BLOODSTOCK REVEALS FIRST ‘METAL 2 THE MASSES’ FINALS WINNERS FOR THE NEW BLOOD STAGE AND EVEN MORE CLUB NIGHTS!

30th May 2023 0 By Jon Deaux

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 is 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 is 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 takes 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 Dome

Sat 3rd Jun – NEWCASTLE Trillians

Sat 10th Jun – CHORZOW (Poland) Lesniczowka Rock n’ Roll Cafe

Fri 16th Jun – COLCHESTER Coda

Sat 17th Jun – GRAVESEND Leo’s, Red Lion

Fri 23rd Jun – BIRMINGHAM Devils Dog

Sat 24th Jun – HITCHIN Club 85

Sat 24th Jun – WREXHAM XS @ The Penny Black

Sat 24th Jun – BRISTOL The Exchange

Fri 30th Jun – BOURNEMOUTH Bear Cave

Fri 30th Jun – CHELTENHAM Frog & Fiddle

Sat 1st Jul – BURNLEY Sanctuary

Sat 1st Jul – STOKE The Underground

Sat 1st Jul – NORTHAMPTON The Black Prince

Sat 1st Jul – LIVERPOOL Zanzibar

Sat 1st Jul – CARDIFF Fuel

Sat 8th Jul – NOTTINGHAM The Old Cold Store

Sat 8th Jul – SALTASH Livewire

Sat 8th Jul – OXFORD Jericho Tavern

BLOODSTOCK’s very popular club nights are also halfway through their rollout. Grab your mates, hit the dancefloor and maybe you’ll be the lucky winner taking home a pair of weekend tickets – every club night will be running a competition!

Fri 2nd June – Guildford, Schism

Sat 24th June – Nottingham, The Sal

Sat 24th June – Stoke-on-Trent, The Sugarmill

Fri 30th June – Warrington, FC2

Fri 30th June – London, Elektrowerkz

Sat 1st July – Torquay, The Attic

Sat 1st July – Plymouth, Squire

Sat 8th July – Newcastle, Reds Bar @ Northumbria Uni Students Union

Fri 14th July – Cardiff, Metro’s

Fri 14th July – Bristol, The Lanes

Fri 21st July – Exeter, The Cavern

Sat 22nd July – Manchester, Satan’s Hollow

Sat 22nd July – Nottingham, The Sal

Fri 28th July – London, Elektrowerkz

Sat 29th July – Liverpool, The Shipping Forecast

Sat 29th July – Brighton, Above

Sat 29th July – Newport (Isle of Wight), Strings

Sat 29th July – Southampton, Suburbia

Sat 29th July – Stoke-on-Trent, The Sugarmill

Never been to BLOODSTOCK before and just want to come for a day to check things out? A limited number of day tickets are on sale now in the ticket store. Adult day tickets are £75 and if you’d like to make it a family day out, child day tickets are £25 (mini moshers under 4 can come for free), plus booking fees. Ready for the full weekend experience with your metal brethern? VIP and campervan tickets are already sold out, but you can still get standard weekend tickets in the ticket store!

Planning your travel yet to BLOODSTOCK? Big Green Coach will drop you & your gear right inside the festival gates for minimal walking, from all around the UK. Get more info at BIG GREEN COACH. For more travel info, look under the info section on BLOODSTOCK’s official website here.

BLOODSTOCK’s 2023 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, MESHUGGAH, and MEGADETH. Also appearing are HELLOWEEN, IN FLAMES, TRIPTYKON (PERFORMING CELTIC FROST), BIOHAZARD, EMPLOYED TO SERVE, ROYAL REPUBLIC, SACRED REICH, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, SEPULTURA, ABBATH, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, CROWBAR, CANDLEMASS, BOSSK, TRIBULATION, SEETHING AKIRA, UGLY KID JOE, DECAPITATED, GATECREEPER, ZEAL & ARDOR, KING 810, URNE, ALL HAIL THE YETI, DEAD LABEL, CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL, BROTHERS OF METAL, GUTALAX, UUHAI, INVISIONS, COBRA THE IMPALER, TROLLFEST, SKYND, WARKINGS, FROZEN SOUL, THE VIOLENT INZIDENT, TRIBE OF GHOSTS, DAKESIS, THE ENIGMA DIVISION, THE GREY, EYES, TUSKAR, STENGAH, OVERTHRONE, TORTURED DEMON, CASKET FEEDER, PEST CONTROL, GAEREA, BLOODYARD, WOLFBASTARD, SKIN FAILURE, WITCHSORROW, WYTCH HAZEL, HATE, BLACK COAST, STRIKER, ZETRA and more. Stay tuned for more announcements to come!