Second show in January was one of
the Metal 2 the Masses heats!! For those unaware, M2M is a competition which
runs across multiple cities/counties in the UK, where the winner of each city/county
will have the chance to play at Bloodstock Fest. In London usually the heats
happen at The Dev, and this one wasn’t different. This was heat number nine, so
as you can see there’s a lot of interest in it. People buying tickets online
can vote twice, if you buy it in the venue you vote once and then it’s 50/50
between judges and audience vote. One band goes to the next round and one band
goes to the Pit, which is a second chance to go through, a kind of repechage.
So, on this nice Sunday afternoon/evening me and Inês went down to The Dev to
support our friends Steve and Javi on their new project, Chernobyliser, on
their first ever concert. No shame on saying that!! A lot of people when buy
online, support their friends bands, then after the concerts you can make the
decision if they were the one you liked the most. We got to the Dev, had a
couple of beers before the shows started and chit chatted a bit.
First band on stage was SANHEDRIN!
They are a band with a bit of history has they existed between 2009 and 2013
before calling it a day and then returning in 2021. We got to know the Parmahn
(guitar/vocals and only member from the first run) once when we were in
Newcastle and we had seen Sanhedrin a year or something ago at the Black Heart
when they opened for Necronautical and Abduction!! Being honest, I wasn’t very
impressed with them that day but must say that changed at this concert. Very
tight, excellent songwriting, a lot of Chuck vibes coming from Parmahn and all
in all, a great way to start this. They ended with ‘Freezing Moon’, which I
shouldn’t even need to say who plays the original, but it’s Mayhem, and it was
very well executed and spot on, but I don't like in this kind of contests for bands
to play covers, call it a personal opinion!! But as said before they had a very strong performance and were strong candidates for the win!!
After they finished, time for
another beer and it was nice to find Tom Cole, one of the poor souls that endured
an all-day & night Manowar, where I was as well. One day that chronicle
will come out. Lots of chat, made a new friend by the name of Simon and then
outside for some air and more chit chat. In the meantime, HUGGIN & MUNNIN,
was getting ready to go on stage and they had a ton of props. I only saw a
couple of minutes from their show because being honest it’s not my cup of tea
so I had fun for a little bit and then go out for some more chit chat. They are
a Morris dance crew, which I think it’s a traditional English folk dance, and
it’s something I would probably enjoy being out in some fair but not on this
context.
Last band to hit the stage was CHERNOBYLISER!! The band is formed by Javi and Steve (both former Seven Sisters
members, and it was nice to see Graeme from Seven Sisters at The Dev supporting
them as well) and must say they have become known faces to us since Inês and
then me, moved to London. Here they both changed instruments, Javi is playing
the guitar, while doing vocals, and Steve plays the bass while doing back
vocals. Drums are held by Sergio, if I caught is name right!! They delivered a
pissed off Thrash Metal in their first ever concert and it was a nice surprise
as they seemed quite relaxed on stage!! Songs well written, good riffs, plenty
of headbanging moments!! Hope to see them grow and follow what they will do in
the future!!
While the judges conferenced and
people voted, there was a guest band also playing, In this heat was the last
year’s winner in Burnley, THE DEAD XIII which came to entertain us with their
mix of Horror Punk and modern Metal!! It was entertaining, they have nice songs, lots of energy, a nice visual on stage and a very charismatic frontman but between voting, drinking and chatting I did not
see their entire set!!
So, we got to the end: the announcement!!
And as we were guessing by the three performances, Sanhedrin were the winners
and advanced to the next round!! Congratulations to them, well deserved!! Later
in February we got the news that Chernobyliser were chosen to go to the Pit so
congrats to them as well!!
