BLOODSTOCK REVEALS FIRST ‘METAL 2 THE MASSES’ FINALS WINNERS FOR THE NEW BLOOD STAGE

With just 73 days left between now and festival weekend, things are hotting up at BLOODSTOCK HQ, especially on the New Blood front! With the Metal 2 The Masses finals well underway around the country, the winning band in each region is locking in and BLOODSTOCK is excited to share nine more lucky developing bands who’ll be performing on the New Blood stage at Catton Park this August.

Winning the Leicester heat and grabbing a Friday slot are the progressive tech/death collective, VOIDWALKER. Familiarise yourself by checking out their 2022 track ‘Tar Stained Lips’ over at their Bandcamp page. The Manchester heat victors, the genre-twisting SQUARE WILD, won Prog Magazine’s ‘Best Unsigned Band’ poll last year. Watch their video for ‘Hounds’ and find out why. Also winning a Friday slot are the East Anglia final top dogs, URIDIUM. If you love your old school classic metal sound, these could be one for you. Check out ‘Fire & Lies’ taken from their debut EP, ‘In For The Kill’. 

Saturday’s New Blood stage will feature Scotland’s winners, EXTORT. Check out the extreme metal squad’s live version of ‘Control Alt Deceased’ and go give their ‘Reset’ debut EP a listen. Also appearing Saturday will be Sheffield’s grunge rockers, DEAD BLONDE STARS. Get a handle on their sound via the lyric video for ‘Hernan’, taken from their 2020 debut album, ‘Metamorphosis’. And coming out on top in the Milton Keynes heat are DROWND. Get a feel for their brand of industrial rock via the video for ‘Sinner’, taken from last year’s ‘[An]Aesthetic’ album.

Landing a slot on Sunday and triumphing in Northern Ireland are power trio, ACID AGE. The band take their influences from across the board, but their thrash roots are on full display in the video for ‘Slave Girl’. Also playing Sunday will be Dublin hardcore squad, LAVEIN, who came out on top for the Republic of Ireland heat. Impressive for a band who are only a few months old! Check out their winning live set from the Fibber Magees M2TM final. Lastly, champions in the Leeds battle are local 5-piece, GODETH. Listen to their blend of groove, death and hardcore showcased on their new single, ‘Scour’
The M2TM finals kicked off at the end of April and the remaining heats are detailed below, so be sure to get out and support the crucially important network of small venues and developing bands in your area. 
Sat 3rd Jun – LONDON The DomeSat 3rd Jun – NEWCASTLE TrilliansSat 10th Jun – CHORZOW (Poland) Lesniczowka Rock n’ Roll CafeFri 16th Jun – COLCHESTER CodaSat 17th Jun – GRAVESEND Leo’s, Red LionFri 23rd Jun – BIRMINGHAM Devils DogSat 24th Jun – HITCHIN Club 85Sat 24th Jun – WREXHAM XS @ The Penny BlackSat 24th Jun – BRISTOL The ExchangeFri 30th Jun – BOURNEMOUTH Bear CaveFri 30th Jun – CHELTENHAM Frog & FiddleSat 1st Jul – BURNLEY SanctuarySat 1st Jul – STOKE The UndergroundSat 1st Jul – NORTHAMPTON The Black PrinceSat 1st Jul – LIVERPOOL ZanzibarSat 1st Jul – CARDIFF FuelSat 8th Jul – NOTTINGHAM The Old Cold StoreSat 8th Jul – SALTASH LivewireSat 8th Jul – OXFORD Jericho Tavern

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