metal to the masses 2026 - heat 1 // rebellion, manchester
METAL TO THE MASSES KICKS OFF FOR ANOTHER YEAR WITH FIRST HEAT TAKING PLACE AT MANCHESTER’S REBELLION.
⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)
I was lucky to be invited along to document this year's metal to the masses in Manchester, Metal to the masses has been running since 2006 and happens all across the uk and slightly afield giving the winners the opportunity to play at Bloodstocks new blood stage.
The competition in Manchester is hosted in rebellion, operating since 2013, it’s an iconic and core part of Manchester's rock, metal and alternative music scene so a perfect fit to host Manchester's metal to the masses organised by Manchester's very own 0161 Manchester underground metal community.
With anticipation rising for the start of the night you can truly see why Manchester has one of the best rock/metal communities, the air buzzing and everyone enjoying themselves while waiting for the night of music to begin.
Kicking off the night was Vices, an alternative rock/metal band from Preston in the north west of England, they started off the night with an instrumental intro done with a backing track building anticipation, as there drummer (si smith) enters the stage he proceeds to instigate the crowd to clap, with the crowd clapping si takes to his drums and starts playing cueing the rest of the band to join him on stage.
Vices made a strong first impression as the openers of the evening, during the opening song “kebab” the guitars and drums worked in an impressive harmony as frontman Josh stole the show with his vocals, not only in terms of variety and range but with his charismatic presence. He had the audience in the palm of his hand even when the tempos of songs change in the case of “Casualties”, but throughout the set the energy stayed high and only grew higher as new song “Silent” allowed everyone on stage to shine with an outro so melancholic everyone fixated on it.
Up next was Technologist a five piece progressive metal band from Manchester uk taking influence from the likes of Decapitated and Opeth, instantly there was a completely different feel for this band with a big feeling of doom filling the venue with the use of lighting and soundtrack in the background
As the band hits the stage and the first song starts complex riffs hit the crowd leaving them in awe, vocalist (Andy Lavender) introduces the band and their set begins, it is clear from the start that the band is a completely different vibe from vices
Good use of lighting throughout the set was really well synchronized with the band and with what was being played at the time in turn this created a very haunting atmosphere that the crowd resonated with led by frontman (Andy Lavender) instigating them to have fun and mosh around which perfectly set the crowd up for the next song, as the heavy intro of the mind starts the lighting changes to an evil red colour with all the members on stage headbanging in unison and the crowd loving every second.
The combination of ground shaking vocals paired with shrieking guitar riffs and the brutality of the drummer made the crowd go mental leading to a circle pit, it was clear to see that all members of the band had great crowd control ensuring the crowd was hooked from the very start, in my opinion the band played extremely tightly leaving no margin for mistakes creating a captivating performance.
Next to take the stage was aphotic sky a metal core/pop punk band consisting of 5 members from preston in the north west of england, high energy from the start with the frontman (daniel myers) running out onto stage hyping the crowd up from the get go, with a powerful stage presence ensuring the crowd is captivated with a mix of clean and scream vocals, bringing powerful lyrics into a high energy often chaotic performance that everyone can groove to.
Switching up the vibe to a more serious tone they played the song darkside which is about suicide awareness,vocalist (dan) makes it known to the crowd that if anyone is struggling that they are not alone and there is help out there, during the song dan uses a megaphone which is a good effect and ensures that the powerful words of the song and message of suicide awareness is heard throughout the venue.
Staying on the more serious tone they also played the song ADHD (A Day He Died), this song held a deep meaning for dan as the song was about his dad who passed away, during the song you can clearly see that he is pouring his heart and soul into it making it a very strong and captivating song with powerful lyrics and emotion, halfway through the song there was some microphone complications causing the mic to cut out which meant a good portion of an important song to the lead was cut out, dan was very quick to realise the issue and got it resolved and handled it very professionally.
Last but by no means least bring guns took to the stage to close the show, bring guns a five piece old school heavy rock band from Manchester uk who take influence from the likes of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Motorhead and Opeth.
From the moment they took to the stage for sound check you instantly got a taste of what's to come, lead vocalist (Craig Dawson) showed great crowd control by getting everyone involved in the warm up using Freddie Mercury's iconic call and response this got the crowd raring to go, Hitting the stage for their set They immediately got into the music and had an explosive start from the music to the vibe with the crowd having a mix of people headbanging to dancing along.
Their sound brings an oldschool nostalgic metal feeling but is still very unique which creates an overall dominating sound that you can headbang too and sing along. The energy didn't dip throughout the whole set due to powerful vocals from vocalist (craig) and interesting riffs that gave songs depth and their unique sound.
Overall it was a killer night with the vibes never dipping, all the bands were absolutely outstanding and I wish them all the best in the future and going on in the competition.
Winners:
Judges vote: Aphotic Sky
Crowd vote: Technologist
Again i would like to thank 0161 manchester underground metal community for letting me come along and document M2TM Manchester, I can't wait to see the rest of the competition.
REVIEW + PHOTOS BY: MEGAN BELLIS
