Metal 2 The Masses Heat 1 Wardomized, Shrouded, Cursed Sun & Deathbus
Saturday 30th January 2016 – Limelight, Belfast
This time last year as Bloodstock Festival’s Metal 2 the Masses contest cranked into action, Northern Irish heavy music fans were thrilled to hear that there was to be a Belfast based winner included at long last. The competition, a ‘battle of the bands’ affair, guarantees each region’s winner a set on Bloodstock’s New Blood stage and other terrific prizes such as endorsements, etc. Your intrepid reporter was there for every heat, every twist, turn and tighter-than-a-gnat’s-arse vote, and for the final where death metallers Overoth were crowned the victors (see the final review here).
2016 sees the contest return, with two heat dates announced so far, as well as the semi finals (April 15th and 16th in Voodoo). So Chordblossom were back, front and centre, as the M2TM machine sprang into life in Belfast once again.
First up it was Cursed Sun, hoping for a case of ‘second time lucky’ (they made it to the finals as a wild card entry last year only to fall achingly short of winning). “We are Cursed Sun…it’s time to play a game!” cackles frontman Andrew ‘Jones’ Cassidy, as they launch headlong into their high energy set. It’s a virtual guarantee that a CS gig will be intense and dynamic, and tonight is no exception. Skilfully combining the battering stomp of nu metal with the crunch of NWOAHM – a sort of ‘System of a Down meets Five Finger Death Punch’ if you will; Cassidy even seems to channel both vocalists – they pound their way through their set, enchanting and invigorating the crowd.
Relying less on the monkeying about gimmicks of last year and more on simply putting on a powerhouse performance, the band leave the stage having both thoroughly warmed up the audience and set the bar dazzlingly high for the other three contenders. Will anyone top that?
Young, hungry metallers Wardomized, who are up next, certainly give it their best shot. Their opening number also has nu metal overtones, albeit with a heavy death metal presence. Surprisingly, their next song is quite doomy/stoner metal, then their third is extreme metal and their fourth has an almost Motorhead style boogying chug…can you see where this is going? Incorporating a variety of influences into your sound is commendable but said sound also needs to be focussed and original, otherwise it just seems scattered and confused.
There is definitely potential here – and the band are clearly passionate – but they need to hone in on what they want to be or they risk sounding more like a tribute act than a band in their own right.
Although young, one band that have certainly locked down their identity is Shrouded. They come out all guns blazing and simply level the room with their no nonsense, no bullshit melodic death metal. Vocalist Dani Kansanaho has real star quality, his cherubic innocent looks belying his startling vocal talent: he sings, frankly, like he’s channelling Satan himself.
The rest of the band are no slouches, either: there’s some serious fretwork going on up there, as well as some brilliantly explosive drumming. Having seen them play in last year’s M2TM heats, it’s gratifying to see how far they’ve come, with all traces of nerves gone, replaced by confidence and a sense of the members having fun onstage; the line of headbangers along the front of the stage would seem to concur.
If the sign of a successful set is that time seems to whizz by for the audience then this certainly meets that criteria: in what seems like no time at all their face-shredding riffs and racing beats come to an end, to loud and breathless applause.
The last band of the night answers the question “where did all these punks come from?”: it’s blackened punk thrashers Deathbus. They fire up and immediately set a blistering pace and a lovely line in paint-stripping vocals. It’s all very Eighties punk influenced, from the snarling vibe of their songs to frontman Chef’s sky high level of intoxication.
Their half hour set is plagued with problems, from a pesky guitar lead (said guitar is unceremoniously dropped onto the stage after their last song) to their drummer cutting his hand on a cymbal early on. In true punk spirit they soldier on, albeit in fairly shambolic fashion. A combination of harsh vocals and thick (and drunk) accents renders each song title announcement almost indecipherable (one was possibly called ‘Gluebag’?), but the multi-mowhawked moshpit cares not a jot as they get exactly what they came to hear. In short, chaotic, tumultuous, but also (whispers) really rather fun.
And then it was time to vote, with fifty percent of the final vote down to the audience and fifty percent to the professional judges. Distortion Project and Belfast M2TM organiser James Loveday eventually climbs onstage to announce the outcome: as with last year’s heats it was close, but the first two bands heading for the semi finals are Cursed Sun and Shrouded. Well done, chaps!
Heat two of M2TM will be in Voodoo on Thursday February 18th. Come on down and support the local scene!
