A View From The Back Of The Room: Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses Semi Final 2

Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses Semi Final 2, Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff

So this is what it all came down to the M2TM Semi Final 2 was guaranteed to be a much heavier affair than the first semi final and boy howdy was that an understatement. Once again there were five bands in the running but only three would be going through to the final on 8th June. There were lot of bodies outside Fuel on a dreary Saturday as the hum of the Monster Trucks died down and the huddled masses of Cardiff city centre filled the pubs to watch the FA Cup final, but as the room started to fill there was an expectancy for every band to step up from the heats.

First up in terms of performance were Beyond Sorrow (7) who have noticeably upped their game from their heat showing that a wildcard entry does not mean the band are are any less talented than the heat winners. Their 'core' styled metal has heavy breakdowns, fast furious riffs and roaring vocals from frontman John who is the obvious focal point of the band prowling the stage barking down the mic occasionally venturing onto the photo pit barrier to windmill. They had brought a following with them so there was no shortage of action down the front with their final song inciting a pit very early. Beyond Sorrow have got serious chops, but both clean vocal performances need work and they were probably disadvantaged by going on first meaning that as the night progressed their performance became overshadowed by other bands. Still a marked improvement for the Semi's which is to be expected and can be applauded.

Next up were Blind Divide (9) this furious five piece have been laying waste to stages across South Wales and the West for a wild now, the outright winner in their heat, here they made no bones about their aspirations of getting to the final. I've never seen a band want something so badly, they were a tight explosive unit, with blistering drum beats underpinning some huge riffs. The bands stagecraft has been upped too with the instrumetal unit headbanging and moving as frontman James roared down the mic his face a picture of intensity. Varying their set a little they threw in two new songs including the face melting Betrayal and it worked in their favour as the crowd finally responded with movement. Blind Divide tore it a new one but if I had one criticism it would be that James needs to be a bit more commanding on stage vocally he's as aggressive as it gets but he needs to instigate a bit more demand movement and pits, Blind Divide's music is made for this so they just need to start raring people up to be a volatile as their music.

Without much of a rest bite it was time for Pembrokeshire thrashers In Which It Burns (9) who had travelled the furthest to get there. This meant that they didn't have the support a few of the other bands did but when so many people paid for a ticket to watch 5 bands (even if they came just to vote for one) it's annoying to see more people outside and in the bar than watching a band. Still IWIB didn't seem to care, frontman Stretch's self deprecating style was aware that they were playing to a room of people who no idea who they were but they managed to win over the crowd that were there by playing slickly done thrash metal that reminds me so much of early Machine Head, you know back when they were angry and not the farce they are now. Solid thrash riffs were abound from a band who despite line up changes always deliver live their tracks 6341 and The Creed becoming old favourites now to those who have seen the band more than once. After speaking to a few folks that have not been too many of the heats it was IWIB that made the biggest impression on the non-partisan voters.

After two heavy hitters it was time for the band that have been the most vocal on social media, who brought the biggest crowd and who many tipped to be a sure thing for the final. Industrial apocalypse metal act Incursion (7) have been on somewhat of a tear of late their heat performance was brilliant with even the much maligned clean vocals better than they had been previously, there they seemed geared up and ready to take on the M2TM after coming so close last year. Here unfortunately they weren't as good as they could have been, sticking to a largely similar set, the fires seemed to have dimmed a little despite them having the biggest crowd (though when it's a 75/25 judge split that doesn't always guarantee success in the semi's and means even less in the final other than having a crowd). Incursion have always played a style of music that mixed industrial with groove, it's always entertaining.

However against the previous two bands it was obvious that there hadn't been that evolution since the heats. The Hobnob Song once again brought biscuit driven chaos and while it was a chuckle at the heat, here I would have prefered some new material to be aired to ensure that for those of us who have seen the band before (and I'm including the partisan vote as well) had something else to get excited about or indeed leave the confectionary until the semi for that surprise. They ended the set with Scourge as per usual but all that improvement mentioned by Paul H in his review of their heat counted for nothing when the those out of tune clean vocals came back with a vengeance. It seemed to me that there was a level of expectation from Incursion that for me wasn't reached in this semi unfortunately.

The talent of bands competing this year is a major step up to what they were last year and in a conversation with Democratus frontman Steve he was really pleased that Democratus won last year as he wouldn't have wanted to enter this year, I agree with him the competition is tighter than ever.

I digress as there was still one more band to go, this was the atmospheric blackened shoegaze of Levitas (8) who attempted a new dramatic staging to their abrasive music cloaked in shadow with just directional lights from the floor adding a mysterious edge to their stage show, which was never really anything more than the four band members on stage. Again it showed progression as the walls of riffs came like a wave of sheer noise Rhys and Helen bringing grinding guitars over the top of Liam's thunderous bass and Sams skin destroying drums. Once again showing a marked improvement from their heat, the four piece were somewhat of a surprise winner of that heat due to the elemental force of their music but here they upped the stage dressing which was probably their weakness. Tonight they once again went on last and were pretty imperious despite a sparse crowd in the room (who all seemed to disappear for both them and the headliner), playing songs mostly from their recent EP Charnel Sky. Always a band who are an enigma on a bill Levitas are a band that always deliver offering an alternative to what had proceed them ending the competitive part of the night on a colossal high.

[Rich]: Then it was time for the nights headliners Damaged Reich (8) who hit the stage to a rather sparse crowd which was unfortunate, as the Oxford thrashers played a blinding set with bags of energy and amazing sound. Those who did watch were treated to a barrage of old school thrash with the band sounding like the bastard love child of Kreator and Testament. Razor sharp riffs, aggressive vocals and a punishing rhythm section guaranteed some sore necks in the morning. Though the songs from their debut album Death Becomes Us All all went down well with though the biggest cheers of the night were for their storming cover of Metallica's Creeping Death. As with Luna's Call in the previous semi final it was great to see a touring band who have never played our city before in an intimate space. A hugely enjoyable way to bring the live music for the night to an end before the anticipated announcement of who would be going through to the final, though I was a little disappointed about the sparseness of the crowd as we were trying to show how up for it the South Wales crowd were.

As the dust cleared on the brilliant headline set it was time for the announcement as the tension built in the room Levitas and In Which It Burns were announced as going through then after a moment of silence it was Blind Divide who took the final spot on June 8th. These three bands either showed a new edge to their performances, new songs from Blind Divide, new staging from Levitas (it is a live competition after all) or in the case of In Which It Burns a well trained discipline that wins them over new fans at every showing. Commiserations to Beyond Sorrow and Incursion but now is the time to adapt and overcome, the whole point of the M2TM is to make the scene you play in better so when it's so tight between the competitors you know that things are going in the right direction, but you have to up your game accordingly.

Editor's note: My one gripe throughout the competition has been this: if you bring an entourage of partisan voting fans with you, it would be beneficial if band could corale them to see the other bands playing on the night. When the final comes I would urge all the bands to bring as many people as they can but make sure they are in the performance area of Fuel for every band as it shows the outside guest judge that our scene is thriving.

Lets get motivated and have a final as busy as it was last year. There is a presale in order for the final so you may want to snap those tickets up as there are 6 brilliant bands, plus two returning winners from last year. It's sure to be an excellent night, lets see you all down there yeah?