So the Metal To The Masses South Wales heats are all done and dusted. You read all the interviews with this year's bands but we thought it was worth rounding up what happened before the Quarters kick off properly.
Things began super early this year with a slight change of venue from previous years as the East Side of the things were based at Green Rooms, a grassroots venue and practice room that is helping the new generation of talent to hone their skills.
For the first heat unfortunately veterans Catalysts had to pull out so that left us with the disgustingly youthful noise Syndicate, the modern metal slickness of Virtue In Vain and the classic rock sounds of Daytura. It was a hard fought Heat even though their was only the three bands playing.
The crowd were electric throughout getting involved with every set despite how eclectic the bands were. It was the arena ready heaviness of Virtue In Vain who took home the fan vote on the night while the judge vote went to the powerful vocals and hard rock swagger of Daytura.
Neither of these things should detract from how talented Syndicate are and with a bit of refinement they will be a force to be reckoned come 2027 for sure.
With one down it was over to the West Side for a post Valentine's Day love in.
Again held at the brilliant Bunkhouse Swansea, a community hub that is the heart and soul of Swansea's music scene. A venue defined by resilience their first heat saw some violence from Clarity As Arson, some traditional metal from Antique Curse, grooves from Thawn and modern melodic metal from House Of Hosts
Taking the judge vote was the outright aggression of Clarity As Arson who came back after a short hiatus to remind everyone what they do so well while it was House Of Hosts that stole the fans heart, with a massive backing in the local scene they stormed their way into the Quarters.
Both Antique Curse and Thawn offered something different, and while they came up short they are both acts with a lot of youth on their side and will only refine and define themselves from here.
The following weekend we had two Heats back to back. Over at Green Rooms there was another eclectic line up of Deathcore heaviness from Excursia, some vampiric rockong from Blood Red Lips, alt rock from Remain The Few and a bit more classic/thrash metal from Winter.
This time Blood Red Lips brought their nocturnal hordes to The Green Rooms and exsanguinated the fan vote from the room drop by drop, while it was Excursia who rumbled the skulls of the judges, taking their juggernaut into the Quarters.
As with every M2TM heat the quality is hard to beat and Winter brought youth and were entertaining to all the old school lovers in the room while Remain The Few definitely have a strong following with their proggy/punky/emo sound. Go check out both for yourself!
Back to the West and this one looked strong with electronic metalcore band Inscape coming back to life in Swansea, while Scratch One Grub brought some 2000's era heaviness. The always odd Grindhorse83 filled Swansea with psycho surf metal while Mould crawled their way out of the tarpits with sludge.
In the results side Inscape and Scratch One Grub unfortunately had to take the loss but that doesn't detract from their skills and live presence, both are very active, especially Inscape who have a unique sound in sometimes overwhelming genre pool. So catch them at any of their numerous gigs coming up to see what the fuss is about.
However I'm terms of results the crabs clacked their claws for the the absolute weirdness of Grindhorse83 who stole the fan vote like it's a golden Maguffin in a Tarantino movie while the judges absolutely loved having their ears abused by Mold who brought bowel shifting NOLA sludge to Swansea.
The train didn't stop and it was back at the WEST station for another three band bill as Blindburn had to withdraw just before the heat. With melodic hard rock grooves from Soul Fracture, electronic cinematics from Manumit and psych/doom from Pvriah.
The three band heats are always a little sadder as only one band is left behind and on this occasion it was Pvriah, who's psych/doom didn't quite hit the sweet spot but saw them gain a a new set of minds to melt.
Soul Fracture took the fan vote after getting Bunkhouse's hips shaking and heads nodding into the next round while the judges were drawn into the neon powered beatdowns of Manumit who will I assume do some kind of digital transporting into their Quarter.
Another week another weekend of M2TM goodness as it was the first Friday Heat at Green Rooms. This was strong one with returning finalists Exaust coming back to unleash the thrash in the pits, returning to M2TM too were the doom laden sounds of Risperidrone ready hurt your neck.
They were joined by two new bands as Paroxism brought and extreme metal assault while there was modern, emotive metal from Convoy, but unfortunately it was these two bands that didn't quite get to the next round, as again there are tweaks needed, so get out there and support them at gigs so they can come back bigger and better next year.
So then it was the other two bands that won the day, Risperidrone have gotten heavier and nastier since they last appeared here, clearly making a mark on the Green Rooms crowd as they took the fan vote while Exaust proved why they made it all the way to Day Of Wreckoning last year, having shifted their thrash sound a little but still rip your throat out.
A days breathing space and The Bunkhouse saw disgusting death from Virology, evil doom riffs from Hateful Dread, extreme aggression from Judasnail and a lot of youthful rocking from White Leather.
Another eclectic one and while it was Virology, who have some M2TM pedigree, but perhaps a two piece death metal comprised of vocals and bass was a step too far, and Judasnail who will continue to evolve and mature with their extreme metal, missed out on the next round.
This left the fan vote to fall to the satanic, fuzz laden viciousness of Hateful Dread, breaking a few eardrums and causing a few trips along the way. The judges on the otherhand though that the rocking of a band like White Leather was way beyond their years so have the nod to them
Finally then it was back once again to Green Rooms (not the renegade master) for last of this year's heat and there was a third withdrawal as Levels Of Violence pulled out with only a day or two spare. This left Treforest with the alt metal stylings of Avicide, the heavy low end doom of Damek and the newly metallic hardcore brutality of Disrupt The Continuum.
It's always a much tighter affair when there's only three bands and while Damek's Satanic Doom got the teeth rattling it was the youthful grooves and powerhouse voice of Avicide that got the fan vote as the judges decided that the newly retooled and voracious Disrupt The Continuum would be our last Quarter finalist.
There's so much talent on offer this year the next few rounds are going to be fun as everything culminates with Day Of Wreckoning, the M2TM South Wales Final that sees six bands play for a place at Bloodstock Festival in front of a huge audience. The event also brings a lot of guest acts along including a headline set by The Wildhearts.
Ticket for that are available here:
https://ticket247.co.uk/Event/517805
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