Here we go again… Last year we covered every band on the Hobgoblin New Blood and Jagermeister stages in the run-up to Bloodstock 2015. This year, we’re going one better and aim to have interviews from all the bands on those two stages as well as all of those on the SOPHIE stage prior to the event kicking off on August 11th. That’s almost 100 interviews to get online for you lucky people over the course of the next couple of weeks. I bloody love this job, but you lot owe me a beer at Catton Hall, right?
Thanks to all the bands who’ve taken the time to respond!
Meta-stasis – SOPHIE Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
All over really. Brighton, London and Reading.
How did you meet?
Anon put Solomon’s old band Ted Maul on at his first Mammothfest festival, so he had a good relationship with him. A few of us knew Anon from playing lots of gigs around Brighton and through time we all decided to be in this band.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Meta-stasis originally started as a studio project that Solomon wrote with his old housemate, Dan Foord (Sikth). He wanted an outlet for more brutal sounds inspired by the groovier death metal bands. After Ted Maul disbanded he decided to make it a full time project. It was around 2013 that it changed from a side project to a full time devilment.
Where does the name of the band come from?
The name is somewhat a dedication to all of those around us who have suffered at the hands of cancer. It’s affecting us all closely. The word itself deals with transference, transformation and transition. Change… something we all want in our own way.
What are your influences – individually or as a band?
Groove. Anything and everything that is heavy and groovy. Bands like Morbid Angel, Decapitated, Pantera, The Prodigy and even the new Doom soundtrack inspire us. We live in an age of so much killer music.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We are trying to blend elements of dnb and death metal without it losing its balls. A lot of bands tend to have a heavy riff and then go really poppy for the “dance” influenced parts, there is no reason it can’t all be heavy. Aphex Twin and The Prodigy may as well be metal tbh.
What’s your live show like – why should the baying hordes troop over to the stage you’re playing on to watch you?
We love to put on a show, go as nuts as we can and bring people down to our level. You’ll have a laugh!
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?
We got an email from Simon letting us know and telling us that we couldn’t tell anyone. We are privileged to be playing one of the best metal festivals there is. Its one for the bucket list for sure.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Mostly from our latest album The Paradox Of Metanoia. These songs are still the most exciting for us to play right now. 8 string riffs of devilry.
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
Gojira, definitely. Those guys are the best. They’ve been slogging it for a long time and they are just getting the recognition they deserve. Amazing band.
What are you working on at the moment?
We have a few demos here and there for album three. We are pretty excited about some of the ideas and we are hoping to build on the dnb elements a little more and see what else we can do to bring the chaos of metal and dark dance music together.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
Probably surrealist rather than wildest. Before we played Alcheringa in India, this guy in a suit came up to us gave us loads of free tea and asked us to mention his brand of tea during our set. A death metal band in corpse paint and smelly costumes that are covered in profanity and pics of serial killers endorsing proper assam tea. OK then….. I still find it hilarious. What was he thinking?!?
What advice would you give to a young band just starting out today?
Write for yourself, enjoy it, don’t give up and don’t be afraid to ask for help. The metal community is so supportive in many ways, there is a lot of kind people out there.
If you could be part of any 3-band line-up who else would you have on the bill? One band above you and one below – a chance to plug a smaller, unsigned act!
Gojira and our bros in Abhorrent Decimation. Gojira keep pushing boundaries and manage to blend other bands into their sound whilst keeping it distinctly Gojira, they are the best. Abhorrent’s album is flying the flag for brutal groove and has killer leads all over it to keep us guitarists moist.
What stage / time are you playing at Bloodstock (if you have your slot yet!)
Friday on the Sophie stage.