It’s that time of year again, when in the run-up to Bloodstock we endeavour to interview every band gracing the Sophie Lancaster, New Blood and Jägermeister stages from 8th – 11th August 2019. This means you’ve got a chance to read up on all your favourite bands set to play over the weekend and decide which new ones you’ll want to check out.
As ever, we’re predicting some horrible clashes because, true to form, there are some great bands across all three stages so you should start planning who you want to see.
Our thanks to all the bands for taking the time out to answer our questions!
Voluntas – New Blood Stage, Saturday
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re proud of the Bristol metal scene!
How long have you been playing together as a band?
We originally formed back in 2015. At this point, it was just our two founding Mark Watkins (vocals, rhythm guitar) and K-lum Schmit (lead guitar). Shortly after, Joe Barton (bass, vocals) was brought into the fold. However it wasn’t until 2017, when we found our drummer (Alex Bennet) that everything came together and we could get out to play our hard worked material.
Where does the name of the band come from?
We struggled to find a name for so long, in the end we went the Pantera route in choosing a word that sounded cool in a different language. The word Voluntas is essentially the Latin for volition, however there are other meanings that can be taken.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We’re all individually influenced by a range of metal sub genres which really shows in our writing style. I guess Voluntas could be described as a progressive thrash/death fusion. We have thrashy riffs, plenty of heavy breakdowns, all mixed together with a bit of groove. Our vocals are a play-off of deep growls with a cleaner thrash lead tone. In of uniqueness, our special spark would be our drummer. He goes through sticks like oxygen. I’ve never seen anyone so enthusiastically angry at a piece of musical equipment. It’s glorious.
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
We try to bring as much enthusiasm and momentum that we can muster to every gig we play. If you like throwing yourself about in the pit, you’ve definitely come to the right place. We take our music seriously, but we’re all about having fun – I’d like to think that shows in our performance.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
First time for us all! We’ve heard crazy stories though – Looking forward to making some of our own!
Which M2tM region did you win, or did you come through other channels?
We won M2TM Bristol. We cannot express enough our gratitude to everyone involved in organising, hosting and ing the event. This was actually our third entrance to M2TM Bristol. Every year we’ve had an absolute blast. We’ll certainly be returning to watch further years of the competition unfold.
Can you put into 10 words or fewer how it felt when you realised you were heading to Bloodstock?
Impossible to put into words – Even now!
What sort of setlist can we expect?
We’ll be playing our EP which comprises crushing songs. It’s going to be fast, heavy and there will be lots of opportunity for the crowd to get moving and let go.
Which other bands do you most hope you’re not squished up next to so you can see them play?
Between the band our 2 must see acts are Children of Bodom and Tesseract. Luckily they are both on the Friday so don’t conflict with our slot (Saturday 3pm).
What are you working on at the moment?
Bloodstock prep aside, our EP launch party is just around the corner on 3rd August. It’s the first show we’ve been heavily involved in organising as a band. There’s a lot to learn and prepare for, but it’s shaping up really well and we’re very excited.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
The wall of death we received at our M2TM final was beautiful. Other than that, Barton usually needs a little supervision.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
Alex has some sort of isotonic sports concoction he calls “Beelzebub”. Not entirely sure of it’s content, but it’s proving good for our sound. A couple of pints loosen up the fingers nicely for the rest of us.
Voluntas: facebook
