METAL TO THE MASSES FINAL (Gethika, Valous, Aceldama, Eradikator, Eyes Of The Raven, Husk) @ Roadhouse, Birmingham 14/7/13

The sold-out signs are up at The Roadhouse tonight and there is a palpable sense of anticipation in the air. The reason is absolutely obvious. Tonight is a Battle of the Bands with a difference. The winners get a place at Bloodstock next month – if that’s not enough there is a chance they will be going to Wacken 2014 too. So of course there are some nerves in the air.

The format for this evening is quite simple. Six bands have won through the heats and semi-finals to be here and the band that is considered to be the best by Bloodstock’s Simon Hall (who tells us that he has seen 100 bands in the last four weeks on his travels all around the UK at these things) will get the prize.

Husk have been drawn out of the hat first. The Wolverhampton band are a metal-cum-thrash band and one that has been gigging for a while. “Confessional” and “Remnant” are great big slabs of heaviness and the group are extremely entertaining.

Following them are Eyes of a Raven. Playing with less of a straight bat than the openers, they claim to be One Direction and have a break halfway through their half hour for a drink. Best described as groove metal, and with a sound not too dissimilar from Beholder (the band that tonight’s compere fronts) songs like “Never Broken” and “Bury Your Demons” have huge choruses and great huge riffs.

Next up are Eradikator. RTM is a huge fan of the band, and their “Dystopia” record is as good an album of straight up thrash with no pretensions as there has been for a while. They are quite fantastic, playing the most polished show we have seen from them. “Hells Sentinels” and “World Of Compulsion” are the best songs played this evening. But do they win…….?

Aceldama are billed as “something different.” In practice this means they are the only ones tonight with a female singer and the only ones to play a cover (“I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters). They have problems with their drums, and play a simple brand of rock – one of the tracks is called “Metal And Beer”  for example.

Valous have been on the Brum metal scene for a good few years, and like Eradikator, RTM has seen them before and like the group. We find ourselves sitting with their fans tonight too, and they let no one down. “Fools Dance,” “Justified” and “Blistered” are excellent tracks and they can still have a bright future win or lose tonight.

The performances of the five bands already had made it an excellent night, then it was Gethika’s turn.

In the words of one of the other bands tonight, what Gethika did was “hit the stage and blow the fuckin’ walls off.” The band are the most extreme band on show – blending black metal with conventional heavy stuff – and they put on a quite stunning performance. Dressed in dinner jackets and bow ties and complete with painted faces, they throw plastic top hats into the crowd and set a smoke machine off while they are at it. Their songs are tight too, “Impossible Question” and “We will Prevail” are excellent, while “Bedlam” sums up what they do perfectly.

In the end the winner was fairly obvious, and RTM wishes Gethika (who had lost out in a previous final) well when they play the New Blood Tent on that Saturday afternoon, but what this evening did prove was just how many magnificent bands of all types we have in this area.

The whole of the unsigned metal scene can be very proud – and Bloodstock proved again why it is such a marvelous thing.

EMMA SCOTT PRESENTS: Only The Good, Glassbullet, Eradikator, Bullitstorm, Elysium @Academy 3 Birmingham 12/1/13

The crowd is pretty packed in the Academy 3 for this first Emma Scott Metal showcase of 2013. Elysium are nearing the end of their set when they tell us about their new EP. “Its got a special guest on it,” says one of their two singers. “Who has heard of Sonic Syndicate?” There is – and there is no other way to put this – stony silence. “Well that one died on its arse,” says the other vocalist, grinning. “Just Google em!”

The happy chaps in Elysium are a new band on us at RTM, but one that we suspect we will see more of. Their approach of one clean vocal followed by something more growled works oddly well in their sound and closing number “Slave” is very impressive.

The name Bullitstorm when first we saw it made us think of either an old school thrash band or something more death metal. In the event, the Walsall four piece are more akin to Saxon or Iron Maiden. Dedicating their first song “Drumhead” to our troops, their half hour is entertaining. “Drumhead” in common with some of their other songs, goes on a little too long, but their guitar work is exemplary. Ballad “Innocent Victims” changes the tempo and is welcome, while last track “Shake Your Bones” with its slightly questionable lyrics perhaps didn’t work as well. Good fun for the most part, though.

If the first two groups have been playing metal for a bit of laugh and because they enjoy it, then vibe is altogether different for Brummie thrashers Eradikator. These boys mean business – and frankly they are quite stunning. The four piece kick off with the majestic “Hells Sentinels” and throughout the rest of their half hour proceed to be the best new thrash band we’ve seen in years, perhaps since Evile, and if sounds like high praise then it is well deserved. You know the influences but Eradikator are doing something fresh in a superbly paced set that ends with a Thin Lizzy cover. Frankly it doesn’t get better than that.

Glassbullet have to follow this. And do it pretty well. Beginning with a bluesy jam, they are the most hard rock of the bands on show tonight. They also choose a cover – theirs a little more obvious in “Paranoid” but also play a drum solo in their slot, which seems odd given the time constraints. It is also a shame as when they play their own songs, such as “Find My Mind” they are much better.

Disappointingly the crowd, which had earlier been close to filling the venue, has thinned out a lot by the time that headliners Only The Good hit the stage, but if they are annoyed by this, they don’t show it and instead plough through a very decent and pretty polished half hour.

Theirs is a twin guitar sound and with guitarists Jase and Liam clad in Megadeth and Iron Maiden t-shirts respectively, you know the drill here. What they do though, is wrap the riffs up in a very catchy way, and there is much to enjoy about songs like the title track of their new EP “Time Flies,” “Do Or Die” and “Black White And Grey” – the latter shows some talent in other areas too, with its almost punky vibe.

The tunes groove nicely and the solos are superb and they are an excellent way to end what has been a fine evening, even if Eradikator, did for our money, take the honours here tonight.