Bloodstock 2018 – Band Feature/Interview: Alpha Omega

This year’s Bloodstock Festival is shaping up to be one of the best ever with a line-up that spans all genres of rock and metal. If you haven’t picked up your tickets yet, what are you waiting for!? Check out our five reasons why you should go there.

Hailing from Norwich Alpha Omega pride themselves on a back to basics, no nonsense style of playing focusing on speed, aggression and attitude. They formed in late December 2014 and in August 2015 they knocked out a 7 track live demo.

Since then they had a change of drummer which as resulted in a refocused band looking to really make their mark on the metal world. Playing Saturday on the Jägermeister stage, this is your chance to check out a band with a very bright future!

Check out Alpha Omega’s website & over on Facebook!

Interview

1. Tell us about your journey in this year’s Metal to the Masses competition.

Our journey started when we finally managed to find a permanent (committed) drummer, Rich, in December 2017. Quickly we wrote a completely new set in the style which Alpha Omega was trying to achieve. Shortly after we saw an advert for M2TM in our local rehearsal studio. We thought, what the hell, lets give this a go. This was an opportunity to get our sound out there and network with like minded people and hopefully get some more gigs out of it. As M2TM approached we focused on nailing our set and our target for the competition was to get through the first round!

Heat 1: Not sure what to expect, we turned up with the intent to give it everything. From the first chord to the last we got to work. We hit it hard and smashed through our set. That night we met some great people and saw some great bands and to our utter surprise we won the heat!

Semi Final: Still buzzing from winning Heat 1 we focused on trying to give a repeat performance. We knew the level of competition would be higher but our approach was to do what we do and give it some beans. More great people, great bands, new friends and holy shit we won! Couldn’t quite comprehend that we were now in the final.

The Final: Dare we dream? Could this happen? During rehearsal we focused on our set and honing everything. We wanted to give a good account of ourselves and leave with our heads held high. We had already surpassed what we set out to do. M2TM had exposed us to a new family and support we noticed that people who we had never met had come to see us. Our time to hit the stage – action! Attitude, passion, sweat, aggression – we gave it everything! At one stage I looked up and we had a fully active mosh pit exploding (on a school night). We knew we had done all we can and had great fun in the process. All the bands were phenomenal, the competition was unbelievable. When Simon Hall called our name out it was a surreal feeling. Shock, surprise, pride, disbelief, uncontrollable smiles are some of the sensations. We had done it! Man, we are playing Bloodstock – dream come true!!

2. How important of a platform is Bloodstock for yourselves?

This is the biggest thing to happen to us! This platform presents an unbelievable opportunity to put Alpha Omega on the map. We will be playing to a bunch of like minded metalheads which gets our music heard, a chance to network, get more gigs and hopefully more. To play a festival with metal giants is beyond words. We fully intend to make the most of this. We will have CD’s to hand out, will hopefully get some media attention and hope to meet some amazing people in music who can help us grow!

3. What are your thoughts on playing the festival? Have you ever been there before?

This will be our 3rd at Bloodstock but first time as playing artists! Stoked doesn’t even come close to how we feel about playing. Every year we have fantasised about what it would be like to play and over a beer or dozen have run through scenarios of how it would happen. Its always been like the conversation you have about “what would you do if you won the lottery?” Well, you know what, we have won the lottery (through some bloody hard work).

4. Are you going to be around the festival all weekend? If so who are you excited to see?

Definitely going to be there all weekend. We have had our tickets since September, long before this journey started, and absolutely love this festival. Looking forward to seeing Cannibal Corpse, Power Trip, Bloodbath, At The Gates, Forgotten Remains to name a few.

5. What’s next for Alpha Omega?

Next for Alpha Omega is continue to gig (hopefully far and wide), write new material with a view to putting out our debut album sometime in 2019.