Bloodstock Open Air // Metal 2 The Masses // Grand Final 2025 // Northern Ireland
This is it, kids. All that blood, sweat, and tears from hundreds of people to put on another year’s crazy competition, from the main man James Loveday aka Mr Distortion Project to all the band members who grafted across 2024 and into early 2025 when this all started. We’ve had 5 months of chaos, so much new blood has crossed the doors of Voodoo and laid it all on the line for an opportunity to make their mark on M2TM in 2025. What a trip!
But tonight sees all that hard work played out by five killer bands, from Heat I to Semi Final No:3, everyone one of them has given it their all and reaped the rewards with a place in tonight’s final. From Ruins, If It Bleeds, Microtonal, Divides Unfolds and Frayed Ends BC. Tonight is going to be brutal. Tonight it’s all down to Simon Hall of Bloodstock, who has joined us as he does every year, to hand-pick the winner of M2TM Northern Ireland in the flesh. I can’t call it, all these bands knock it out of the park every time I see them. Tonight will be no exception, here we have two Hardcore, two Metal and one Hard Rock band all battling for that infamous prize.
Up first From Ruins, now it has to be said tonight is sold out but we’re experiencing a heat wave and everyone’s outside in the sun as the guys kick off their set, but a few songs in and the bodies have gathered in their masses below to see how this night is going to play out. As always From Ruins attention to detail when playing live sets them apart from a lot of bands in the competition, the clarity of their instruments cuts through like a knife, and it’s like you’re taking in a recording, they’re that tight. The thunderous bass and drums against the slicing guitar work and the dystopian feel of Niall’s vocals just work. A great way to kick off the evening.
Up next If It Bleeds, these guys are brutal as fuck! Right from the off you know you’re not in Kansas anymore and at any point you’ll probably get knocked the fuck out and wake up in Arkansas! Or the wet floor of Voodoo, but you know what I mean. A savage sound delivered with every pound of intensity it should be, it feels like you’re being hit by a heavyweight, and I kinda like it! They have been consistent throughout, attitude dripping off them with every performance, a strong frontman who walks the walk and talks the talk live, the poor lad looks a bit like Conor McGregor if you squint your eyes, so he probably has to beat his way out of clubs all the time. A filthy performance from start to finish.
Sure what else would you be doing on a Friday night?
Microtonal hit the stage next and are the youngest of the bands in tonight’s final, this is great to see, the newest of blood we have being represented in a final of a competition says a lot about the quality of the new blood coming through locally that one made the cut through to the finale. I was pondering earlier as unmatched one of the bands on stage doing their thing, the guitarists grey hair glistening in the stage lights reminded me that really most of the bands have guys in them in their thirties and forties, so they’ve been around a while, lived a life and have alot of experience to bring to the playing field, where as the kids in Microtonal are in their infancy as a band and have a long road ahead of them to travel, hopefully it’ll be in first class but they made need to do it the hard way like a lot of bands before them. The guys work their magic being their thrash laden modern metal to the masses and the packed out Voodoo crowd dig it, a lot!
The night is flying by and by the end of this set we are three bands down with Divides Unfold up next.
These crazy cats do what they do best, living their best life up on stage. I honestly don’t know if there are any bands out there who look as happy as they do playing live. It’s kinda like that Reverb ad on TV, but in real life! Beyond their music, I love their passion on stage, it’s addictive to watch and personally speaking, I appreciate that in a band and a live performance. They may be easier on the ear in than most in the final, but every song is rich in quality and they allow every song time to breathe, so they contrast to the brutality of the Hardcore and Modern metal options is a welcome one. These guys could do well across the UK scene and there’s a bit of eye candy in the band for the ladies …. ooohhhh hoochie mamma’s!!!
So here we are, the last band playing to win M2TM 2025 is Frayed Ends BC. Now, there seems to be a little sexual tension playing out in the band tonight, obviously I’m not privet to what’s going down but sheeple don’t look happy and tantrums are being thrown, I can see toys out of the pram. But somehow they get their shizzle together and hit the stage – late by all accounts, so I’m not sure if we’re getting the whole set tonight, or how that unfortunately will play out in the mind of Bloodstock’s Simon Hall, we shall find out soon enough and how their heads will be up there on stage, As it is your not know any drama was unfolding as they get ripped into their set, their live set it’s brutality at its best, chaotic and blood soaked at every turn. Fair play. As i thought they didnt have the full run at their set and ended as advertised at 11:15 dripping in sweat, they gave it their all regardless and Simon digged their vibe.
This one I can’t call, five quality bands all sonically individual and killer live. Simon has the pleasure of making the call so it’ll be interesting to get his take on tonight’s proceedings.
Now it’s time to wrap this shizzle up, but before we go into the night post we get to enjoy one last band, the mighty Strangle Wire. One of Northern Ireland’s finest purveyors of all things Death Metal and tonights guest headliner. It’s been a minute since I caught these cats live and within minutes of them kicking off their set you are immediately reminded of their explosive quality and relentless sonic barbarism.
This four piece take no prisoners, it’s a pummelling experience unlike anything we experienced this evening, and this crowd fucking loves it! It’s a weird thing seeing “The Ladies” digging the most violent Death Metal, arms are being waved, they’re swaying to the groove, digging every last second of it, head banging their asses off and it’s a beautiful thing to see. This is what I love about the metal community, it’s a crazy fucking place to be but one of the safest, coolest places to be any day of the week. They all look out for each other, there’s never any bad blood here, just as Darius said “There’s a lot of love in this room” if ya know, ya know!
So this really is it, Strangle Wire have ripped Voodoo a new one, five bands did their best, the crowd loved every second of a fantastic nights entertainment and five months of prep all comes down to this, who’s taking home that elusive crown.
I’ll leave it to a hungover Mr Loveday with a few final words : Many congratulations to If It Bleeds on being last nights Bloodstock Festival Metal 2 the Masses Northern Ireland winners! The will play the New Blood Stage at BOA 2025. An amazing night in Voodoo Belfast with top performances from everyone. Truly humbled by the sell out crowd and your unbelievable enthusiasm. Thank you everyone!
That’s a wrap. 2025 Done! Now it’s all down to everyone living their best lives over at BOA25 @ Catton park in August.
A big thanks to Mr Loveday for another fantastic M2TM, Voodoo for having us and all the cool cats i’ve chatted to over the last few months and the kids at Metal For Life for the sanity checks and seats for this old ass!
Mark
