From free pints to pit aeroplanes, the first quarter final of Manchester’s Metal to the Masses competition brought the energy as the UK’s metal community begin to get excited for Bloodstock 2025. At 5pm in Manchester, a small draft was blowing through Rebellion as the audience for the first quarter final trickled in. The roster was packed: 4 competing bands with last year’s runners up 40,000 leagues guest headlining after the competition’s sets. The energy was friendly as small groups found their spots in the pit, pints and tins in hand as the clock ticked towards the 6pm start time.
After a quick sound check it was time for competitor one - thrash metal quartet Leader. A first impression of Leader may include a lack of movement or presence, but after a couple tracks they hit their stride and the technical abilities of each member become apparent. The pit in turn opened immediately, with its participants including a man donning a gas mask and full camouflage military-style gear running around in the circle pit started by frontman Joey Kirby. The energy only got higher through the 30 minute sets and How You Doing rang out from the stage, with the chant of ‘Leader! Leader!’ after every song marking them as a favorite and possible winner for this quarter final. Rounding out their set with track Things are Going to Change the buzz was palpable and the draft was replaced with the sweat that denotes quality in the hardcore space; a good set, and a well earned cup of tea for Kirby as he slipped back onto the floor to watch the competitors.
Second up was rap-rock outfit Tokeo, with their frontman dressed in a white shirt/white plaid outfit that reminded us of chef whites - after realising he was in fact one of the competitors this observation felt quite rude. After a high energy opener they followed with the title track from their next EP Standards of Living, with said frontman hopping between speaking regularly and speaking in poetry, the dissatisfaction with the state of the modern working class permeating from him in both his lyrics and crowdwork between songs. Speaking of, their guitarist took some of that load albeit jankly from the Tokeo frontman as they coaxed the crowd closer and tried to start the pit that grew more naturally in Leader before them, to moderate success. Tokeo also gave off the vibes that they were friends who made a band rather than the other way around - their guitarist in particular was having a whale of a time with an ear to ear grin that did not leave his face the entire set, and the band as a whole seemed more at ease with the jokes and working the room in general. As they left the stage these were a personal favourite for a winner.
Number 3 of the night were Silence Reigns, a heavy metalcore outfit who were the first to have pre recorded entry music - favouritism? Only joking. The pit was stringent for the first couple songs, with Gas Mask Man holding down the fort as the rest of the room paused for breath. Silence Reigns bring that boss fight intensity, with lead Matthew Parry commanding the room from the platform they brought while guitarist Louis Chadwick supplemented with beautiful clean vocals in tracks such as Chains. The request for a circle pit was once again filed and approved with Gas Mask Man opting for the naruto run as they looped around the middle of the floor. Parry was possibly the most confident in front of the crowd, especially solo as he worked walls of death to great success, but was perhaps too comfortable as they accidentally ran themselves over before their final song.
The final competing band of the night was Asleep at the Helm, another metalcore quartet who may have been fighting an uphill battle as competitor 4. The crowd, many smoking, went mild with the pit closing for a while; they went hard nevertheless, with bassist Nat Douglas giving the energy and guitarist Lewis Oldfield rocking a funky mask. The presence of Asleep at the Helm was arguably the worst, with the vocalist routinely keeping his back to the crowd during the instrumentals and calls for circle pits and walls of death now feeling repetitive at artist 4 of the evening. This said, Jimmy Dahmer’s vocals were strongest, able to swap between screams and clean vocals and able to pull off a breakbeat style scream throughout the set. The melodies were gorgeous (even if the one in the penultimate song was in a backing track), and they still held their own overall even if they didn’t seem in the running now that all the bands had played.
Now feels right to take the time to mention how well run the event was on the part of Metal to the Masses and Rebellion. An organised wristband system and cohesive hosting to let the smokers know when the sets were starting was appreciated, as were the tokens for free drinks handed out a couple times throughout the night. The staff at rebellion were great and attentive, and the voting went smoothly with the time to count found from the final set of the night.
This set was from 40,000 leagues (or 40k, as the chant went) - it’s clear how they did so well last year. Frontman Nathan Cross’ stage persona came out as soon as his feet hit that floor: from joking about their loss the year before, to kneeling with the crowd before they started moshing to running around the venue looking in random doors - he’s a crazy girl! The crowd even worked him back, with calls for a kiss and more coming between pretty much every song before he sheepishly said to ask his girlfriend. 40,000 Leagues are textbook metalcore - shredding guitars and hardcore vocals ringing out and gorgeous half-time breakdowns restoring the energy of the crowd as the pit reignited. The last few songs of their set included covers, with a cover of Chaka Khan and Rufus’ Ain’t Nobody being a highlight before the set closed out. Or it didn’t, as the room chanted feverishly for one more song and with the okay from the venue and a popular vote Rebellion was treated to a metalcore version of Livin La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin.
In short, it was sick, with the room doing the ‘upside in-side out’ part of the chorus. The last hurrah of Gas Mask Man came at the end of this track as he dove from the stage to be caught and dirty-dancing-style carried in a circle while he flapped his arms like a bird - A jovial end to the competition before the final results were revealed. So what were they? Popular vote went to…Leader! Well deserved, with their technical metal prowess and the ease of which the crowd seemed to mosh. The judge’s vote was…Silence Reigns! Again well deserved with their easy stage presence and ability to captivate the room. Graciously 3rd and 4th were not handed out, though in this opinion Tokeo must have had to have been a close number 3. A satisfying end to a good night overall as the crowd trickled out into a sharp Sunday night - we’ll see you two in the semi finals.
Words: Julia Brunton
Photos: Dave Ellits
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