Bloodstock Bound: Arms To Oblivion
As Bloodstock gets closer, we delve deep into the line up to find out more about some of the bands playing the New Blood and Jägermeister stages at this years event.
Today we chat with Arms To Oblivion!
The Razor's Edge: Please introduce yourself and your band mates.
Arms To Oblivion: I’m Matt Austen, I play drums. I’m Peter Finch, Guitarist. Brent Brown, Bass. Burton, Vocals.
The Razor's Edge: How would you describe your style of metal?
Arms To Oblivion: (Pete) Groove laden Heavy Metal! (Matt) Heavy but centred around Pete’s riffs and grooves. (Burton) Groove Metal Soup. (Brent) What they said!
The Razor's Edge: How did you land your spot on the Bloodstock bill?
Arms to Oblivion: Winning this year’s Metal 2 The Masses Essex Comp.
The Razor's Edge: How tough was the competition this year?
Arms To Oblivion: (Pete) Insanely tough this year! Original heavy music is well and truly alive. (Brent) Yeah, Pete’s right on the money, the level of all the bands was crazily high for 2023. We really had to work hard.
The Razor's Edge: What does playing at Bloodstock mean to you?
Arms To Oblivion: (Matt) Alot. A huge amount. Feels like a massive milestone on our journey. We’ve worked long and hard to get here. (Pete) A culmination of years of writing, rehearsing and playing have lead to us performing at the U.K’s no.1 Metal Fest with an amazing family of people. It means everything.
The Razor's Edge: For people who’ve never seen you live, what can they expect at Bloodstock?
Arms to Oblivion: (Matt) A mix of heavy riffs and driving rhythm with Burton giving it some fire out front! (Pete) A solid, kick ass, punch you in the face, ear pounding performance! (Burton) Is that a combo move? Press X, UP, and L2 twice at the same time? (Brent) It’s our new ATO tagline, “Ass, Face, Ear”
The Razor's Edge: What day are you performing?
Arms to Oblivion: Friday. Now officially the best day of the week!
The Razor's Edge: What other bands are you looking forward to watching at Bloodstock this year?
Arms to Oblivion: (Matt) Megadeth, Helloween, In Flames, Wytch Hazel, Fury. (Pete) Sepultura, Megadeth, Crowbar. (Brent) Sooo much good stuff, where do I start? Deffo all the bands Matt and Pete have just mentioned. Burton and I like to check out the Newblood stage as much as we can, you find some real gems. (Burton) Yeah, Dude, some proper cool stuff in Newblood. We have friends bands playing again this year so we’ll be supporting them, watching their sets. Ooooooh, Killswitch Engage too, I’m a bit of a fanboy!
The Razor's Edge: Playing the New Blood Stage is just the first stepping stone in a bands journey. What’s next in your plans for world domination?
Arms to Oblivion: (Collectively) Main Stage at Bloodstock! (Matt) Push on! Don’t rest! Keep breaking down the walls. (Pete) Yep, to get to that level where Main Stage at BOA is a reality. (Brent) Keep kicking ass til we get there! The world is ours, muhahahahahaha. (Burton) New Blood is just the start. If you want the world you have to work hard. This next bit is gonna be a real test of our Metal. Pun intended! We’ll get there for sure. We’ve good people fighting our corner and the self belief to go for what we know we can achieve.
The Razor's Edge: Are you camping with the fans? Which campsite are you heading for?
Arms to Oblivion: (Matt) We’re camping in artist this year. We’ll probably spend half our time with friends in main camps anyway. It’s only a base to stash your stuff really! (Brent) I’m in one of the main camps; fatherly duties!
The Razor's Edge: You’ve gotta keep hydrated at Bloodstock, what is your drink of choice for the weekend?
Arms to Oblivion: (Matt) If it’s like last year, plenty of water! Once the suns sets it’s any IPA or ale that’s around. Lemmy’s bar caters to my every desire. (Pete) Jack and Coke with ice. (Brent) Lots! And of all variety! (Burton) The left overs from when this lot have passed out!
