In our latest Countdown to Bloodstock 2025 interview, Emily Castles speaks to Northern Ireland’s hardcore crew If It Bleeds, winners of Metal to the Masses in their home city of Belfast, prior to their eagerly-awaited appearance on the Timothy Taylor New Blood Stage at Catton Park next month.
Many congratulations on winning Metal 2 the Masses at Voodoo in Belfast – how are you feeling about your success?
We are feeling like the bar has been raised. We’ve been a band for under two years and the chance to play on a stage like this is truly a privilege.
How was the final itself – any highlights or favourite sets?
Kind of nerve-wrecking for some of us, knowing we’d made it that far, we were keen to keep the energy high during our set. Frayed Ends BC was our favourite set of the night, they’re a band after our own hearts, and we would’ve been happy to see those lads go through, if not us.
How did you find the whole M2TM process generally?
Some of our best shows to date. M2TM has been going in Belfast for a decade at this stage and it’s great to see so many enthusiastic fans turn out. Getting through the first two stages was a shock to us, it kept us in high spirits.
You’ve played with the almighty Party Cannon quite a few times this year, how’s that been?
The Party Cannon shows were great, some great show moments in there for us personally and it was great to see their set, with all the chaos it brings…. The lads were very friendly and showed a great interest in local Irish metal – always good to see from touring acts.
You released your EP We Can Kill It earlier this year – how did you find the writing and recording process?
From the get go, we got ourselves into a good habit of demoing our song ideas. This made pre-production seamless, as we always had a blueprint for our songs. With production, we have a semi DIY approach. We handle most of the tracking and outsource the post-production work. Our production partner in crime is Josh, of JSR Audio, we’ve known him for years before IIB, always been a pleasure to work with.
Have you been pleased with how it’s been received?
The reception to this EP has been more than we dreamed. With two music videos to promote it, we’re seeing more and more people at our shows complimenting different releases on the EP. We’re glad people are enjoying our debut release, as the best is yet to come…
What’s the band’s summer looking like aside from Bloodstock?
We have Crypt of the Riff Festival in July – this is set to be Belfast’s biggest weekend for local metal/hardcore of 2025. We played last year, if its anything to go by, this year will be big too. Apart from that we have some things planned we can’t say too much about, we’re almost tempered to say big things coming, but that is TBC…
Have you guys been to Bloodstock before?
As four of the five of us work in live music, Bloodstock has always fallen during a busy weekend for us, so this will be our debut both as a band and as concert goers. What a way to start, eh?
Finally guys, are there any bands that you’re specifically excited to catch at Bloodstock?
Loads! Gojira, Kublai Khan, Trivium, Machine Head, Nailbomb, Lock Horns, Insidious Void and August Burns Red to name a few…
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