Metal To The Masses Heat 6 Rebellion, Manchester – 23.02.2025

After a painful 3 week hiatus, Manchester’s Metal To The Masses had returned to its rightful place in our Sunday evenings at Rebellion. The withdrawal symptoms could finally wane as we would be treated to a 6 band fiesta, all of which vying for a place in the quarter-finals to keep their Bloodstock Open Air dream alive. Some acts are familiar to me, some brand new, which is part of the magic of the competition brought to us by 0161 Manchester Underground Metal Community promotions. With 6 bands, this meant very little time to waste and an early 5.30pm start…

 

Syntara

First up, new kids on the block represent a younger generation of musicians within the local area. Though it was early, there was certainly more than one nod of approval and I even spied one person’s mouth “These are sick!” to one of his friends. It seemed as though the melodic metalcore stylings were winning the crowd over slowly, especially as we witnessed some clearly engaged towards the end with arms outstretched and camera phone lights on whilst waving their arms side to side in the air in unholy unison. Overall though, the performance felt a little green and the band perhaps lacked the confidence that others had portrayed in the competition to date, especially compared to our next competing band…

 

Murder On The Airwaves (MOTAW)

After being inactive for a significant period – 4 years to be exact – MOTAW were back! This felt like a step up in terms of stage presence, with an aura like that of the glam metal era of the 1980s, such as the flamboyant attire of each member and overall infectious energy. The band eventually brought this energy and show right to the audience as they left the stage and came into the crowd! Do you like choruses? MOTAW had them in spades, with instantly memorable vocal lines as well as more melodic hooks than a fisherman’s tackle box.

All of which translated into some fantastic engagement and some real food for thought for the judges.

 

Shred Dibnah

Next up, the Lancashire chimney toppling power trio offering their usual cocktail of doomy gloomy goodness. And yes, the chimney was there, engulfing the stage with a layer of smoke as dense and thick as the riffs emerging from the bass and guitar. Seriously, the low-end assault and its wall-shaking properties were nigh-on impossible to ignore.

A small wave of technical issues from the band’s bassist Jonny was ridden expertly by Wizard and Dave who improvised a guitar and drum passage to buy some valuable time for him to recover. This meant a minor reduction in their overall set time though, yet there was still time for ‘Middle Lane Moron’; a song devoted to those who drive 50 mph in the central lane on the motorway! Would the technical issues mark them down too far in the judges’ book or did they manage to salvage this enough to get through to the next round, just like last year?

 

 

Incarnage

With the band’s full-sized backdrop emerging and decorating the stage, this was a statement of intent for one of the younger bands in tonight’s event. The band’s blistering fusion of thrash and metalcore represented a clear injection of pace and a much welcome shot of energy into the evening’s festivities. There’s no doubt that the man behind the mic, Alex, had a confident presence on stage, and even though his cleaner vocals didn’t project as well as his thunderous gutturals, he was able to command the audience and summon them closer to the stage. With this crowd control, it’s no wonder that the pits opened (with the band’s vocalist even joining at one point!) and a wave of crowd surfers decided to throw caution to the wind in a spectacle that made you forget it was a Sunday night! A performance that surely the judges would find very difficult to overlook.

 

Old Painless

We’ve seen some impressive bands centred around the stoner rock genre this year. This theme continued with Old Painless. Representing a more mature demographic of musicians within the band, their music also followed this trend given the densely thick and textured riffs reminiscent of a slower Raging Speedhorn or Mastodon. They sounded solid and full, with a few headbangers showing their appreciation, and even a small pit towards the end further evidence of this. It seemed as though the band lacked the stage presence and confidence of others this evening which may well have proven to be their Achilles heel in advancing to the next round.

 

Swole Castrati

Answer; no

Question; could the bass player’s shorts be any shorter ?

Fashion and choices of attire aside, Swole Castrati changed pace again and provided a more primitive and raw punk-inspired sound. Rather on the more marmite side, the crowd reactions ranged from those headbanging and dad dancing at the front to those standing near the back as still as statues in the early stages of the set. More and more in the crowd felt the connection and became engaged, even seeing a crowd surfer emerge at one point. Overall, this was just a fun set, not designed to be taken too seriously and offering a mild sense of comic relief such were the on-stage shenanigans. Such a reaction was going to make the judges decision all the more tough this evening.

 

The verdict:

Crowd Vote: Swole Castrati

Judges Vote: Shred Dibnah

 

“We can imagine that one of our wildcards is going to come from this bunch” promoter James Bennet commented. This sums up how well-regarded each of the competing bands were and hinted at how challenging the decision was for the judges. A solitary point reportedly separated the bands in the finest of fine margins. This demonstrates why you must get down and support the band you wish to see progress in the competition as your attendance really could be the difference between elimination or advancement, and ultimately a place at Bloodstock!