As ever, we’re going to try and cover every single Jäger, New Blood and SOPHIE stage band before Bloodstock kicks off on August 10th. Your chance to check them out and start planning which bands to get there early for!
Trust us when we tell you that this is bound to result in some frustrating clashes because, as ever, there are some great bands on these three stages.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Ashen Crown – Hobgoblin New Blood Stage, Friday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are based all across the West Midlands: Ste and Phil are Birmingham, Chris is Coventry, Jay is Cannock and Kieran is Shrewsbury.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
The full line up has been together since very late December 2016.
Where does the name of the band come from?
The name actually came from Tom the original vocalist on the very first couple of jams. He threw it in to the mix and we really liked it. We parted ways shortly after, but he was cool with us continuing under Ashen Crown.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Grim, aggressive and brutal with a few twists along the way. We take influence from so many styles, there’s a bit of something for everyone. We don’t like the idea of being pigeonholed to a specific sub-genre, so we just kind of throw everything we like in the pot and see what comes out.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our set is quite a roller coaster… we have head bangers, perfect for circle pit tunes, brutal breakdowns, calming clean and doomy parts to grimace to. Keeping the grim and brutal theme throughout if course.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Across the years of its existence we have all attended several Bloodstocks. It’s an absolutely killer festival, with an atmosphere second to none.
Did you enter M2TM thinking you could win it? Which region did you win?
Being such a fresh band we had no expectancy of actually winning. We entered mostly for experience and the massive networking opportunities that go with Metal 2 the Masses. We entered Wolverhampton as kind of a middle ground for us and knew Matt and Nicola at Mayhem Promotions (both absolute stars) from entering in previous bands. For a band still yet to hit double figures in gigs and coming out victors in such a strong competition is an amazing achievement.
What sort of setlist can we expect?
Our set brings a little of everything we like to see on stage. Energy, aggression, big brutal riffs along with a little ambience here and there… a potential 30 minutes of mosh pit mayhem.
Which main stage band do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
Probably Testament. Chris is a massive Gene Hoglan fan and Jay loves Alex Skolnick. It’s probably the band on Friday we collectively like most.
What are you working on at the moment?
We went in to Robannas Studios, Birmingham on 12th of July to record our debut single “Fall of Thine Eyes” as part of our M2tM winners prize haul. We are busy trying to sort a video for that and hoping to release it around our Bloodstock appearance. Post-BOA we are booked in with Jay Shredder to commence work on the debut EP. This again is part of the M2tM prizes… so it shows how much this competition can do for bands. Aside from recording we are working with the awesome FATangel Management to push us forward from Bloodstock. We also have some killer shows lined up later this year, most notably ing Memoriam at the Asylum, Birmingham.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done on tour?
No wild stories as yet… we generally just sink a few beers and have a laugh. That may all change at BOA though… after we have played of course!
Jager, Hobgoblin Ale, Kraken, Kingstone Press Cider, Kaltenberg Beer or Bulleit Bourbon? And, yes, we’ll be counting all the votes!
Kraken with Jager close 2nd.
Ashen Crown: official | facebook | twitter | youtube
