Sunday 11th March and I was back at The Big Red in Holloway, for Heat 11 of Metal to the Masses London 2018. Four bands played, to try and win a spot playing at Bloodstock Festival 2018. Two bands are voted through by the crowd and the judges, who this week were Pete Dee, Marilyn Birt and Keiran Sheard.
First to kick the evening off was three-piece band Black Orkhid, these guys were fairly mellow compared to some of the bands that played later, but their guitarist had some great solos and the bass lines had a good driving rhythm you’d expect from a desert rock band.
Next to play were Culling The Pantheon who originate from Romford, Essex. A passionate, loud and energetic band, there was stomping around, on and off stage, classic metalcore. Adding variety to their set, they played “Sailors Memory”, which might be considered their ‘ballad’ song. Vocalist Danny Langdon’s gritty vocals changed to a softer tone in the middle of the song, with lines “They say you don’t know what got till its gone! / But the thing is… I knew, I just didn’t tell you enough” makes you want to get your lighters out and sway, although I guess it’s phones now. Their EP Heads or Tails is available on their official page.
The third band to play that evening were Dead Before Mourning. Just their name had me interested. They’re a Surrey-based metal band influenced by the likes of Slayer and Megadeth. They went down very well with the crowd as they thrashed out some head banging tunes to jump around to.
Their album Storm can be listened to on Soundcloud and they started working on their debut album Killing Time last summer – it’s due out 1 April 2018. Some UK tour dates are also being scheduled in support of the new album.
Last but by no means least, intergalactic metal band Gravastar came on stage. Made up of Sot (vocals), Mikolaj & Agnes (guitar), Duncan (bass), Viktor (keyboards), and Nick on drums, they made an impression before they even started with their coordinated outfits of ties with black shirts and trousers. A superb performance from them with some very catchy tunes. Their 2014 album Genetic Genesis is available to listen to on iTunes. They also featured on Moshville Times as Band of the Day back in 2014!
After much suspense, the winners were announced. Dead Before Mourning and Gravastar go through!
Heat 12 will be this Sunday, 18th March.
Photos by Katie Frost Photography
