Friday saw the latest round of Metal to The Masses, the competition that will see new upcoming bands perform at this year’s Bloodstock festival in August.
There were three bands on tonight’s bill: A Ritual Spirit, Titan Breed & RID.
The place was beginning to liven up as A Ritual Spirit from Edinburgh kicked off proceedings, although sadly this was minus their bass player who was hospitalised earlier in the week. Despite this apparent disadvantage, they ripped through their seven song set with style.
Given that they have gone on record stating that their influences range from Metallica to Pearl Jam to Rancid, the set was an eclectic mix of tunes that entertained the crowd and gave the evening a great start.
Next up were Glasgow’s very own Titan Breed. Fresh from the release of the first video from their new EP the day before, they gave a performance worthy of the Bloodstock main stage itself.
A lot heavier than the band they followed, the riffs and groove flowed aplenty. Lead singer Johnny Hollis had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, and with guitarist Pete McCoy’s clean vocals adding to Hollis’ dirty/growling style, it gives the band depth and variety to add to their in-your-face style.
RID were due to close the evening, but for some reason didn’t show up, something that they may chose to regret. Given the high standard of competition on the evening, they may not have stood a chance anyway!
Given that two bands out of the three were due to go through to the semi final, this negated the need for a vote. As a result, both bands went home happy and live to fight another day, along with the crowd who will get another chance to see the impressive A Ritual Spirit and Titan breed again.
Photos by Gavin Lowrey.
