Metal 2 The Masses: Heat Two live review

THE chilly February air around Belfast’s Fountain Street was given an unseasonal blast of metallic heat as four bands entered into the fray of Metal2TheMasses, all seeking to progress towards the coveted prize of a slot at Bloodstock 2018.

There was an enforced change in the line up for this heat at the Voodoo (February 9th) came about as a result of an injury to Cursed Sun‘s drummer saw So Much For The Sun swap their heat five slot to fill the void.

Opening proceedings Korvid created an immediate wave of support from the gathering crowd. Tight doom was, however, somewhat flummoxed by singer Jonny delivering his vocals with his back to the audience on the floor.

While it may work in a venue like the Voodoo, Metal2TheMasses is an ‘audition’ for Bloodstock, where there will be no chance to bop into the audience and eye contact with fans is an almost prerequisite. Despite that Korvid’s overall sound once again demonstrated their promise.

Lisburn band, So Much For The Sun, wall of sludge noise assailed the crowd from the off, with the an almost at times post-metal sound at first then developed from the first track into an exposition of stoner styles with liberal nods to assorted NOLA metal acts.

At times the set lagged a little, but concluded with an appropriate crescendo setting down a marker, and all credit to the band for willingly swapping their slot – and, that fact may understandably impacted their rehearsal time.

Oracle announced their intent from the off, immediately engaging the audience with a heavy groove flaying faces in the front two rows.

A tight unit live, this set showed that Oracle have developed considerably in recent months. However, Rhys was so intent in bashing his kit that the bass drum pedal broke. The camaraderie of the bands was demonstrated when another bass pedal was quickly provided.

Despite the forced break Oracle ended their set with the same power as they began, drawing more and more people to the edge of the stage.

Death Of A Salesman announced their intent to deliver a visual attack with two standees bearing their logo. And, from the off there was no doubt their hardcore tinged metal was going to have the emphasis firmly on ferocity.

Flying hair and fierce riffs whipped up the crowd in no time..

It was a consummate demonstration of what needs to be delivered in the allotted 30 minutes. Unnecessary banter dropped between the songs and as they entered the last song the audience was advised of when the breakdown was coming.

All four bands displayed their credentials on this heat, but in the end the qualifiers were Death Of A Salesman and Oracle.