The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With Voluntas (Paul H)

It was a real treat to be invited to review the Bristol M2TM final and the winning band on the night, Voluntas certainly worked their nuts off to win a tough evening. The band are a four-piece thrash Metal band formed in Bristol in 2015, they bring an energetic, thrash/death fusion in the form of pit-inducing riffs, chuggy breakdowns, plenty of fast solos- all tied together with catchy momentum. Originally formed by members Mark Watkins (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and K-lum Schmit (lead guitar), their debut EP Walk to Hell' is released on 3rd August 2019. Guitarist K-lum grabbed the questions and provided some meaty thrash filled responses.

Paul: Who is the current line up?

K-Lum: Well it first started with K-lum and Mark jamming a couple of covers and writing a few riffs, not long after Joe Barton joined on bass and so the beer and metal sessions became a weekly thing. After about a year we had enough material to start gigging so started looking for a drummer. Trialled a couple but eventually found Alex who absolutely blew us away. The line-up has remained the same ever since, with Mark on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, K-lum on lead guitar and Joe providing some nasty death metal growls.

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences

K-Lum: Thrash is our core; Mark is a huge Metallica fan and it shows in his vocal style but with Barton's more death metal style we get to mix and match where we choose. Our collective Influences span from Alter bridge to Bloodshot Dawn and Iron Maiden to Allegaeon so it's hard to pin down our genre, but progressive Thrash seems the most accurate to us.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

K-Lum: Southwest Heavyfest in 2018 was awesome to be a part of but I think our favourite gig was playing Nipples-A-Booza at the Gryphon in Bristol. The gig was to raise money for a local legend who had suffered a stroke and the support from the community was a true testament to the strength of the local scene.

Paul: Getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling.

K-Lum:Yeah, it's absolutely amazing, this year's semi-final was extra special to us as K-lum and Alex were pulling double duties with Dies Holocaustum and Trayus. The feeling after all 3 bands went through was incredible.

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

K-Lum: Absolute shock and elation, to see 5 years of work get such a payback is very encouraging.

Paul: Moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

K-Lum:Our debut EP Walk to Hell is due out 03/08 so we will be playing it in full for our slot at Bloodstock. It flows nicely as a set and should get the pits churning!

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

K-Lum: K-lum and Alex are really looking forward to Children of Bodom and Mark’s eyeing Tesseract straight after so it's the Dio stage on Friday for us! Other than that, we are looking forward to checking out the rest of the new blood stage bands, the local scene is fierce right now!

Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?

K-Lum: No, all first timers for bloodstock!

Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!

K-Lum: There are a few things that spring to mind like K-lum’s Clash addiction, Barton's RuneScape binges, Mark's love of Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Alex's passion for The Darkness but you'll find none of us bare any guilt or even shame on any of these matters!

Having seen these guys ripping the roof of the Exchange in the final, it should be a feisty affair alright. Thanks to K-lum for his time. Voluntas hit the New Blood Stage on Saturday 10th August. A must see if you like your thrash.