Back in 2012, the Gentleman Of Metal was flicking back and forward between radio stations, trying to find something new to enjoy. Fed up with the Emo/Screamo/Core nonsense that was around at the time, GoM really enjoyed Power and Folk metal instead, but couldn’t find a radio station that fulfilled his needs. One day, stumbling upon a local radio show that played metal, GoM heard a vaguely power metal song, and hearing the DJ’s crying out for requests, he sent one in. To his surprise, the track was played. GoM listened to the show for many weeks, befriending the host of ‘The Metalheadz’ show who was Pete Bailey, now of Primordial radio fame.

After a while, Pete decided to step down as a presenter as he had an upcoming job at Nuclear Blast down in London. The position was up for grabs, and as much as the GoM wanted it, he couldn’t spare the time to put into running the show as his wife, known as the Lady of Metal, was about to have their child. So the position was instead picked up by local students, Tom & Claire. GoM continued to listen to the show, but still thinking that the world needed more Power and Folk metal, he asked to join them in the studio to take over part of their show and play some of the tunes he liked. They agreed, and a 15-minute slot per week was dedicated to the weird and wonderful. This eventually led to approaching the radio station for his own 2-hour slot which immediately followed The Metalheadz, and was appropriately titled ‘The Metalheadz: Extended Play’.

Within a year, Tom and Claire had both gone to university, and they were replaced by Dan, but the show didn’t last more than a few more months. Being called ‘Extended Play’ didn’t really make much sense without the preceding show, and with the GoM increasingly playing far different tunes from The Metalheadz anyway, it was decided that the show would go through an image change and became POWERZONE instead.

In 2015 Powerzone became associates of The Wyrd Ways Rock Show and was hosted on their website to reach a larger audience than just local radio. Still going strong after 200+ shows, Powerzone is a labour of love and is constantly striving to improve itself, joining forces with regional promoters and engaging with fans from across the world. Powerzone was approached by Australian presenter Todd Wills during 2016 who had heard the show through The Wyrd Ways Rock Show and wanted to make it part of a long-running Australian show, so each week a recording of the live show is made and played out by Todd on Australian station 2NVR. In 2018 Powerzone has partnered with North East Wales Metal Promotions to be part of the Bloodstock Metal to the Masses (M2TM) shows, the GoM was invited to attend the local shows and makes up part of the judging panel.

Things are always on the up for Powerzone, why not join us and become part of it?