Working along side the official team that brings you the mighty Bloodstock Open Air Festival, each year, Metal 2 The Masses has grown to become one of the most respected organisations that truly helps metal bands break out of their local scene and bring their sky-splitting riffs to a bigger international forum. Run by local promoters, fans and punters, Metal 2 The Masses is a truly organic and deeply passionate organisation, that has spread to over 26 regions across Ireland, the United Kingdom and Norway and mainland Europe, with more regions joining as we speak.
As we come to 2015’s swan song, Overdrive can announce that we are now working with Jetrocker.com to bring you a bigger and better Metal 2 The Masses Ireland which will be kicking off on January in Dublin’s Fibber Magees venue on Parnell Street.
The registration for the Irish leg of the 2016 campaign is now live and can be obtained by clicking in the graphic below. Much, like last year, there will be a closing date for bands who wish to take part and that will be on Saturday December 19th 2106.
Last years winners Animator agree that taking part in the Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses Ireland campaign was an experience that they will not forget too soon.
“It was the best weekend this band has ever had and its all thanks to the Metal 2 the Masses competition. Any metal band in Ireland who want a similar experience, needs to sign up for this and work as hard as they can to get there!”
This years Metal 2 The Masses comes with a lot more opportunities for the bands involved with a huge amount of exposure syndicated across media publications, your band will be part of the Nationally Advertised Metal 2 The Masses Tour, featuring the bands in publications such as our media partners Metal Hammer and many more besides. Not only this, but the number of online magazines, E Zines and forums that will feature the venue and some bands are just too numerous to mention. Next year see’s the introduction of Metal 2 The Masses – New From The Underground, an official website run by the Bloodstock team in the UK that will be featuring masses of content from all the bands across all regions to an audience of hundreds of thousands.
With Overdrive looking after the PR and press side of things for the Irish region and our partners Jetrocker taking care of next years event management, 2016 will promises to be one of the biggest years yet for Irish metal.
One of the big success stories from Ireland’s Metal 2 The Masses comes from Dead Label who took part in the 2014 event, however only made it to the final. Dead Label went on to play the Sophie Lancaster stage this year and were hand picked as support to Gojira on the Irish leg of the bands tour.
With a considerable amount of hype around the band generated by their hard work and exposure to the right people at this years Bloodstock, the opportunity of a lifetime became a reality when only a few weeks ago they were picked as support for Fear Factory on all 23 of their European dates as well as being announced last week as main stage performers at Metaldays, along side Blind Guardian, Kreator and Testament!
Last years Metal 2 The Masses Irish campaign saw us bring record numbers through the doors and a huge reach online from rock and metal communities across mainland Europe and the UK. Our trusted Godfather of Metal 2 The Masses Simon Hall, surprised us all with choosing Animator and Snowblind to perform at the festival with Snowblind taking to the Jägermeister Stage, where they proceeded to remove layers of skin from the punters faces!
Even if bands don’t win their respective finals the fact is the entire campaign and regional finals build bands profile, fan base and expertise in performance. But for those who are chosen, quite simply the opportunity for a breakthrough act to play at Bloodstock in front of thousands and network with the industry is second to none. Should a band from your venue manage to play in 2016 then they also stand the chance of playing not only Wacken Open Air (Ger), but also MetalCamp (Slov), soon we will be announcing further competing festivals within Europe. In Metal terms these stand alongside Bloodstock as the major independent festivals and will again give the overall winning band a major in road to success in the bigger market.
Check out below, who will be performing at this years Bloodstock to date! Tones more bands yet to be announced!
All of the winning bands that have taken part in Bloodstock, Metal 2 The Masses Ireland, have proceeded to gain a huge amount of exposure and obtained life changing slots as support for major touring bands with Psykosis opening for Trivium, M.O.D and Nuclear Assault, along side last years winners Animator. 2014 winners Psykosis were also chosen to play at Metaldays 2015 and UK thrash festival, Thrashersaurus.
“It was the best festival we have ever played and the nicest people we worked with! Go forth and submit your application! \m/” Psykosis 2015
WARPATH have generated a huge following with performances at Wacken, Hammerfest as well as main support to Sepultura over the years and will be taking to the stage as support to The Black Dahlia Murder, in January. By taking part in Metal 2 The Masses, each band’s profile will be raised instantly, with a huge amount of coverage being published via Overdrive and our good friends in the U.K, Planetmosh, who have extensively covered not only the finals, but each one of the heats, as just like us, they consider all of the bands that are taking part to be as important as the bands that end up on the final stages of the campaign.
Applications are now open for next years potential Bloodstock Irish representatives and all you have to do is head over to Jetrocker.com and sign up! It’s as simple as that! You will receive a automatic reply email and then a follow up confirmation email to secure your place in the 2016 campaign! Remember, the closing dates for next years campaign is on Saturday December 19th!
Keep up to date with all things Bloodstock and Metal 2 The Masses Ireland by clicking on this link.
Photography – Down The Barrel Photography © 2015 / Fiaz Farrelly.com ©2015 / Bloodstock Official © 2015
