For years now Metal To The Masses has been an annual celebration of up and coming British Metal. Each year, up and down the country, hundreds of bands battle it out for a chance to prove themselves at the iconic Bloodstock Festival. There is probably no region that an event like this is more important than in Liverpool. For years, there has been an ongoing idea that Liverpool has no metal scene. Despite being the birthplace of some of the most iconic bands the world has ever seen, the amount of Metal Bands who have broken through into the public consciousness could probably be counted on two hands. This evening, and the subsequent heats provide Liverpool with the chance to show the rest of the country that the notion of Liverpool having no scene is absolute bollocks.

Up first are Black Kettle. In short, Black Kettle can be considered as being a combination of Tool, with their ever changing bass led time signatures, “The Holy Bible” era Manic Street Preachers with vocals that on numerous occasions has an uncanny resemblance to James Dean Bradfield, with slithers of classic British Metal to boot. When combined, the sound this makes is simply stunning. The basslines especially provide moments of absolute metal bliss. They create an impeccable atmosphere that really dictate the direction of the rest of the band yet effortlessly fade into the background when the bands unconventional use of time signatures takes a backseat for a more bog standard 4/4 procession. There were a few instances in which the guitar decided it didn’t want to sound as good as it could, and if this was avoided, some of the heavier phases of the band's performance would’ve hit with the welly that it was intended to, however it was an exceptional performance, nonetheless.

Second to prove why they belong at Bloodstock are Devils Henchmen. Ever since seeing them at The Snig in Widnes the other month, Devils Henchmen have become my underground favourites of the North West Metal Scene. Their combination of incredibly accessible Thrash and Hardcore provides a destructive sound that doesn’t need to be thought about, it can be admired thoroughly without having to pick out any nuances or intricacies; it is this kind of metal by the numbers approach that is sometimes necessary to build a new fanbase. The simple fact is that everyone knows Metallica and Slayer, everyone can headbang along to songs like ‘Sad But True’, ‘Raining Blood’ etc..., even if you know none of the words or the direction of where the song is going next. There is genius in simplicity and Devils Henchmen take this mantra by the horns and fucking run with it. They were treated like heroes tonight and their performance justified this admiration and then some. It is no hyperbole when I say these guys are on the cusp of something, I really hope that Devils Henchmen become the band on everyone's lips in the coming months.

The final act performing in the first heat of Metal to the Masses was Spitfyre. You had to feel for the band, as you could see that they were thinking “How the fuck were we meant to follow that?”, taking the stage after Devils Henchmen. They shouldn’t have let this get to them however, as they brought to the table an incredibly expansive sound that was as much innovative as it was easy to pick apart and find their inspirations. I’ve always said, and anyone who’s read my reviews will know this, one of the hardest things to do is to imbed influence into a piece of music without it being too on the nose about who it is you’re taking influence from. Whilst this may contradict my previous paragraph regarding Devils Henchmens no frills Thrash approach to songwriting, that was what they were aiming for. On the contrary, Spitfyre seemed like they were aiming for a sound that was inherently Spitfyre as opposed to anything else. They combined some incredibly infectious vocal lines that were perfectly complimented with some equally as infectious chord progressions and their songs instantly resonated with me as being some absolute Classic Rock and at times Alternative Rock Bangers that wouldn’t sound out of place on a dive bar Jukebox. They also perfectly threw in some pretty damn heavy metal breakdowns aswell to keep the audience guessing where they were off to next. All in all, Spitfyre, I thought, were pretty bloody good, and I’ll be making sure they have a place in my playlist going forward.

The final band, Colpocleisis, were not taking part in the Metal To The Masses contest, but instead showcasing their latest album, “Elegant Degradation”. Colpocleisis were easily the heaviest band of the night, flying the flag for Slam Metal with their incredible, vicious gutturals and absolutely fat breakdowns. Their performance was also definitely the most polished of the night, using backing tracks to introduce and provide atmosphere to their next song. The thing that stood out most to me however, was that snare drum. It sounded almost like a mixture of Lars Ulrich’s snare on ‘St Anger’ mixed with the type of noise you would find on a Jungle Track. It had a beautiful higher pitched tone to it that added another ferocious level to the band, an almost industrial-esque feel came to mind. Snare Drum waffling aside, Colpocleisis absolutely tore the house down and provided a great reprieve from bands proving why they should be worthy of performing Bloodstock. Without any stakes involved, you could just take Colpocleisis in for what they were, and that was no bullshit, ruthless Slam Metal. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Slam, or Metalcore, or anything like that, so by the time the set ended, I'd probably took in more than I can handle, and a set of longer length may probably have grown tiresome for me, but in this small, succinct dose, I thought Colpocleisis gave a mightily impressive performance.

The real reason everyone was here though was to vote for who they believe would be worthy of a spot at Bloodstock. The victors of the evening were Devils Henchmen, and whilst completely and utterly deserved, every band could’ve had an equal chance of taking it. What is most important for me however is how this first heat of Metal to the Masses proved that Liverpool does have a scene, and as mentioned at the start of this review, it is indeed bollocks to suggest otherwise. I’m incredibly passionate when it comes to discovering and championing new bands, especially those of which are so close to home for me and tonight, more than any victory or any individual standout performance, was all about showing how healthy and vibrant the Liverpool Music Scene is, and this was achieved and then some.