Maryland Death Fest , 23-25 May 2008. Baltimore, MD

[genocide roach]

Maryland Death Fest
May 23-25 2008, The Sonar, Baltimore, MD
By Ryan Starr

Maryland Death Fest, “North America’s biggest underground metal party of the year”, features 3 days of death metal, grind, and other forms of extreme metal. This year’s fest had it all, punishing death metal, hyper speed grind, and even doom and black metal. However, this year’s fest was a bit unbalanced towards grind. Over half the line up was grind and it obviously had an impact on the fest. Many people spent a lot of time wandering outside or at the hotel. But before I get into specifics on the bands and crowd reaction, I want to highlight everything else that happened the show. The vendors, food, and some of the outside antics.

To start off, I must say that the Sonar is a great venue. The main room was a good size, and the extra rooms were a fantastic home for all the vendors. It was like a super market for everything metal. Shirts, CD’s, DVD’s, patches… everything was there. I probably spent close to $300, and I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the low prices and great deals.

vendors

vendors

Outside the venue was the general gathering ground where you could smoke, buy food, and talk to random people. The food was good with typical event prices; however a few brave souls who wanted to save money walked a few blocks away to the red-light district where you could get fried food, cheap electronics, porn, and even the company of a lady all in the same place. The most entertaining part of the outdoor stuff was definitely the people. Whether it be the crusties trying to get in the show, the random weirdoes, or just your typical metal head there to drink beer and hear some good music. The highlight of all that was definitely the impromptu rap battle. I don’t like rap, but trash talking in rhyme is really funny, and that’s all it was. Now, I know for a fact someone got the entire thing record, and when I can get my hands on it, you all will be the first to know!

rap battle

wtf?

Now let’s get to the bands. So here’s the deal. There were some awesome bands at the fest. Impaled, Coffins, Anaal Nathrakh, Torsofuck… some real quality metal. But I have to be honest. There was way too much grind and most of it wasn’t that great. And since I am writing my opinion here, I sincerely think that was a giant failure for the fest. Who ever books the bands for next year needs to seriously evaluate their selection process. Some grind is ok, but this was just too much. There was a silver lining to this though. It gave many of us some time to relax, get some food, or go back to the hotel and take a nap. I’m sure that isn’t what the organizers want, but it was nice.

But enough negativity, lets talk about some of the great sets. The absolute highlight for me was Impaled. They without a doubt had the best show of the entire fest and also the best crowd reaction. Impaled’s other band, Ghoul, also played a killer set. These guys really know how to put on a great stage show. There was fire, blood, and massive amounts of stage presence. All this left the crowd awestruck.

Impaled's Ross Sewage fire breathing

Ghoul

Behold… The Arctopus was another favorite of mine, mostly because I love abstract technical wankery. And let’s face it, that’s exactly what they are. While a lot of people will tell you their music lacks emotion, I find there is no truth in this. They live and breathe this music and I think everyone in the crowd agreed with me.

Behold... The Arctopus' "bassist" Colin Marston on the Warr guitar

Anaal Nathrakh was a band that sparked some controversy. Some people don’t believe that a black metal band belongs on a death fest (though 347489264 grind bands is ok). But when they came to the stage, I don’t think anyone cared what style they played. Actually, I think everyone was eager for a change in pace! The crowd reaction for them was amazing, and given all the band had to endure to get to the fest, the band really appreciated it and stepped it up a few notches.

Anaal Nathrakh

On of the things that drew me to this fest was the opportunity to check out some new bands. 2 bands that really surprised me were Coffins and Infected Malignity. Coffins has a brutal mix of death metal and doom that reminds me a lot of Bolt Thrower and Disembowelment. Once again, a change in pace was appreciated, and doom is obviously a change in pace! Infected Malignity also gave us something different, death core. Infected Malignity is proof that there is good death core. The riffs are technical, the breakdowns are miles ahead of any other core band, and the random shredding kept everyone enthralled. I don’t care if you think death core is just another silly scene trend, you need to check out this band. I guarantee you they will change your outlook on that style of music.

Infected Malignity

Lastly, I want to mention some grind bands that didn’t suck: Squash Bowels, Waco Jesus, Fuck… I’m Dead, and Japanische Kampforspiele. Each of the bands put on a fantastic show. Specifically, I want to highlight Fuck… I’m Dead. They get the best grind band award.

Fuck... I'm Dead

Well, I think that’s it. Even though there were some obvious flaws this year, overall I had a good time. I saw some good bands, met some cool people, and significantly increased my shirt collection. Although a note to bands: make some patches! Patch vests are coming back and I can support you more often on a patch vest (that I wear to nearly every show) then I can with a shirt.

Dead Bassist Uwe Tripper

Official Maryland Death Fest Website

 

[Crucified Coma]

I'm so glad they'll ignore your dumb opinion and probably book more grind bands next year.

Your entire existence is void for actually liking IM. Stick to Summer Slaughter, lol.

Also, how the fuck is Waco Jesus grindcore?

Clueless fag is clueless.

 

[genocide roach]

waco very goregrind/pornogrind. sure, there is alot metal influence, like other goregrind bands. which is why they dont suck.waco even call themselves US Scum Grind. its on every shirt they sell. so i'm gonna go with the band on this one.

as for next year, we'll have to wait and see. if its mostly grind again, count me out.

if you dont like what i have to say, apply to be a writer and do your own reviews. we're always looking. and perhaps you can take all the grind no one else wants to review.
~gR~

 

[Crucified Coma]

There's nothing "grind" about Waco Jesus you clueless faggot.

 

[genocide roach]

why dont you ask the band who plaster the word grind all over everything. look at the banner on their site:

you obviously just want to trash talk, because i hurt you grind loving feelings. get over yourself. if you really want to voice your opinion on grind, become a writer and do some reviews
~gR~

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

There are grind elements, they're a brutal deathgrind band, Crucified Coma is butthurt because they didn't put any white hipster faggot bands on MDF

 

[genocide roach]

instead of discussing waco, lets discuss the weirdo in the pink pants. what the fuck is that?!
~gR~

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

:zombie:

 

[RyanMDF]

Just out of curiosity, what grind bands were a "failure" of the fest that cleared out the room? Flesh Parade, Ingrowing, Phobia, CODC, Squash Bowels, Gadget? Don't think so on all of the above and just because you apparently don't like the above bands didn't make the fest a failure by any means. The bands that seemed to play for the least amount of people weren't even grind (ie: Martyr, Waco Jesus and Defeated Sanity). Reviews are always biased and that's exactly what we expect anytime someone is too review the festival, so that's not a problem. As far as what exactly was a failure, maybe you should've elaborated on that because over half of the festival was not straight up grindcore.

 

[genocide roach]

Just out of curiosity, what grind bands were a "failure" of the fest that cleared out the room? Flesh Parade, Ingrowing, Phobia, CODC, Squash Bowels, Gadget? Don't think so on all of the above and just because you apparently don't like the above bands didn't make the fest a failure by any means. The bands that seemed to play for the least amount of people weren't even grind (ie: Martyr, Waco Jesus and Defeated Sanity). Reviews are always biased and that's exactly what we expect anytime someone is too review the festival, so that's not a problem. As far as what exactly was a failure, maybe you should've elaborated on that because over half of the festival was not straight up grindcore.

the entire fest wasnt a failure (and i dont think i implied that), but i think the selection of bands was poor. of course no one cleared the room (though i think kalibas might have come close. crowd reaction was terrible for them), but i saw a number of people walking out on bands, and i heard alot of people outside talking about how their was too much grind. even people in my group stayed at the hotel for numerous grind bands. i think we were all kind of burnt out on it.

and just a question for you, since this was my first mdf, what is the turn out usually like? have you packed the sonar before? my first impression was that there wasnt a "fest" sized crowd. but i have no historical comparison. i may have had higher expectations attendance wise.

i hope you know im not trying to offend you, and i had a great time, but i do think the band selection was poor and i hope for less grind/more diversity next year
~gR~

 

[Crucified Coma]

i think the selection of bands was poor

All the fail pics in the world wouldn't do justice to pointing out how stupid this statement is.

 

[Beard_of_Odin]

I think this review has failed to realize something. Now, I don't like grind very much at all, in fact I left during most of the grind acts, however a good amount of the patrons of MDF love grind, so I see no reason why Ryan and MDF shouldn't put a large number of good grind bands on the bill. And from what I understand, the grind bands that were there were considered top notch. Torsofuck was kinda fun to watch too.

As far as the fest not being diverse goes; that is a very inaccurate statement. Putting bands such as Infected malignity, coffins, anal narthrakjoauhoquethr (however the hell you spell it) nuclear assault and all the other bands on the bill made this fest very diverse. Arguably the most variety MDF has ever had. I had a great time, and the highlight of the fest was coffins. They really blew me away. Can't wait fo the next MDF. Asphyx . . . fuck yeah!

 

[skuller]

I think the review was great. Thanks for the review!

 

[Raton]

America’s biggest underground metal party of the year”, features 3 days of death metal, grind, and other forms of extreme metal. This year’s fest had it all, punishing death metal, hyper speed grind, and even doom and black metal. However, this year’s fest was a bit unbalanced towards grind. Over half the line up was grind and it obviously had an impact on the fest. Many people spent a lot of time wandering outside or at the hotel

 

[Mortado]

My long-assed review and photos can be found here

Here's the start:
Day 0 (May 21st, 2009)

We left Seattle at 10 PM on May 20th on an oversold flight with a change over in Detroit. I got to my hotel in Baltimore at around 9 AM. Fortunately they had some empty rooms so I didn’t have to wait around for the 4 PM check-in time. Once everything was unpacked we set out in search of alcohol and food. Within one block we found both a grocery store and a liquor store.

The liquor store (Urban Cellars Fine Wines) had a sign saying “Welcome Deathfest” in the window. We bought 2 pints of Absolut (to drink at the fest) and a fifth of cheap vodka to make kamikazes and bloody marys with along with a six pack of Grolsch. The grocery store supplied some donuts and milk. We took our provisions back to the hotel, ate some food then set off walking. Our destinations were Edgar Allan Poe’s grave and his Baltimore house/museum.

Our first mistake on this trip was not bringing along a map to get to our tourist attractions. Once we thought we had gone too far we took a bit of a detour and started asking the locals where Poe’s house (on Amity Street) was. We probably spoke with a dozen people and none of them had a clue, they just kept directing us to his gravesite despite us specifically asking where his house was. We were finally given proper directions by an older man with a nasty set of track marks on his arms. For this bit of information he was rewarded with a cigarette.

On the way to Poe’s house the neighborhoods started looking bad. Rows of brick row houses were the norm, about 50 percent occupied and the rest boarded up. Garbage was everywhere and the only sounds to be heard were occasional shouts and the thumping of rap music bass. Despite the lower standard of living in this particular area everyone we spoke with was kind and pleasant. At least it seemed that way; it could have been the result of 24+ hours without sleep. When we finally got to Poe’s house we were greeted with a sign saying it was closed. At least we found out where it was so we could visit later.

 

[Metalscribe]

http://tinyurl.com/MDF2009
MDF overview and some killer photos.

 

[johnmason09]

My long-assed review and photos can be found here

Here's the start:
Day 0 (May 21st, 2009)

We left Seattle at 10 PM on May 20th on an oversold flight with a change over in Detroit. I got to my Pet Friendly Baltimore Hotel at around 9 AM. Fortunately they had some empty rooms so I didn’t have to wait around for the 4 PM check-in time. Once everything was unpacked we set out in search of alcohol and food. Within one block we found both a grocery store and a liquor store.

The liquor store (Urban Cellars Fine Wines) had a sign saying “Welcome Deathfest” in the window. We bought 2 pints of Absolut (to drink at the fest) and a fifth of cheap vodka to make kamikazes and bloody marys with along with a six pack of Grolsch. The grocery store supplied some donuts and milk. We took our provisions back to the hotel, ate some food then set off walking. Our destinations were Edgar Allan Poe’s grave and his Baltimore house/museum.

Our first mistake on this trip was not bringing along a map to get to our Baltimore Tours tourist attractions. Once we thought we had gone too far we took a bit of a detour and started asking the locals where Poe’s house (on Amity Street) was. We probably spoke with a dozen people and none of them had a clue, they just kept directing us to his gravesite despite us specifically asking where his house was. We were finally given proper directions by an older man with a nasty set of track marks on his arms. For this bit of information he was rewarded with a cigarette.

On the way to Poe’s house the neighborhoods started looking bad. Rows of brick row houses were the norm, about 50 percent occupied and the rest boarded up. Garbage was everywhere and the only sounds to be heard were occasional shouts and the thumping of rap music bass. Despite the lower standard of living in this particular area everyone we spoke with was kind and pleasant. At least it seemed that way; it could have been the result of 24+ hours without sleep. When we finally got to Poe’s house we were greeted with a sign saying it was closed. At least we found out where it was so we could visit later.

Awesome thanks for the great review. I'll be there next week so its good to get a little rundown of what to expect.

appreciate it,

-jim

 

[puremetal]

America’s biggest underground metal party of the year”, features 3 days of death metal, grind, and other forms of extreme metal. This year’s fest had it all, punishing death metal, hyper speed grind, and even doom and black metal. However, this year’s fest was a bit unbalanced towards grind. Over half the line up was grind and it obviously had an impact on the fest. Many people spent a lot of time wandering outside or at the Hotel Baltimore

I went and had a blast. I do agree with you on it being unbalanced. Hopefully this won't be the case next year!
Zach,
Baltimore Maryland