band was conceived. To become great, a drummer was needed, and so across the plains he scoured, looking for the perfect beater-of-skins. Finally, after setting a trap in the icy forests of Llantwit, baited with a cowbell, the mighty Dominus de Octopus was ensnared and decided to bear the burden of blast beats. Finally, they needed some musical talent. So, they invoked the hugest of arch-fiends, The Evil Amaz-Zön Prime, and after selling their souls, and paying £4.99, Kjottflate, The Mighty Ravendork arrived the following week drenched in rainwater with the skankiest bass. The band was finally complete with the most brutal of line-ups, and so they embarked off into the permafrosty tundras to seek the evillest of all music – Black Metal.”

Off to a flyer there then. So, tell us about the current line-up. “(In order of appearance): Asbjorn, Daemonium de Noctis – Vocals, Guitars; Dominus de Octopus – Drums; Kjottflate, The Mighty Ravendork – Bass”

I think from the opening salvo we have an idea but go on, describe the band’s sound. “We sound like a really good sandwich, but you’ve eaten the sandwich way too fast, so you get really bad indigestion, and that’s God’s way of punishing you for committing the 5th sin, gluttony… Or in short, Dominus says we’re a bit like a mess of Burzum, Satyricon and if Primus met Black Metal”. Ouch! We’ve all had that sandwich. Moving on, who are the main influences for the band? “The Great Demon Lord Abbath Doom Occulta”. I think he is to most of us, eh kids?
Okay, so Lemmy once said “if we moved in next door your grass would die”. If you moved in next door, what would happen to my lawn? “Forget the lawn. That’s the least of your concerns. The entire estate would be covered in permafrost and eternal darkness”. Estate? I don’t live on a bloody estate! How very dare you! But that still sounds unpleasant, regardless.

What prompted you to apply for the M2TM competition? “It was always our destiny since Asbjorn was born of the egg to partake in this glorious event”. And what can we expect from you at Fuel? “An assortment of invisible tropical fruits… And permafrost… And Black Metal…” If that isn’t enough to get you there then there is something wrong with you. How can you miss invisible grapefruit?

There is a strong line-up this year and the competition will be fierce. It’s great to have a healthy Welsh Metal scene. Playing this event always seems to raise the game. Tell us a few highlights for the band since you started. “Many moons ago we shared a stage with the forbidden lords of Grá and our tasty cousins Agrona. We also decide that the recording quality of our toilet was poor, and so ventured through forests until we came across the mighty lad Tim Vincent and a studio by a weird bridge. So, naturally, we made a cheeky record”.

Have you been to Bloodstock before? If so, tell us some of your experiences; why is it such a great festival? “Dominus refuses to leave his room. He only comes out at the promise of dead crows. However, we hear that this festival may have dead crows and permafrost and brutality… So, we will visit it.”

And finally, tell us something unusual about each band member that you feel needs to be shared with the rest of the metal community. “Asbjorn Daemonium de Noctis – He can eat unholy amounts of mayonnaise with almost no side effects. Dominus de Octopus – He once killed a megalodon by wrestling it into extinction, therefore becoming the de-facto lord of the Octopus Clan. Kjottflate, The Mighty Ravendork – He’s single and ready to mingle…”

Now if that doesn’t get you interested then there is something wrong with you.

Stitched Up

Having crept out from the descending permafrost (otherwise known as Splott), we run into our next interviewees, the hardcore/thrash infused punk of Stitched Up. Vocalist Mike gives us the background. “My old band SMILER ended in 2017 after more drummer problems (it was very Spinal Tap). Mark, who I’ve known on and off from almost 20 years of going to hardcore/punk shows, said he needed a singer, I didn’t think much would come of it. We got in a room with Sib and Chris and jammed out some old school Oi! (Cardiff’s own The Oppressed & Cock Sparrer) which was fun. We all love New York/Boston hardcore punk, thrash Metal and hip hop so just tried to melt that all together and jumped into gigging”. "The current line-up of the band is Mike on Vox, Sib on bass, drummer Chris and Mark on guitar."
How would you describe the band’s sound? ”Crossover/Hardcore punk”. A daft question given the band’s sound but who are the main influences for the band? “Music wise we borrow from NYHC bands like Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All and Life Of Agony all while throwing in early Machine Head and Biohazard breakdown riffs”. It should be a tasty evening.

Let’s get onto the important lawn question. Lemmy once said “if we moved in next door your grass would die”. If you moved in next door, what would happen to my lawn? "You’d need to concrete over that as it’s easy to clean up with mess we’d leave you with after drinking and partying with Sib.”

What prompted Stitched Up to apply for the M2TM competition? “Chris goes every year and he thought with could bring something different to the party. Plus, we’ve seen a few friends bands do well after playing over the last few years so we thought we should bring you some old school Hardcore to mix things up.” For the uninitiated what can we expect from you at Fuel? “Mayhem, Riffs and bad jokes. I’ve got a habit of getting myself into trouble. And if we are drinking... well it’s just easier to join in”.
There is a strong line-up this year and the competition will be fierce. It’s great to have a healthy Welsh Metal scene. Playing this event always seems to raise the game. Tell us a few highlights for the band since you started. “We are still pretty new. We’ve had a few good reviews and self-released our demos on most streaming services. But I think the fact that people keep coming to party with us means we must be doing something right, plus it’s kept Me and Sib out of Cardiff nick!"

And onto the Bloodstock question. Have you been to Bloodstock before? If so, tell us some of your experiences; why is it such a great festival? “Our drummer Chris goes every year. He absolutely loves it. The mix of Metal, Thrash and the odd Hardcore band mean he’s got every base covered for the music he loves. I’ve always wanted to go but work always gets in the way, but the line ups have always been killer.”

And finally, tell us something unusual about each band member that you feel needs to be shared with the rest of the metal community. “Mike used to be a bouncer at The Legendary TJ’s in Newport and watches Neighbours every day without fail. Mark is the Willie Nelson of Hardcore and plays Beatles songs at any given opportunity to the dismay of the rest of the band. Sib has more Hip Hop and Hardcore band tattoos that anyone should have and is a decent rapper. Chris might be an international arms dealer as he’s always over in mainland Europe “working” and flying back for gigs and watches more bands live in a month than most people do in a decade."

Thanks to Mike and Stitched Up. Expect fireworks when they hit Fuel.

State Of Deceit 

Following on is the ‘veterans’ of the round, State Of Deceit, who deliver a non-nonsense metal approach. As usual, we start with the band history. “The band got together in June 18, having evolved from The Devolved with ex-members of Without Due Haste, Into The Depths, SLaM and Down Impact. The band played its first gig as State of Deceit in January. The band’s line-up is Pete Scammell - Vocals, Jon Russell - Guitar, Matt Wilson - Bass and Matt Toner – Drums"

How would you describe the band’s sound? “Melodic Thrashcore.” So, who are the main influences for the band? “A fusion of old and new - Thrash, Power Groove, Metalcore, Stoner, Hardcore”.

Lemmy once said “if we moved in next door your grass would die”. If you moved in next door, what would happen to my lawn? “It would form a crop circle.”

What prompted you to apply for the M2TM competition? “We love the coverage from this competition and meeting new bands from the area. Bloodstock is a fantastic festival that we really would love to be a part of. It would definitely be a tick off of our bucket lists”.

What can we expect from you at Fuel? “Fuel can expect no nonsense, bowel thundering, teeth enamel stripping riffing and drums that will leave you shaken to the core”. Good grief. How the venue will be standing after these heats is beyond me.

Tell us a few highlights for the band since you started. “Playing with other great South Wales bands and making friends and supporting other musicians.”

Have you been to Bloodstock before? If so, tell us some of your experiences; why is it such a great festival? “Matt went to the first one with Saxon playing which was immense, Bloodstocks reputation proceeds it continues to increase every year!”

And finally, tell us something unusual about each band member that you feel needs to be shared with the rest of the metal community. “Pete's played football vs Valencia, Jon's crashed at the Nurburgring twice, Matt W is powered by anger and is also a minister, Matt T was going to swim the English Channel until a Christmas morning swim made his balls shrivel up”.

Sydney Fate

These interviews are getting better all the time. Let’s see what the metal-core of Sydney Fate, a last-minute addition to Heat 2 has to say. Guitarist and vocalist Bailey Edwards gives us the details about the band history. “Founded by guitarist and vocalist Bailey Edwards, the band started back in early 2017 and consists of lifelong friends that share the same goals of writing music and having fun; We're all about the atmosphere and having a great time! We currently reside in Cardiff but grew up in the Caerphilly area together where we spent a lot of time jamming out to our favourite songs. We started to develop 'Our Sound' pretty quickly due to our mutual love for music and as a band we all have very broad influences; such as Metalcore, 80's Glam, pop-punk, jazz to Drum and Bass. We like to interpret a lot of our preferences into our music to keep everyone on their toes!”
The current line-up. “So, we'll start with our front men; - First up on the mic we have Adam Rapado, Adam brings out our darker side by giving us the heavy vocals and screams. He can go from Elmo to Cookie monster in 0.2 seconds! - Next we have guitarist and clean vocalist Bailey Edwards, bringing us the softer vocals and slick riffs. - Also playing guitar we have Owen Whittaker, smashing out the blend of chugs and solos. - On Bass we have Scott Butterworth, embedding our root foundation with his powerful blasts and bringing us home with the gravity drops! - Finally, we have our beat master, Kristian 'Terry' Collins on drums. No one knows where the nickname came from, but we just roll with it”.

How would you describe the band’s sound? “I think it's fair to say our music falls under the 'melodic metal' category, but we like to think our sound is a little different as we like try to interpret a variety of styles in our work! We compose our music with thought of including 'something for everyone', as we have a love for diving in to different genres and stealing the best bits!”

What about the main influences for the band? “As a band we look up to an abundance of great musicians! Our main influences for Sydney Fate would consist of bands like Bullet for My Valentine, Killswitch Engage, Metallica and Trivium!”

We hold our breath once more for the lawn question. Lemmy once said “if we moved in next door your grass would die”. If you moved in next door, what would happen to my lawn? “Well we can't make any promises about your grass! But we like to think we're fun guys, maybe we could take away the fence and have one big yard party? You get the food ready and we'll bring the drinks!! (We'd even recycle the mess in the morning too)”. I’m warming to these guys. Anyone who recycles is okay in my book.

So why did you decide to apply to M2TM? “We decided to apply to M2TM because we are passionate about the art we create, we have put our blood, sweat and soul into our music and we would love to share our love for music with a mass crowd”

 And what can we expect when you hit the stage? “When we play Fuel, you can expect explosive energy, crushing riffs, roaring vocals and all the sugar in between”.

We move onto band highlights. “Since we have finalised the line-up, we have seen an increase in headline shows all over the UK, being able to travel around our glorious country has been a dream come true. We have also joined the stage with bands such as Raiders (Ex- Blackout), Neshiima (Glasgow Metal Giants), and a plethora of up and coming bands with more talent than you could imagine. We also had the incredible opportunity to record and produce our Debut EP 'Sound Alive' with the Graves brothers in York (With One Last Breath/ Asking Alexandria)”.

Although the band haven’t made it to BOA, it’s on the list. “We haven’t been to Bloodstock before, we have been avid festival goers for years and Bloodstock is on our list however we have not graced the grounds yet!”

Finally, what about that unknown fact? “Not many people actually know this about us, but the entire band actually consist of three dwarfs standing on top of each other pretending to be each member”. I tried doing the maths on that one but realised I could get into trouble with the question how many dwarves it takes to make a metal band. Thanks to Bailey and Sydney Fate for their time.

Good Morning Vietnam

Another late addition to this Heat is the post hardcore of Good Morning Vietnam. Here’s the background to the band. “The First iteration of the band started in 2015 and sadly only lasted for a short while, due to members drifting apar. The second was then formed in 2016 by Glenn who brought on both Mike and Cam; with a newer sound we managed to form a great alternative and now with Ash on board our songs have only grown stronger” 

Okay, so who is in the band? “We've got Glenn Leading our band on vocals, an O.G member and the reason we've all come together. Mike is our guitarist, but you can also hear his vocals spread thought out our songs. Ash our bassist and newest friend, has not only build upon the songs we have but helped us push forward to the sound we're aiming for." 

So how do GMV describe their sound? “The band has always kept to its fast-paced aggressive sound with melodic structure but we try to add and experiment with our sound constantly”.

What about the band’s influences? “Our influences range from Killswitch Engage, Alexisonfire, The Amity Affliction, Escape The Fate, Lamb Of God, Giving Into Ghosts, All To Ruin but of course we acknowledge our personal roots in heavy music such as Metallica and Slayer."
For the final time in this heat, the grass question! “If we moved next door your grass wouldn't get any sleep at all, whether it be from our pulse inducing heavy riffs and beats, or our ballads that could bring tears to a boulder”.
So, what persuaded GMV to join the M2TM party? “We were first drawn to M2TM by the opportunity of sharing our music with a wider audience of like-minded people, after winning our heat last year as the wild cards, we just had to come back for another chance”. That is good stuff and a proper example of how to keep plugging away.

What will GMV bring to Fuel on 22nd February? “We're always proud of the energy and involvement we bring to each of our shows, both ourselves and the audience love it and we promise nothing less when we're on stage at fuel. There is an extremely strong line-up, but we have never shied away from competition and will always push to give the best show as we can, always challenging ourselves as musicians”. No compromises – love it!

The band have been around a little while now. What are their highlights so far? “Highlights would definitely be having a busy 2018 such as progressing as a wildcard in last year’s contest after which we went on to record and release our debut music video Crows' and later our debut EP Burn which has given us opportunities such as headlong shows and festival appearances”

Another band that haven’t yet made it to Catton Hall which is always a shame. “We haven't personally been to Bloodstock yet unfortunately, but we are hoping our first time will be as performers; we have a major respect for Bloodstock bringing a constant plethora of talented artists from brutal death metal to the spin chilling black metal. We have always had a wide variety of taste and we feel that Bloodstock gives a stage where all lovers of metal can head bang, drink and have the time of our lives”
And finally, what about the unusual in the band? “Unusual? Mike: you won't meet a more obsessed Dwayne Johnson fan, so much we bought him a cardboard cutout which he may or may not be in love with. Glenn – vocals. Never wears the same outfit twice; to quote our bassist Ash 'I've known you for three months and have never seen you wear the same shoes twice.' Ash - Bass - Absolute tank, who represented Wales in powerlifting. Cam – Drums: Won't eat a hamburger without a knife and fork”.

So there we have it. A diverse and challenging motley crew who are all poised to kick some serious ass this Friday. Get down to Fuel and enjoy what promises to be a meaty contest.

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