Live Review: Metal 2 The Masses Wolverhampton - Heat 3
5th March 2020
Feat. White Crow, Kill Johnny Rockstar, Parson City, Blood Church
Review and photos by Tim Finch
The road to Bloodstock 2020 starts here!
It’s all hotting up at the KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, by the end of tonight we’ll be at the half way point of the heats in the Bloodstock Festival Metal 2 The Masses competition in the Black Country. Throughout February and March bands are competing to win spots in the semi finals, with the eventual winner in June bagging a slot at the heaviest festival in the country.
This week four new bands fight it out in heat 3; White Crow, Kill Johnny Rockstar, Parson City and Blood Church. Another eclectic group that spans death metal through sludge and onto hard rock.
Up first are the hard rock element in White Crow. Experience may rule here as their front man is also the front man of Lynus who got through in heat 1. His powerful voice dominates the room from the first song, filling the room as the rock riffs ring out. For half an hour their blues rock attitude reigns strong, but will it be enough? The judges and fans will decide later.
Next up are Kill Johnny Rockstar who meld a number of influences from nu-metal through groove to grind and even metalcore. From the first second through to thirty minutes later at the end of the set the fans are battered by a wall of noise. From the guttural vocals of the front woman Laura to the battering ram of the riffs, the set is full of pace and aggression. The bar has been set, it's high, very high; how will the two bands that follow fair?
Third act of the evening are Parson City, a Black Country sludge metal outfit. Last year they were unlucky not to progress through the heat stages so how will they fair this year? The riffs are dank, dirty and heavy as hell, Sabbath influenced and wonderfully low. As they get their groove on the fans start get into this show, the trio pounding their way through their set. For fans of sludge it’s a wonderful performance, better than some more experienced bands from the same genre. Tonight’s too close to call and there's still one band to go!
The atmospherics go through the roof to start Blood Church’s short set. From the depths of the darkness four figures clad in black robes appear. The man the centre drops his robe and turns to the audience, spitting blood (literally). The blackened death metal outfit lean more towards black than they do death metal, it’s dark, haunting music accompanied by the terrifying screams of frontman Chris. The songs feature themes of anti religion and they are the only one of the four competitors to put on any kind of theatrics as part of their show. Last year they made it through to the finals and their past experience shines through in this heat.
But now it’s time for the fans to vote... this could be anyone’s game, certainly the closest competition in the heats so far. With the winners announced Kill Johnny Rockstar and Blood Church will be returning for the semi finals. It's commiserations to White Crow and Parson City, this was a tough heat and if they'd been in some of the previous heats they might have progressed... that's the luck of the draw I guess.
See you next week back at KK's Steel Mill for more action!
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
