A SOUTHEND band will be rocking Colchester after reaching the finals of a major heavy metal contest.

Merciless Fail will appear alongside more than 20 other bands in a mammoth all-day event at the Judge and Jury pub, on St Botolph’s Circus, this weekend, aiming to win a slot at major-league metalfest, Bloodstock.

Lead singer Chris Storozynski said: “Bloodstock run a feeder programme called Metal to the Masses.

“It runs across the country and ultimately, if you play the final, you can win a place to play on the unsigned stage at the Bloodstock Festival in Derbyshire in August.”

The band reached the finals last year, but missed out on the top spot. Since then they have released an album, which has garnered some real interest.

Chris hopes it’ll be enough to push them through this year to share the billing with the likes of Alice Cooper, Sepultura, Testament, Behemoth and Canadian rockumentary stars, Anvil.

He says: “It would be amazing to have the opportunity. We’ve been working hard for the past three years and we made it to the finals last year. We didn’t win, but this year, we’ve really got the momentum behind us so hopefully this is the year for us to put our name out there and really push British heavy metal to the forefront.

“We’re trying to put Southend on the map as well. We have great venues like Chinnerys.”

Describing the band’s sound, Chris says: “We all listen to classic British heavy metal like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. That’s where we all come from, so we try to use those influences, but put our own tempos in and our own modern style.”

The band already have some decent gigs lined up for the year, including sets at Nambuko in London and the Islington O2, while their album, Forged in Black, was recently given a 7/10 rating in the national music magazine, Power Play.

Merciless Fail play at Metal to the Masses at the Judge and Jury, St Botolphs Circus, Colchester, on Sunday. The festival starts at noon. Advance tickets are £6 (£7 on the door).