Venue: Colchester Arts Centre
Location: Colchester
Date: 13th July, 2013
Genre: Black Metal

< Jotnarr set the tone for the evening, shrieking black metal

On what many perceived as a hallow night in the abyss of Colchester's back streets, three bands were tuning up their apocalyptic sounds to unleash a blast of ghastly horror on the attending crowd. Summoned first to the graceful stage in the Colchester Arts Centre was home-boys Jotnarr with their gnarly mix of crust music with Black Metal.

However as much as they tried they did not seem to pip the crowds reception as much as they had hoped, much is the case when big bands play but when bands like Jotnarr explode with a rapturous sound that ironically did catch the attention of the other bands performing that night it seemed all too good to be true. Sure this was my first time actually watching the lads and so judgements were retracted to no availing conclusion, putting it into simple paraphrasing: yes they were good and delivered a stellar performance, but they need to improve on stage presence, it's fine playing the music but without any movement the performance is near enough dead. However referring back to my point about catching others attention, this is something Jotnarr will do in the near future as I feel they could go far.

As soon as their set was over and the atmosphere died down, a new form of Black Metal was being woken up and as Jotnarr left the stage to the sound of applause, Eastern Front were shining up their shells and manning their anti-aircraft weaponry.

Nagant's 'playing dead' impersonation did not go down well >

War-Torn Black Metallers Eastern Front were the next ensemble to blast holes in the glass-stained walls of this historic church, how fitting is it that churches were bombed on the Eastern Front and yet come nearly 70 years later Eastern Front do their own bombing. Fueled by the unrelenting crowd and a dousing of kerosene in the form of a nuclear beer cocktail, the lads from Ipswich murdered senses mercilessly and with their full commanding assault bearing down upon the crowd, the even stronger line-up featuring the band's new members Zeichen and the unknown and yet illusive drummer of whose name remains a mystery, so who is this mystery person? No he is not a descendant of Georgy Zhukov although he certainly had the drumming velocity of said war veteran. Eastern Front did not disappoint on what could be considered their best performance in a major venue to date.

Already in transit in creating their second album, this performance was a sure sign that the band are going to keep the furious side of the music flowing freely whilst the lyrics do the job of setting the scene for the crowd to cower at.

As for the stage presence, Eastern Front nailed it through the use of barbed wire, an illuminated gas mask, military style clothing and search lights, developing a dark and bitter feel to their presence, something that would set the headlining band up well for, but with a little twist in it. So as soon as the battle cries fell silent, it was time to kick off the folkloric atmosphere that Winterfylleth bring with them.

It was time for Chesire folk-influenced Black Metal ensemble Winterfylleth to grace the stage and deliver the punters their just reward, a full on face-smacking punch of old English black metal, my only hope was that they didn't get apprehended by the green party, mind you it does justice to sing about traditional English heritage (well the Norwegians sing about Norway, so). No sooner did the lads board the stage did they unleash a ferocious barrage of unorthodox Black Metal, I say unorthodox in the sense they they like Jotnarr did not dress in the basic Black Metal way, no corpse-paint, just insanely epic music. With that firmly set in stone and the ballads flowing lusciously over the crowd and into the night sky, it was justified that tonight was without a doubt the best Black Metal concert that Essex has seen for sometime. As soon as the last riff of the night let rip did the crowd disperse to leave Colchester well and truly annihilated.

By Rhys Stevenson

[6.5] + [8.5] + [8]

^ The Stratus Rocks guitarist could not get enough of his g-string.

GMA sadly caught the latter end of the Danfest event, but this was due to unforeseen circumstances, however we did manage to see the last three acts of the day, first up Stratus Rocks (p.s. we accidentally got Kobain confused with Ethereal Fire so we apologise)

A highly interesting band in as far as they play a style of rock that straddles many rock styles, in other words try pinning them down and you'll find they slip into a myriad of styles. Fueled by the psyched crowd, the gentlemen before the crowd delivered an excellent performance that certainly summed up the whole day as being a total success. Riff after riff the lads demolished the already drunken crowd and left them to pick up the pieces of the ceiling that collapsed from the sheer force of this sensational band, let's hope the venue has insurance that covers mass hearing loss....

^ Kobain's frontman entertained the crowd with a lecture about water

Next to clamber onto the stage was the three-piece Kobain, not much is known about this band on the regional circuit so it was an act one was definitely watching with great interest. What with a nearby attendee exclaiming 'the vocalist, that's Fred Durst!' I knew this was going to be a long set, ironically it was 45 minutes worth, or thereabouts anyhow. Another fruitful rock band bearing the signs that they will do well, fusing an elementary sound of the classic rock sound with an DIY attitude, Kobain done justice in laying down the law for the final act of the evening....

^ If this was Star Wars, Brad would use his guitar-sabre for the Jedi, not the Sith.

The moment majority of the crowd had been waiting for eventually came around, not only was this to be the final gig that drummer David Pankhurst was playing due to health issues sadly, but also this whole day was organized by him and his girlfriend Shelley Morris (plus a dedicated team too) for his son Daniel who has autism and so what a fitting way to end the day than having father and son rocking their hearts out. Trash Monroe, a highly exciting rock band from the abyss of Southend served up a solid yet unrelenting performance, sadly this was not the best one they have done but it was certainly a performance that will go on in living hearts for many a moon. Kept alive by Brad's ongoing guitar flirting skills to Ken's half naked bass playing, the crowd hungered for more and more they got, in the end Danfest 2014 is sure to be on the cards.

[8] + [8] + [8] RHYS STEVENSON

Readers can view the promotional video above, below is the breakdown of the festival, words by Trash Monroe drummer David Pankhurst:

https://www.facebook.com/events/157419247758005/?fref=ts

An all day event of music and family fun

"This will be the first time in many years, that I have put together an event like this. It has come about due to my son Daniel and fellow guitarist of TRASH MONROE's stepdaughter Evie having autism.
The initial idea was to raise money for charity, but I also want to raise enough money to get an IPAD for both children to help them with their educational use in school."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAND TIMES AND RUNNING ORDER

12:00-12:30 DOOKIE (Green Day tribute)
12:45-13:15 WHOREMOAN
13:30-14:00 ATARAXIS VIBRATION
14:15-14:45 BOW FLATS
14:45-15:15 STANFORD WARRIORS JU JITSU DEMONSTRATION
15:30-16:10 MINERVA FALLS
16:25-16:55 THE LONG RUN
17:10-17:40 NINE DAY DECLINE
17:55-18:25 HIGH/LOW
18:40-19:10 STRATUS ROCKS
19:25-19:55 KOBAIN
20:10-20:50 ETHEREAL FIRE
21:05-22:00 TRASH MONROE

15 MINUTE CHANGE OVER BETWEEN BANDS.

Bar shuts at Midnight!
Lets make this a great day for everyone involved!


Keelies Face Painitng and body art
G & H Jewellery Designs
MEGA INFLATABLES (bouncy castles)
Carley's Candy Cones (sweet stall)

BELOW IS A LITTLE BIT OF INFO ABOUT AUTISM...

Autism is something that affects thousand's of families on a daily basis, more than you realize. The official name is autism spectrum disorders. Why? Because doctors include autism in a group of problems that kids can have, including Asperger syndrome and others. These problems happen when the brain develops differently and has trouble with an important job: making sense of the world.
Every day, our brains interpret (understand) the things we see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and experience. But when someone's brain has trouble interpreting these things, it can make it hard to talk, listen, understand, play, and learn.

A kid with an autism spectrum disorder might:

• Have trouble learning the meaning of words
• Do the same thing over and over, like saying the same word
• Move his or her arms or body in a certain way
• Have trouble adjusting to changes (like trying new foods, having a substitute teacher, or having toys moved from their usual places)

Imagine trying to understand what your teacher is saying if you didn't know what her words really mean. It is even more frustrating if a kid can't come up with the right words to express his or her own thoughts, or tell a parent what he or she needs or wants. Sometimes this can make a kid very upset and frustrated.

My little Dan has a love for music, so what better way than a load of live bands?

David Pankhurst

On what was perceived as perhaps the hottest day of the summer so far, the weather at times seemed to take control of the overall performance by each band on the night. But they walked away unbeaten, having played at what seemed to be a sell-out gig at Islington's The Garage venue.

Sweating buckets inside the crowed waited patiently for the first band to make their music heard, unleash the London mob Savage Messiah with their elaborate mix of Power Metal vocals with Thrash Metal embodiment, despite the heavy heat which led to the water jugs being handed out like sweets, the crowd enlivened themselves to the almighty blast that was being constructed in front of them. It was a decent and solid performance from the lads and served up nicely as a light appetizer for later metallic explosions later.

As for the band performance, Savage Messiah gave a much better performance than their Bloodstock set and by far wiped the smirks off of a lot of people's faces. Fueled by the unrelenting fluidity of water being passed around, with their riffs echoing across the whole borough and their atmosphere raising hell from beneath the crowds feet, the atmosphere inferno was only going to get hotter as the bad shifted into the shadows for another band to make their way onto the sweat-soaked stage.

[8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/SavageMessiahMetal?ref=ts&fref=ts

Another ex-Bloodstock band made their furious domination sound across the venue without any problems, except they seemed a little slack in this performance. I refer 'they' as to Bloodshot Dawn, the Pompey Melodic Death / Thrash armada that set sail to crush the controlling heat that was now taking its toll on people as they went outside to cool off.

By this point the room was so hot that demand exceeded supply at the bar and beer was being downed in the gallons, well you get the idea. None the less Bloodshot Dawn did what they were geared to do and brought the house down with their menacing and inescapable complex algorithm of brutal melodies and fast acceleration on not only the drums but the guitars too. However at times it did seem as if the heat was getting to them, thus affecting their playing and whilst that can't be helped, what can be helped is the seeming lack of movement on stage, whether they melted so much they became bolted to the ground, or they just could not find the right note to do so in remains anyone's guess.

Credit is given though to them for performing a damn good set, just it was not as good as most in the crowd expected, ironically worse was to come as before the headlining act Wintersun came on, the unwitting sound technician or the like accidentally knocked over a bottle of water near the guitar pedal and thus delaying Wintersun's set for around 10-15 minutes, leading to one fan being impromptu and displaying his anger towards the band for not coming out yet (come on mate it's not there fault you spilled your beer in the venue). Hark, the time had come....

[7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/BloodshotDawn?ref=ts&fref=ts

(Interview with Kai Hahto, drummer of Wintersun; also drummer of Swallow The Sun)

Despite the heat, Wintersun's fan had decided not to work tonight which was a shame, however the Finnish quartet did justice after the various issues and unleashed a frost-bitten wind of wintry proportions. Delivering that icy and cold feel to the atmosphere, Wintersun tore the room apart with their epic style of Melodic Death Metal. Interweaving between the new album 'Time' and their old self-titled album, eight years of a hard-long wait came out in one night for the attending crowd to let their hair down to (not implying the guys had their hair done up).

It was rather interesting to see how Wintersun not once mentioned about how hot it is in the room unlike the other bands, perhaps they didn't feel it as much - or the more likely scenario was that they smothered the venue in a brilliant blueish-white with the feeling of cryogenics biting at everyone's ears. It's been a long time since the lads made their journey across the British lands in a tour setup; albeit their Bloodstock appearance a few years ago.

You know the wait was entirely worth it, sure some were impatient; probably the same people were impatient for the second album, but as the saying goes 'good things come to those who wait'. In the end the overall feeling was all round satisfaction and one that certainly put the band in great stead for their next lot of gigs on the tour schedule, as for tonight Wintersun did the honor of not only cooling the crowd down (just), but making what could be the best live performance they have ever done in London.

It may have taken eight to nine years to play their new album live, but Wintersun made it 101% perfect tonight and in doing so, won a whole host of new fans over, we await for the next time they set foot in the London area.

[9/10] RHYS STEVENSON

https://www.facebook.com/wintersun?ref=ts&fref=ts

By Farzand Ali Bawa (GMA's India Correspondent)

If you take a quick glance at the Kolkata (Calcutta) scene, you will notice that one of the groups that stands out the most in the old school circuits is the Kolkata Old School Metal Association (KOSMA). Often in the past they have been credited with organizing some of the most awe inspiring Do-It-Yourself garage gigs.
 
Background:

KOSMA consist of basically musicians from bands and a special dedicated crew who support and keep the organization alive by paying from their own pockets and spreading as much as they can. Also, one thing people should know about KOSMA is that they generally take the names of their gigs from albums from one from the most underrated bands ever, Anvil!! For example gigs have been entitled Forged in Fire and Metal on Metal before now, this upcoming edition of the garage gig is called Hard N Heavy and is coming this September! Befitting for something which is worth more attention then it gets, isn't it?
 
Global Metal Apocalypse is proud to announce that we are the support partner's for this group who need it inside out! Watch this space for some of the most notable things about the group and the upcoming gig!
 
For people interested in discovering more about the group, check out them here:
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/147190168743257/

It was the 15th June, 2013 when the unholy show was organized at the heart of the Bangladesh capital: Dhaka. The gig was at the Russian Cultural Center Auditorium and was named ‘The Bengal Regiment’, inspired or borrowed from the band who taught Bangladeshi metalheads the art of extreme metal for the last 9 years; Severe Dementia. But their journey has come to a halt as the band decided not to continue without their vocalist or perhaps go for a long hiatus. Thus the show was organized by the Bangladesh Metal Alliance (BMA) to pay a grand homage to the band. For a lot of the readers, a poverty and corruption-stricken country like Bangladesh may not be a considerable place for extreme metal music, but to let them know, there is a strong underground metal scene going ever since the late 80’s. Now there are bands for every sub-genre of metal in Bangladesh.

Coming back to the show, it was put up by the devoted and hard working organizers of BMA and had five of the most promising metal acts in Bangladesh to support Severe Dementia: Thrash, Dissector, Homicide, Sacrilege and Exalter. None of them failed to desecrate the venue with their technical efficiency and musical savagery. Then it was time for Severe Dementia to come up on stage and as they started off with their new numbers and went off to their old songs from the EP, they also performed a jaw dropping Death cover, "Bite The Pain", which was enough to knock everyone's socks off! The show was a success and the vocalist Shawki Ahmed paid his final gratitude's to the fans for the support all these years and wished the five young guns all the best.

Muktadir Anzan, one of the organizers spoke to GMA's Nabil Abaddon: “This show was meant to be a remarkable one and a tribute to Severe Dementia as their show before their long break. This show will be presented in a DVD. The whole show has been captured by Mithonomia Production House and will be released as a full length DVD. This will also include raw footage from Severe Dementia interviews, updates and some of their live extra footage alongside the whole show footage of the Bengal Ragiment, which means the other five bands as well!“ So much for the Severe Dementia fans home and abroad, isn't it?

Severe Dementia, formerly known as 666, the pioneers of Bangladeshi extreme metal scene was the first ever metal band in Bangladesh to cut a foreign record label deal to perform outside the country. Severe Dementia, formed in January 2004, released their 1st and only EP “Epitaph of Plassey” via a split album “Rise of the Eastern Blood”, which they shared with bands like Demonic Resurrection (India), Howl (Pakistan) and Helmksey (Singapore). The album was released by Demonstealer Records (India). The band has performed all around Bangladesh and also headlined some metal fests like Resurrection Fest (India), Ides of March (Nepal), Nokia IAC, Metal Morgue (BD) and many more. After 9 years of mayhem, they have decided to put a lid on as their vocalist Shawki Ahmed is leaving the country to pursue his studies. Though the band promises to come back to life as soon as their vocalist returns, but it still remains a mystery to the die hard fans of the band as to why they did not get a guest vocalist aboard till Shawki returns or release another EP or a much awaited full length album.

By Nabil Abaddon (GMA's Bangladesh correspondent)

https://www.facebook.com/severedementia?ref=ts&fref=ts

Who are these masked people, clad in balaclava's and wearing a lot of black and camouflage, well it can only be the international band The Way Of Purity of whom support the Animal Liberation Front, so cross their path wrongly and they will kill you. As I found out when questioning them under sincere torture.

Is this your first time playing a major British music festival? If no where have you played before?
 
Well, this is the first time we are playing such a big festival in the UK and I believe in general since we played a few festivals, but none of them were that big. By the way we played Deathfest in Leeds in 2010 and we enjoyed that.

Out of all the bands playing this year what ones will you look forward watching?
 
I would love to watch the bands we know and played together already like Belphegor and Gama Bomb which both feature really cool people. As a fan I will watch Devildriver and Slayer for sure.
 
What can fans expect from your set at Bloodstock? Any new songs? Stage antics?
 
We just returned from the Euro tour with Cryptopsy, Cattle Decapitation, Decrepit Birth and we are quickly reaching the end of the promotion of our current album "Equate" so we will play the same songs of the tour since these festivals will be the last shows before we enter the studio to record the new album. The songs are taken from all our releases but no new song will be played live this summer. The set will be insanely violent.
 
How does it feel to know you're playing the same stage on the same day as fellow countrymen Scar Symmetry?
 
I think they are a good band but I don't know them yet so I am looking forward to meeting them!
 
For those who are not knowledgeable of your music, please describe it without genre tagging or cliche using?
 
Like we always say, it can be described as new wave played with hardcore urgency, or hardcore played with a new wave attitude and influence, it's up to you to judge.
 
If you had to choose only three things to take for the festival, what would it be and why?
 
Raw meat to be thrown on people, my mask since nobody knows who I am plus one AK-47. (Ed: In that case everyone better wear Kevlar)
 
Finally any hello's, thank you's etc you wish to issue?
 
Thank you for the space, thank you to Jonathan Mazzeo and Alfeo Ginetti that will play with us as guest musicians, thank you to everyone involved in the animal liberation front that everyday represent the glorious struggle against animal and human tyranny.

The Way Of Purity will be performing on Friday 9th August, on the Sophie Lancaster Stage

https://www.facebook.com/thewayofpurity

Next to take the hot seat is Londoners Diesel King, for this one Bill (drums) was fastest on fastest finger first, let's play who wants to be smashing Bloodstock.

First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

It's amazing, If we had to choose any UK festival to play It would be this one so we are stoked to have the opportunity.

During Metal 2 The Masses (if you did play in it), was you more nervous or more optimistic about winning?

Well we can't really say as we didn't take part in the M2TM competition. We sent our CDs to Bloodstock directly and were asked to play.

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

Yes it is our first major festival, we played The Desertfest last year but that is much smaller scale than Bloodstock. We are looking forward to tearing the stage a new one!

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

Bloody sweaty fury. No crazy antics just 5 greasy guys kicking your arse.

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

Just a huge thanks to Simon for asking us to be a part of it, a hello to all the awesome bands and promoters we work / play with regularly (far too numerous to name you all) and extra thanks to anyone who has listened to us and supported us these last couple of years! (Ed: Let's hope Simon sees this)

Diesel King will be performing on Saturday 10th August on the New Blood Stage

https://www.facebook.com/Dieselkinguk?fref=ts

Still in London and I spoke to Thrashers Kremated who persistently and rightfully told me that 'Thrash Aint Dead', interviewee's were Pete Dee, Phil Roberts and Marcus Bjoro

So guys how does it feel to know you are going to play on New Blood Stage?
  
Pete: Stoked! It is a great feeling to have been asked to play this amazing festival, and also to see Kremated on the same poster as some of my idols, especially Voivod and Anthrax!

Phil: Never in all my history did I ever expect this to happen to us, just a really brilliant thing that is happening to us all now

Marcus: Amazing. It has been a goal of mine for some time and it feels great to have achieved it!

When you got the notification that you are playing BOA, what was your reaction and how did you celebrate?

Marcus: I had to sit down for a good 10 minutes and wait for it to start sinking in but it didn't work because it still hasn't.

Pete: What Marcus said! Still reeling.
Phil: Speechless

What should crowd attenders watch out for in your set?
All: Neck injuries. Spilt pints. Banter.

What bands are you looking forward most to watching and who would you love to meet?

Pete: Voivod, Death Angel, Bull Riff Stampede, Beholder, Dishonour The Crown, Diesel King, Evil Scarecrow. I'd like to say hello to the legendary Scott Ian if I get the chance, he kinda influenced my playing more than anyone else.

Phil: Exodus, Death Angel, Wolfsbane, Accept, Slayer, Anthrax.
Marcus: Really looking forward to seeing Dying Fetus and Dark Funeral and would love to meet Gary Holt.

When are you playing and why should festival goers go to see your set?

We are opening the New Blood stage on Sunday lunchtime. We are fairly close to Gama Bomb as far as the timings go, but the New Blood stage is 100 yards from the main stage, and its a LOT cooler in the New Blood area as it is under cover, and next to a BAR. I reckon we are worth a look, no? give us 2 songs and see what you think. For many people, this will be their first chance to see Kremated and what all the fuss is about. We bring pure Thrash, unpolished and unhinged, the way it should be!

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings you wish to send to friends, family and fans?

Far too many people to list, but special mentions to Simon Hall and Beholder, Jim Beerman, Adam Fillary, Miranda Yardley, Bull Riff Stampede, The Stubbs Brothers, Colin Tyler, Ashlinn Nash and the entire Kremated Army for helping us get here!!!

Kremated are playing the New Blood Stage on Sunday 11th August

https://www.facebook.com/Kremated/info

Shifting north into Hertfordshire and the town of Hemel Hempstead, GMA stopped by to have cake and tea with Second Rate Angels and natter about their upcoming Bloodstock expedition. Was nice cake too...

First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

We are all extremely proud, honored and excited to be a part of this years Bloodstock. We said when we started the band a couple of years ago, that our aim would be to play Bloodstock. It doesn't seem real yet, but we can't wait to play at the only true major Metal Festival in the UK.

During Metal 2 The Masses, were you more nervous or more optimistic about winning?

We played a lot of gigs this last year all over the country, so we knew we were gig ready and could hold our own on stage against the best bands at our level. I think we were confident that if we played well we might stand a chance, but you never know how hard the other bands have been working.  Nerves are always gonna be there if you want to do well, but you have to believe you can win, as confidence is a very important part of a good performance.

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

Yes, this our first major, I think the general mood is a bit of disbelief that we are actually playing, but mainly excitement.

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

Well it's a very big stage, so without giving too much away, we intend to use every square inch of it.

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

I can only say what worked for us and that is play as many gigs as you can. Video as many shows as you can, watch them back and analyze your performance.

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

I think we just wanna thank everyone that's either booked us for a show, come and seen us live, checked us out online, spoken our name in passing. In fact anyone and that's given a shit about us and/or the world of unsigned metal.

Second Rate Angels are playing the New Blood Stage on Friday 9th August

http://www.facebook.com/SecondRateAngels

First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

I have to say, for many of us, the fact we are playing Bloodstock hasn't fully sunk in. It's such an unbelievably fantastic opportunity! Being our first festival appearance, you cannot imagine the sheer excitement going around the entirety of the band.

During Metal 2 The Masses, was you more nervous or more optimistic about winning?

During the first 2 rounds of metal to the masses, we weren't nervous at all, as we figured we probably wouldn't get far. But then we suddenly found ourselves at the semi finals, and for each of us there was a sudden reality that we possibly could do this, and at that point the nerves began to kick in, and it all got serious. But still at each round we didn't expect to get through. The other bands were just so good, and in our eyes, so much more advanced than us!

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

As for what to expect, to be honest, even we never know what is going to happen at each song. We have a newish song we have only played at 3 previous shows. But there isn't a lot i can say to expect other than a hell of a lot of sweat!!

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

If there are bands going to enter into Metal to the masses, I say go for it! It's the fairest battle of the bands we have ever done and the judges recognize real passion on stage. So just give it your all.

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

We would all like to say a huge thank you to all who came down and supported us at each show, they all know who they are. Along with all our families. To all the new friends we made along the way. And to the bands, Fires of Tartarus and Edge of Ruin, who made each round so much fun! And who equally deserve this opportunity as us!

Black Emerald are playing on the New Blood Stage on Sunday 11th August

https://www.facebook.com/BlackEmeraldBand?fref=ts

Focusing on bands from up north, traveling up the M6 to the Lancashire town of Preston, Xentrix the legendary underground British Thrash Metal mob were the next lot to be assimilated. GMA spoke to members Chris and Stan about the band's upcoming Bloodstock appearance and what this means for one of the earliest UK Thrash Metal bands.

So guys how does it feel to be playing the best metal festival in the UK?


It feels awesome to be included onto the Bloodstock line up this year, it’s by far the best metal festival in the UK and the 2013 line up is killer.

I see this is your first festival in 20 years, bet you're very elated you're playing?

Back in the day we didn’t get to play that many festivals, to be fair there weren’t as many as there is now, so to get to play on the same billing as Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Death Angel (The list goes on)… is a real honor for us and we’re massively looking forward to it.

What advice could you pass down to those bands who are just starting out? Especially the new blood bands?


I would say, make sure you’re on time and ready to play, time is always tight at festivals and you don’t want to piss anyone off by being late.

Who are you most looking forward to watching play at Bloodstock and meeting especially?


We’re all looking forward to seeing Death Angel, Anthrax, Exodus, Accept and of course Slayer and Lamb of God. I don’t know if we’ll get to meet any bands but it would be cool to say hi to the guys from Anthrax and Slayer as they influenced us so much back when we started out.

For those younger metal fans who haven't got a clue who Xentrix are please give a brief summary on the style of music you play, what made you form a band and what key events have occurred in the band's career?



We are a UK Thrash band that formed in 1988 and were signed to Roadrunner Records and released four albums including ‘Shattered existence’ and ‘For whose advantage?’ We also released a thrash version of the Ghostbusters theme tune. We played with bands such as Testament, Sepultura and Annihilator.

Why should festival goers check out your set and what can fans expect? Any new songs?

People should come and check us out if they want to see a slice of the old UK Thrash scene. We won’t be doing any new songs at Bloodstock just 80’s Thrash.

Finally any hello's, thank you's, greetings you wish to issue?


We’d like to thank Vicky and all at Bloodstock for having us on.

Xentrix are playing on the Sophie Lancaster Stage on Friday 9th August

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Xentrix/354617581311808

Traveling back down south to the county of Bedforshire, GMA interrogated Biggleswade based band ScarCity:

First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013 an during Metal 2 The Masses, were you more nervous or more optimistic about winning?

It feels absolutely amazing and we cannot wait. Playing Bloodstock has been a dream of ours for a while and we have worked really hard to get where we are today. Definitely nervous throughout it all and it was very emotional to be announced the winners it still hasn't sunk in yet.
 
Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

Yes this is our first major festival and we are very excited and nervous at the same time but cannot wait to get on stage and tear it up Scar City style.
 
What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

High energy performances, lots of crazy faces and big beat downs. We will also be playing a couple of new tracks that are on our new EP "City Lights" which will be released the end of August.

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

GO FOR IT. It is an amazing experience and you never know what will happen..

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

We would love to thank our families, friends and all our fans for their continuous support in everything we do…. And not forgetting a huge thanks to Mr Simon Hall for giving us the chance to play Bloodstock's new blood stage. You are all awesome

See you all there from ScarCity

ScarCity are playing on the New Blood Stage on Sunday 11th August

https://www.facebook.com/ScarCity.uk

Traveling further south and over the QE2 bridge to Kent where Death Metal lads NeonHalo were waiting to spew out their holistic words about Bloodstock, vocalist Lou duly done the honors.

So guys how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?
 
It's pretty unreal really. We've only been back together since January, so to be playing such a huge festival just 8 months later is amazing. Its a real honour to be at the same event as some of our absolute heroes and we cant wait to get up there and smash it up.
 
During Metal 2 The Masses, was you more nervous or more optimistic about winning? Were there any tight rounds?
 
Metal 2 The Masses is always such a big deal, there's always a lot of quality bands involved in the Kent region. Luckily we have a really awesome local fanbase who have given us a lot of support during the competition and have been totally mental at the shows, that really gave us a lot of confidence. It was pretty tight all the way, we played with our buddies Vulgate in the first round - that was pretty close and anything could have happened in the final, we're just pleased that all the hard work and strain of the last few months has paid off and that we didn't let anyone down.
 
Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?
 
Yeah this will be our first one, we're all really pumped to be playing what is easily the best festival in the country. We're currently gearing up to record our debut EP 'Forensic Pornography' at the end of July so at the moment we're just trying to stay focused and concentrating on getting ourselves ready for what is going to be an awesome summer.
 
What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?
 
Fast, crushingly heavy metal and lots of energy, we love seeing people going nuts in the pit, so we'll be doing our best to get everyone involved. We're just finishing up a new track at the moment so there will definitely be at least one new song in the set.  
 
What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?
 
Do it! M2M is a massive opportunity to get your music heard and win some more fans, even if you don't win its a chance to make a name for yourself in your local area. We had an awesome time playing this year and we couldn't recommend it enough.
 
How does Bloodstock differ from the other British metal festivals?
 
Its the only big festival in the UK that really represents the metal community, it always has an excellent line-up and it gives up and coming acts a chance to showcase their talent to loads of people, you don't get that from any other festival in the country. Bloodstock always has a great atmosphere and we cant wait to be part of the chaos this year. 
 
Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?
 
We'd like to thank Anthony Openshaw at the Ivy Leaf, Sheerness for running a great show, Simon Hall for his excellent work with M2M and for having us at Bloodstock and all our fans who've been coming out to see us, especially those who've been promoting the hell out of our shows. We really appreciate your support and effort, see you all at Bloodstock!
 
NeonHalo are playing on the New Blood Stage on Sunday 11th August

https://www.facebook.com/NEONHALO.UK

Returning to Essex, GMA makes the trip up the A12 towards the ferry terminal and cargo port known as Harwich where thrash merchants Rezinwolf are shredding bullets, crossfire was made and a battle ensued, peace was made as a session of questions and answers occurred, drummer Sam Wheeler made the peace treaty:
First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

It feels great to be playing Bloodstock this year. I remember getting the confirmation email from our manager while at work and I was in shock. It’s a real honor to be playing with some of our Idols.

During Metal 2 The Masses, was you more nervous or more optimistic about winning?

This Year Rezinwolf was asked to play Bloodstock so we didn’t take part in M2TM. However we did enter M2TM a few years ago but got kicked out during the semi finals. 

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

Bloodstock will be the bands first major festival appearance. We’ve played a lot of smaller festivals which were great however Bloodstock is definately a dream come true for us. It hard to describe the mood as we’ve been so busy with the label and other shows recently that Bloodstock hasn’t had time to kick in yet. I’m sure as the time gets nearer there will be a mixture of nerves and excitement.

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

Fans can expect the usual mayhem that is a Rezinwolf show. We will mostly be playing songs from our debut album ‘Corruption Kingdom’ As well as the old songs that have got the band this far.

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

M2TM is a great way to gain exposure for anyone’s band even if you don’t win. There’s plenty to gain from entering so my advice is go for it! It’s a rough competition as everyone wants that place on the Bloodstock stage however we learned more by not winning and it helped the band progress.

What do you think of the line up this year?

The line up looks awesome. And as I’ve said earlier it’s a real honor to be playing this fest with these bands. We can’t wait to play but we also can’t wait to enjoy the rest of the festival with everyone else!

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

I’d like to give a big shout out to our manager Regina who is responsible for Rezinwolf's progression and all achievements so far. We're extremely lucky to have her as part of our team! I’d also like to thank Killer Metal Records for all the hard work they do for us.

Rezinwolf are playing on the New Blood Stage on Friday 9th August

https://www.facebook.com/rezinwolf?ref=ts&fref=ts

Heading back towards the Midlands, GMA comes across Nottinghamshire and four burly, bearded chaps known as Merciless Terror, they played Robin Hood and we played the Sheriff of Nottingham, sitting in on this one was Dale Linsdell and Michael Brush.

So guys, how did Merciless Terror manage to get a slot at BOA, via M2TM or inquiry?

Dale: We got asked by simon Hall to play.

When you got the notification that you are playing BOA, what was your reaction and how did you celebrate?

Michael: I was at work when the call came through, not much work was completed by me on that day! To celebrate I think we had a quiet pint after rehearsal. Our celebration will be our performance on the day.

Is this your first festival appearance, if so are you nervous? If not, where did you play?
   
Dale: Nah this wont be our first festival appearance, never-the-less it will be a great highlight of our career. We were lucky enough to play an open air Festival in Japan last October to a very large audience.

What bands are you looking forward most to watching?
    
Michael: My taste in music is slightly different to the rest of the band. I'm looking forward to watching: King Diamond, Dark Funeral, Avantasia, Power Quest, Belphgor and Slayer. I'm also looking forward to seeing the other bands we're sharing the stage with at the New Blood stage. There's some great sounding upcoming bands.

Dale: For me I'd say its all about The King & of course Slayer!!! There are also a few others I'd like to watch such as Belphegor, Dying Fetus & Anthrax.

When are you playing and why should festival goers go to see your set?
  
Michael: We haven't been given our time slot just yet but we are performing on Sunday 11th August.  You should come and see us tear up the stage because we are a ferocious live band. We'll drag you into our world of decrepit, post apocalyptic visions and leave you wondering how you've survived getting your senses well and truly kicked in by our performance.

Are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings you wish to send to friends, family and fans?

Michael: I'd like to thank the staff at BLOODSTOCK for giving us this opportunity to play. Thank you to our fans who have supported us thus far and to our fans who make it to our set. We hope to make more friends/fans during our time there this year.

Merciless Terror are playing the New Blood Stage on Sunday 11th August

https://www.facebook.com/MercilessTerror/info

GMA's latest expedition saw us heading over to Canada where burly quartet 3 Inches of Blood were willing to share their thoughts about their upcoming Bloodstock appearance, this is what they had to say:

So guys when was the last time you set foot on British soil and what was the reception like?

The last time we visited the UK was in October 2012 when we were on tour with Overkill. We have been coming to the UK for many years and have always been treated great by the fans.

And this is your first time playing Bloodstock, so you must be a little anxious and a little psyched to see how the crowd will react to your set?

It is a tremendous opportunity for us to play a festival like this. We love playing to big crowds and we feed off of the fans' enthusiasm. There is some anxiety that goes along with playing gigs like this, but its all a part of the excitement.

Do you feel that festivals like Bloodstock bring a whole host of nationalities together in such a way that other music festivals cannot match?

The festival culture in Europe is a great outlet for metal fans from everywhere to get together and see lots of bands from all over the world.

In North America, we don't have a festival scene like Europe. It's great to meet people from all over the world at these big festivals especially when we get to meet fans from countries we've never been to. Its a chance to find out what metal fans of various nationalities are like and how they feel about our music.

Will there be a tour sandwiching your Bloodstock appearance? If so what are your key dates?

Bloodstock, along with Jalometalli festival in Oulu, Finland, will be our only European appearances this year.

How is playing a British festival different to playing a Canadian festival (if there is any difference)?

Canada has only recently started bothering with metal festivals. Heavy MTL in Montreal and Heavy T.O. in Toronto, have been successful in bringing big crowds and a wide range of bands, but they aren't quite at the point of being annual events. However they are gaining traction and I think they will both be regular fixtures in Canadian metal culture.

Overall there isn't much difference between the two countries. Britain has a longer history with rock festivals, but the fans are all there for the same reason no matter where it is.

So what can fans expect from your set and what advice could you give to those playing lower down stages?

3 Inches of Blood always brings a high level of energy. We expect a lot from ourselves when we perform and we make the most of opportunities like this. It doesn't matter what stage you're on. At a big metal festival you're gonna play to a lot of people. Don't worry if your set time overlaps with a particular band, there's still gonna be people who want to see you and make a point of making it to your stage at the given time.

And finally any hello's, thank you's and greetings you wish to issue?

We are really excited to play Bloodstock for the first time.  Its a festival that is growing in notoriety every year and has a reputation of being a stellar festival. Our first time playing overseas was in the UK. This will be a fantastic way to commemorate 10 years since we first played on British soil.

https://www.facebook.com/threeinchesofblood?ref=ts&fref=ts

One of the very last stops I made in interviewing the bands playing Bloodstock this year was once again London and this time burly lot One For Sorrow were ready for the interrogation.

Hi guys, so tell us how does it feel to play Bloodstock and is this your first major festival appearance?

We are beyond stoked to be playing Bloodstock!!! It's a massive achievement for One For Sorrow and we cannot wait to share the stage with so many amazing bands. First major festival appearance for One For Sorrow, but in different bands the boys have played at various festivals.

Now you won the London Metal 2 The Masses heat, how tough was it?

It was tough yeah, competition was fierce and there were some really awesome bands to compete against. It was stressful but in the end we came through.

For those who don't know your music, please describe it without using cliches or genre tagging.

How do you describe your music without tagging a genre so people have a general idea of what you sound like, or without clichés, is this a real question? Well the only way to answer it is to include clichés and genre tagging: We play 70’s influenced Groove and Stoner Metal, if you like Down, Black Label Society, Pantera, Black Sabbath or Corrosion of Conformity, there’s a good chance you’ll like us.

So who are you mostly looking forward to watching at the festival?

Lamb of God and Gojira

And what time and day are you playing and why should punters attend your set?

Saturday 6pm, attend? Oh yes do attend darling! Coz we will be true groove metal that’ll bang your head and chill your throat with cold beer. Death to all but metal, know what I'm saying bruuv?

Will there be any gigs sandwiching your bloodstock appearance?

Sandwiching? Is this a kinky question? Well last week we supported Breed 77 but after Bloodstock we’re gonna take a few weeks off to write new material

In your set will there be any new songs and stage antics?

There’s a couple tracks which are quite new and have only recently appeared in the set, but not necessarily new, no antics other than good old fashioned headbanging .

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings you wish to issue?

Yeah we’d like to thank Mary Jane for helping us out along the way, without her One For Sorrow would not exist.

https://www.facebook.com/OneforSorrowband?ref=ts&fref=ts

The final band we spoke to, Mask of Judas, gave GMA a real roasting and an interrogation of their own, here was the battle account:

Hi guys. first off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

Its an honor to be playing Bloodstock, it’s a great opportunity for any band who gets offered a place on the New Blood stage, we are very excited to be playing this year. We can’t wait to share Mask of Judas’s music with a new audience.

Did you enter the Metal 2 The Masses, if so was you more nervous or more optimistic about winning?

We didn’t enter Metal 2 the Masses this year, we have done in the past, but this year we were offered a place on the stage, it took us by surprise! As I say we are very honored, we know how tough it is to get a place on this stage, and we are very grateful to be playing,

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

This will be our first Bloodstock and major festival appearance.

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

We will be playing material from our recently released mini album ‘Axis’ and some new material that we are writing for a future album. You can expect to see us having a good time, I find it hard to explain what we do on stage, but we generally just really enjoy ourselves. If anyone reading this is going to Bloodstock this year, they should come along and check us out to see what I mean.

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

I am not sure what advice I could give any band, as everyone is totally different, but I think its important to have a solid set together, good stage presence, a positive attitude and to always remember that music is not a competition.

Seeing as Bloodstock is extending further and getting worldwide bands to play, like Egypt's Scarab this year, do you feel that Bloodstock is perhaps the most international British metal festival there is?

I would say it is, there is such a mix of bands playing, all from different areas, different styles and backgrounds. It’s fantastic to have such variety.

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

Mask of Judas would like to thank Simon Hall for asking us to play, it’s a huge honor. We would like to thank you guys at Global Metal Apocalypse for this interview, and we would like thank all the amazing people who support Mask of Judas and give us the energy to do what we do!

https://www.facebook.com/maskofjudas

And we have more news, this time looking at from mid June to the 1st July.

Bloodstock went and done it, served something extra special for the fans, now if you want to be on the Ronnie James Dio stage to announce one of the band's this year, take a guided tour behind the scenes, meet the organizing team (you should know who they are by now) and have the experience of a life time that your local metal friends would wet themselves over, here is what you need to do:

1. Video yourself on any device, deliver your own introduction line (e.g. They are one of the big 4, they got more testosterone than a Spanish bull in heat season, they sadly lost a brother, but here they are to slay us all, it's only f**king Slayer!)

2. Upload your best videos to any site i.e. YouTube, Daily Motion or any other video enhanced site and email the link to comps@bloodstock.uk.com

Sit back and wait, oh and watch the language! (We mean offensive lingo)

DEADLINE IS JULY 18TH, THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON AFTER
_________________________________________

More band announcements!

Brits Earthtone 9 and Sacred Mother Tongue come freshly prepared to unload sheer hell upon the fans in sensational fashion, whilst on the Sunday on the Sophie stage, Gibraltar's finest Breed 77 will surely get people doing more flamenco moshing than your average Spanish or Gibraltarian Metal gig. But is that it? NO indeed not as for the lighter side of things (you can take off the corpse paint now), the Jagermeister stage serves up a whole host of exciting rock and alternative acts to tickle your ears (haha fooled you!), soloist Mitchell Emms, Medieval merchants Ravenage, Balls Deep, Mia Klose, Cavorts, Operation Error and Earls of Mass will grace the stage across the festival period, as well as  NOT TO MISS one-on-many drop in session with Sacred Mother Tongue's very own Andy James who will answer you any guitar question you wish (sensible ones please).

But to kick off the weekend is Thursday's Sophie Lancaster stage action, supplied by Bristolian mob Bull-Riff Stampede, with Motherload, Ravenage and OAF all chipping in highly anticipated sets... oh wait we forgot one more, get this 'Tragedy' - a BeeGees cover band, metal style. Here at GMA we wondered what the songs would be...

"Stayin' Anthrax", "Negligence Fever", "More Than A Whitechapel"

We gave up.

BUT BREAKING NEWS JUST IN

GET YOUR LAST WEEKEND TICKETS NOW AS THEY ARE VERY LOW, DAY TICKETS HAVE JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED (RED ALERT)

Purchase your tickets, car parking permits and merch here:

http://bloodstock.seetickets.com/event/bloodstock-2013/catton-park/677634

So today (2nd July), here is an update on the state of play behind the Metal 2 The Masses, who has been confirmed to play and who is yet to be announced to play

BEDFORDSHIRE - Confirmed - ScarCity
EAST ANGLIA - Confirmed - Nocturna & Eridium
INDIA & NEPAL - Unknown.
KENT - Confirmed - Neon Halo
LONDON - Confirmed - One For Sorrow
NORWAY - Unknown.
READING - Confirmed - Black Emerald & Second Rate Angels

TBC

JULY 4TH - MANCHESTER
JULY 5TH - SCOTLAND
JULY 6TH - SELBY
JULY 7TH - NUNEATON
JULY 12TH - LIVERPOOL
JULY 13TH - BRISTOL / IRELAND / NOTTINGHAM
JULY 14TH - BIRMINGHAM
JULY 20TH - DEVON & CORNWALL (and South Somerset)
JULY 27TH - SOUTH WALES

This will be updated as soon as the winner of each Metal 2 The Masses finals will be announced.

It's that time of year again, the sun comes out, the beer gets cracked open and thousands of burly metal fans descend upon one of the holiest metal festivals on this planet... Bloodstock Open Air.

The festival is now in it's eighth year and is bigger and better than ever, with bands coming from all over the world, countries like: England, Sweden, Egypt, The Netherlands, Ireland, USA, Greece, Canada, Finland and Austria amongst others (more to come), this is a truly global experience waiting to happen. What with three titanic headliners - King Diamond, Lamb of God and Slayer priming to demolish the open fields of Burton-Upon-Trent (Staffordshire), the days are counting down to what is forecast to be the best festival in the British music calender.

The festival books signed and unsigned bands from all over the world, not just that though as Bloodstock has it's own very band competition called 'Metal 2 The Masses' which scavenges across the plains of this planet to seek out fresh and promising talent that deserves a spot on the New Blood Stage. 

Some fans have already expressed delight at this years line-up:

"The line up goes from strength to strength every year and I'm sure the Slayer headline set will be a good tribute to Jeff Hanneman!!!" - Paul Cave (Music Fan)

"Bloodstock's 2013 has a sick and awesome line-up and as all genres are covered, this is going to be the s**t" - Roses Shrestha (Guitarist for Nepalese band Cry of Agony)

"The reaction when Randy from Lamb Of God walks on the stage on Saturday will be felt at the Earth's core and the emotion when Slayer take the stage in Sunday.... I defy anyone not to well up and cry for our fallen brother Jeff" - Jay 'Griz' Binstead (VIP / Serpent's Lair & SOPHIE Stage entertainment coordinator at Bloodstock Festival)

"This is the first time the mixed metal bag has it all, fresh UK breaking acts with the bands that inspired a high proportion of them. Bloodstock deserves headliners which make it stand out as one of THE festivals people choose between, and this year they have it! My first calender update every year....Bloodstock! Having been to or done most of the bigger festivals, what Bloodstock gives is something back to the pure music enthusiast. Conjuring unique line ups with a dedicated crowd of music fans. You can tell from the conversations we have there, the fans know what they are getting, a full break from the Daily Blog of the headliner hype that controls most festivals and a mix of Heavy Music that embraces the diversity offered by the UK music scene. This is where you go if you want to be around like minded / eared music lovers". - Adam Fillary (ex-M2TM host / Unified Sounds)

First off I spoke to Sammy Sayed of Egyptian Death Metallers Scarab about their upcoming festival appearance. One of GMA's 'bands to watch'

So Sammy, this looks to be the first time an Egyptian Metal band has played at BOA, what does this mean for the Egyptian Metal scene?

All the bands, friends and fans in Egypt are excited and happy for us, as this is a great opportunity to spread more of Scarab's music. This should mean a lot to the Egyptian Metal scene, as Scarab is going to be the first Egyptian metal band to perform in Bloodstock.

Now when you got the notification that you are playing BOA, what was your reaction and how did you celebrate?

We were ecstatic about it, especially that we are in the process of releasing a new album "Serpents of the Nile", and we get to have the chance to perform some songs out of it and expose it a little bit.

Speaking of your festival appearance, will there be any tour dates before or after Bloodstock? If so when and where?

Nothing is confirmed yet but Bloodstock, so let's not spread rumors until they are 100% real. But we might perform in Germany, and then some shows in the UK before Bloodstock. "Did we just spread a rumor here still?" haha!

Besides playing, what bands are you looking forward most to watching?

Well, that depends because every member's got a different taste in music and bands. But the one major band that we're all anticipated about is Slayer of course, R.I.P Jeff Hanneman.
Other than that, tastes will vary from Dark Funeral to Gojira to King Diamond. Don't get us started please!

When are you playing and why should festival goers go to see your set?

We will be playing on the 10th of August, which is a Saturday, on the Sophie Lancaster Stage. If you want real Egyptian death metal, come see us and share the Magick we will be carrying with us all the way from land of Egypt "Kemet".

And are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings you wish to send to friends, family and fans?

We would love to thank all our friends, fans and families that has always been supporting Scarab with their thoughts, energies and efforts. We would also love to thanks Nazgul Touring Agency for getting us the Bloodstock festival show, Stephen Moss and Stephanie Full.

Scarab will be playing on Saturday 10th August on the Sophie Lancaster stage.

https://www.facebook.com/Scarabegypt

Secondly it was back home to speak to Londoners Karybdis about their confirmation at playing Bloodstock. One of GMA's 'bands to watch'

First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

Oh it's brilliant! We had hoped to play last year and only narrowly missed out, so very excited about appearing this year!

Regarding Metal 2 The Masses, was you considering entering this year?

We didn't compete in this years M2TM, we did it last year and although it was fun, we didn't want enter for a second year.

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

We played Les Fest in Scotland and Tech Fest in Peterborough earlier this year, but Bloodstock will definitely be the biggest so far! Very exciting, we can't wait!

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

We will be playing some new stuff, and there will definitely be stage antics! Can't reveal too much though, wait and see!

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

Don't go in with any expectations. Some rounds are still based on how many people you bring, which can be unfair to new bands who are still building a following. You meet a lot of great people though, and it's a great networking opportunity.

What do you think of the line up this year?

Love love love it. Lamb of God on Saturday night? Yes please!

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

Our label, Beasting records. The lovely people over at Metal Hammer, Simon Hall for getting us on the Bloodstock bill and, of course, our fans!

Karybdis will be playing Friday 9th August on the New Blood Stage

https://www.facebook.com/Karybdis.band

Next in the hot seat is Derbyshire's Hard Rock maniacs Fahran:- Jake (lead guitars), JR (Drums) and Nick (Vocals) gave their sermons to our questions.

So guys, first off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

Jake: It feels absolutely amazing to be playing one of the biggest metal festivals in the country! Absolutely over the moon. Can't wait to unleash Fahran on The New Blood stage on the Friday ;)

JR: Feels great.
Nick: Absolutely amazing. To be be on the lineup at a festival like this, let alone headlining the New Blood Stage is a real honor so we're hugely grateful to everyone who's made this happen. We can't wait and we'll definitely be seeing everyone around the campsites at night - the music is only the beginning of the mayhem!

Did you enter Metal 2 The Masses? If yes were you more nervous or more optimistic about winning? If not, how did you get onto Bloodstock?

Jake: We didn't actually play Metal 2 The Masses with Fahran, we got the gig through our management and booking agent. Although, some of us have played the Metal 2 The Masses competition in other bands and its a great experience. I'd say at the time I was quite nervous about winning, our style of music was quite soft then and didn't think it would work well at Bloodstock. With Fahran, we have a heavier more modern sound so it's gonna go down well!

JR: Nah, we are playing because of our current album, management and booking agent

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

Jake: We've just played Download Festival which was just amazing. We were all so excited, meeting other great musicians, playing alongside them... now playing Bloodstock in the same year... still can't believe it!
 
JR: Nope. We played at Download Festival on the Saturday at 2:50pm!
Nick: We've been overseas a couple of times - most recently this May - to headline a festival over in Turkey, where the atmosphere is simply amazing and the sun is a nice change vs. a lot of the UK festivals! But this year we also hit the stage at Download so this has been an incredible double-whammy for us this year; we're absolutely buzzing!

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

Jake: A straight up, balls out Rock show! We have a few new songs we've been working on for our new album which we may play for the first time at Bloodstock.

JR: Fans can expect loads of stage antics, a set full of epic riffage and a few new songs we are saving just for BOA!

Nick: We're hard at work on the second album at the moment so we've got a few surprises we've been saving for Bloodstock. We road-tested a couple of new songs over in Turkey and the live vibe is really great so we can't wait to get the crowd going. In terms of our stage antics, we tend to keep it genuine rather than reverting to gimmicks but our general rule is 'play every gig like it's our last' and this certainly won't be an exception - if we come off stage any less sweaty and knackered than the crowd we're not doing our job right!

What advice would you give bands thinking of doing Metal 2 The Masses next year?

Jake: Just enjoy the gig and go for it. If your at the Queens Hall, it's a great gig to play anyway!
JR: Can't really comment on this since we haven't done Metal 2 the masses. But i would say, gig all the time, build up a following and make sure your fans are the loudest!

Seeing as bands like The Furious Horde have gone further and played Slovenia's Metalcamp, do you feel Bloodstock is a great place for unsigned British talent to start their festival appearances at?

Jake: Definitely!
JR: Yeah definitely. Its great to reach out to new would be fans as well as getting to know other great bands and making loads of friends. That's how a tour starts!

Nick: Yeah, it's the same with a lot of the major festivals this side of the pond - it's all too easy to feel like you've made it; whereas the best thing you can do as an unsigned artist is embrace the opportunity as a great stepping stone, make sure your set gets noticed and network, network, network. We'd love to make it over to some of the mainland Europe festivals - there's such a great scene over there!

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

Jake: A big thanks to our hard working manager, Beth Windsor and our booking agent, San Phillips for getting us the gig! We will do you proud :D

JR: Saving it all for when we get there...Winking smile ;)
Nick: Mostly to the fans and hopefully-future-fans heading to the fest - you're the guys we're doing this for and you're the guys we need to impress. So we'll see you there - rock hard for us and we'll tear the stage up for you! Also, Pritchard and Dainton - if I wake up missing an ear, with a four-letter tattoo on my forehead, I know where I'll be looking for vengeance first... That or JR.

Fahran will be playing Friday 9th August on the New Blood Stage

https://www.facebook.com/Fahranmusic

Attention then turned towards London armada known as Cypher16, since 2007 they have torn down countries like India and USA whilst wielding guitars alongside bands like Children of Bodom and Lacuna Coil to name a few, but now eyes are set on Bloodstock, so GMA decided to interrogate them for their thoughts. Jack Doolan duly spoke to us.

First off how does it feel to be playing Bloodstock 2013?

We're looking forward to it. The festival has really taken a step up in the last year or so with regard to some of the acts that they are bringing down and Bloodstock is really making itself a name as a heavyweight event. We're excited about playing, hopefully making some new fans, and generally enjoying the event.

Did you go through Metal 2 The Masses or got contacted to play?

The festival contacted us and we were booked through our agent, so M2TM is not something that we've ever actually taken part in.

Is this your first major festival appearance? If yes what is the mood in the camp? If no, where did you play before?

We've done quite a few festivals before - mainly out in India where we have been a number of times, doing festivals with Children Of Bodom and Lacuna Coil and headlining. Some big college shows over there. We've never done Bloodstock before though so we're looking forward to experiencing what will be a new festival for us!

What can fans expect from you when playing your set, any new songs? Stage antics?

We're playing some songs from our new EP, 'Determine' which recently came out, so they might be lesser known to people familiar with us. We like to move around a lot on stage and engage the audience as much as possible, so expect some interactive portions during the show for sure! The Indian crowds are pretty hard to beat when it comes to really getting into the music, but hopefully the UK ones can give them a run for their money.

What do you think of the line up this year?

Like I mentioned earlier, there are some really big-hitting acts on the bill this year, and I think the festival is now starting to step away from the smaller independent label that it used to have. We're actually one of the less extreme acts playing so I think that we'll fit in a bit more than we might have done on previous bills. It seems much new diverse this year.

Finally are there any hello's, thank you's, greetings etc you wish to issue?

Well we'd obviously like to thank the festival for contacting us and inviting us to play. We're looking forward to representing our endorsers at ESP guitars, EMG pickups, Illuminati Jeans, Warwick basses, Audio-Technica and Blackstar Amps too.

Cypher 16 will be playing on Friday 9th August on the Sophie Lancaster Stage

https://www.facebook.com/Cypher16

To keep up with coverage in terms of interviews conducted with bands appearing at Bloodstock please click the below link.

http://globalmetalapocalypse.weebly.com/38/post/2013/07/bloodstock-festival-dissection-a-second-type-of-band-aid.html