So, this will be my first of many visit to The Jericho Tavern over the coming weeks. Nestled away within the centre of Oxford, I found myself in quite a quaint little bar that immediately showed promise of a good night. The décor was well above standard, and even though I arrived early to familiarise myself with the venue, I was greeted by both the bar staff and the event organisers in a very friendly manner. The only thing that could have made things better would have been a free pint but alas this was not the case. The bar was located immediately in front of the main doors and the stage was tucked away up a couple of flights of stairs. It was smaller inside than I was expecting but if anything it would certainly make the job easier to fill the room with the sweet sound that is metal.
Voodoo were first to appear onstage, and even though they had the immense task of opening the evening that certainly didn’t faze them. They came from London in the hope of winning and they certainly gave it their all. Despite what felt like some sound issues with their lead singer’s (Pawel “Jesus” Andrzejczyk) mic being a little lower than expected, and from speaking to the band afterwards their drummer’s hi-hat wasn’t even fastened down correctly, that certainly didn’t stop lead guitarist Akos Kovacs from laying down some face melting solos and riffs. My only main criticism for the band is that I don’t feel that they have quite found their own sound yet. They started off quite strong with a heavy Metallica/Motörhead theme and somehow ended up with an Egyptian vibe. It was a great performance all round, although slightly unlucky that the numbers within the venue were still quite low.
After a short break, we were blessed with the arrival of Lest We Forget, progressive metal from right here in Oxford. Straight off the bat they became a force to be reckoned with in this competition. Great confidence on stage and really connected with the crowd. There was a lot of headbanging taking place and, of course, I was doing the same. They reminded me a little bit of Fallout Boy on steroids in parts. There were definitely no sound issues during their set, and I’m pretty sure I saw them at the back of the room with earpieces in during their sound check. Very professional and extremely humble whilst performing, they gave a fantastic performance and could be a threat if they progress past the heats.
At this point I was probably on my fourth pint and my sixth toilet break, God help my tiny bladder. But fortunately I made it back in time for Stone Soup’s opening. Now I personally made sure I did not do any research on any of these bands, so as to not give any biased reviews, and boy was I glad that I did just that. The only way I can explain these guys is this… Blues Brothers meets metal. Their sound blew my mind. Never did I think that throwing a harmonica in with rock and metal would work, but these guys nailed it. The crowd was loving them, and they loved the crowd. They had fantastic confidence on stage and gave what seemed to be a flawless performance. I’m quite happy to go as far as saying even if these guys don’t make it any further in this competition, I’m certainly adding them to my Spotify playlists.
So with another trip to the bar and the toilets accordingly, it was time for the final band to take to the stage, however I was immediately confused. Stone Soup’s guitarist was still on stage, wielding a new guitar. It then dawned on me that he was in fact competing in M2TM in not one but two bands, both of which are playing on the same night. Is that not a conflict of interests? Surely it must be hard to play for two bands in the same competition? But fair play to Chris as his performance for Sore Teeth was just as spectacular to watch as it was for Stone Soup. But this time the blues was swapped out for hardcore punk with a touch of 80s thrash.
Now I will be the first to admit that thrash isn’t my favourite genre of metal but that didn’t stop me from raising my horns in appreciation for their performance. It was hard and fast from the off and even saw the first pit of the evening. There were certainly a few thrash fans in the crowd and they took the opportunity to enjoy this band. Apart from yet another sound issue where we could barely hear their lead singer, the rest of Sore Teeth easily deafened the room with their music. Playing to the crowd and dishing out free merch, these guys know how to own a stage.
All in all, it was a great night of listening to unsigned bands battling it out to progress on to the quarter finals. Yet again, for the second heat running, the team organising the event ran out of voting slips due to the amount of spectators exceeding their expectations. Yes, the night may have started quietly but it really did fill up fast. It didn’t take long before all the votes were in and tallied up, and before we knew it the announcement was made. The winners of M2tM Heat 2 was Stone Soup. In a very close second was none other than Sore Teeth, which means poor Chris the lead guitarist for both bands really has got his work cut out now. The judges’ vote went to Lest We Forget which means unfortunately Voodoo didn’t make it. Their hopes however won’t be completely washed away as there is still a chance they could take the wild card position to advance to the quarterfinals, so don’t count them out just yet. All I can say is roll on tonight where I get to watch another four bands battle it out for their chance to make it to Bloodstock.
Until then, raise those horns till you wake in Valhalla!
