Plymouth metal band Atom Smasher win epic contest to play Bloodstock 2024 festival
In May 2024, Made in Plymouth's Community Reporter, Matt Fleming, published a story on the hottest metal bands in the city right now. Just a few weeks later in July, one of those bands showed just why he included them on that list. Atom Smasher won the Devon and Cornwall Metal 2 The Masses competition, meaning they are heading to the massive Bloodstock 2024 festival in early August to play to thousands of hard rock fans from across the globe.
This is a big deal. Bloodstock, a massive heavy metal festival that takes place in Derbyshire, began in 2005 and has grown in magnitude every year since. It’s not the first time a Plymouth band has played the fest — Warcrab and Mechanized have rocked the Bloodstock crowd in the past — but it is a major opportunity for Atom Smasher to wow heavy music fans from across the world with their unique brand of progressive thrash/death metal.
To get there they had to beat the best heavy rock outfits in two counties, though. They went through heats and then won the final of the Devon and Cornwall Metal 2 The Masses competition, held at Livewire in Saltash, in early July. The M2TM contest takes place across the UK (and in Europe too) every year for up-and-coming metal acts to find the ‘loudest and most brutal acts’ to play Bloodstock.
Atom Smasher, who released their debut album “Blindsided” — featuring just five tracks that fizz over 42 minutes — earlier in the summer, played some dynamic, fully charged sets over the course of the Metal 2 The Masses contest, winning a hotly contested final in front of an army of fans and metal enthusiasts.
Big bang
The Atom Smasher trio from Plymouth — Mike Cook on vocals and guitar, Jason England on vocals and bass, and Conor McCaffrey on drums — play our city regularly, particularly in venues like Mutley’s Underground and The Junction. They always make a big bang and their progressive sound has garnered them thousands of fans over the past few years — and that’s about to grow even more when they hit the Bloodstock stage.
McCaffrey tells Made in Plymouth that it feels ‘absolutely unreal’ to win the Devon and Cornwall competition — and that it will be a ‘dream come true’ to play Bloodstock 2024. “We love Bloodstock dearly,” he says. “It’s like a second home to us as metal fans — but we’ve never played there as Atom Smasher. We entered the Devon and Cornwall M2TM competition last year but had to withdraw because of health issues. But we came back fighting this year and made up for it with a surreal win.” He adds that competition organiser Simon Hall ‘picked us himself’ as the winners at the final and ‘for that we are forever grateful’.
“The competition was as tough as it comes,” continues McCaffrey, “and every single band brought their A-games. We had the audience vote in both heats so it’s clear we have a lot of strong support, which means everything. We gave it our all every time — as we do at every show — but there’s that extra drive that you can’t tap into unless there’s something massive at stake, like playing Bloodstock.”
McCaffrey, who notes the band have been given a ‘very good slot’ on the Sunday at Bloodstock and that ‘we know we’ve got the Plymouth crowd coming along’ to catch it, says he has personally played the festival before as part of sludge metal band Ishmael but since 2010 — when Atom Smasher was formed — he hasn’t set foot on that hallowed stage. “I didn’t really understand the magnitude of it back then,” he says. “Now I’m 30, though, and doing it again, I understand completely how big of a deal it really is.”
Shout out to Livewire
The drummer also thanks the Livewire Youth Music Project in Saltash — which supports young people through creativity and music — for putting on the ‘special’ M2TM competition every year. “Not only does it give bands this opportunity to play Bloodstock,” he says, “but it also gives them the experience of playing on the best stage in the South West — that Livewire stage is something else. The lights, the sound, the recently installed steam jets… you feel like a rockstar every time you play.”
“It’s really rewarding and it’s humbling to have this sort of recognition,” continues McCaffrey. “We’ve been growing a strong fan base since things got serious in 2021 and it’s funny actually — this time last year we were struggling to get anything outside of Plymouth despite the support we have. And suddenly this year, we’ve played Bristol, Southend and are now going to Bloodstock! It’s mad how things can change so quickly. But now we want to show the rest of the UK what we’re about, play higher profile shows and just get on those radars. Ultimately we want a UK tour and we’re going to do everything to make that possible.”
McCaffrey says that the band will be ‘flying the flag for Plymouth’ at the festival. “We still can’t believe it,” he concludes, “but you bet we’re gonna make an entrance and put on a show that people won’t soon forget! We want to help keep Plymouth on the map too as there are so many good bands down here.”
Youth work co-ordinator at Livewire, Andy Rance, has congratulated the band on their win. He tells Made in Plymouth: “They smashed it out of the park. The final also featured Reduced to Ruins, Bloodhound, Death Assault and Apathy — it was epic and was a big success for Livewire and the local metal scene. New music is very much alive and kicking in the South West — and the fact that some of these metal bands have been supported by Livewire — and even formed within its walls — makes us feel incredibly proud.”
Bloodstock 2024
Bloodstock 2024 takes place at Catton Park in Derbyshire between 8 and 11 August. Headliners include Amon Amarth, Opeth, Clutch, Architects and Flogging Molly. Atom Smasher play the Sunday. For more festival details, see: here.
Where next to catch Atom Smasher in Plymouth
The band play alongside 10 Plagues and War Shepherd on Saturday 28 September at The Underground in Mutley. The gig starts at 7.30pm. For more details, check out The Underground’s Facebook page.
Story by Matt Fleming