Saturday
Hail of Bullets
Hey, wait, didn't I see this band last night?
Hail of Bullets is a supergroup comprised of Martin Van Drunen (from Asphyx), Ed Warby (Gorefest and Ayreon), and two dudes from the band Thanatos. They play old-school death metal very similar to the style of early Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, and others like that. I love their CD, and they played most of my favorites from it. Their sound is similar to Asphyx, but the band was a bit tighter than Asphyx (probably due to uber-pro Ed Warby on drums). I really enjoyed their set, as short as it was (maybe 30 minutes).
After Hail of Bullets, I went around to buy some merch (which included me buying a shit ton of CDs), and then we went to dinner, we did not have much interest in seeing the inside or outside bands that played right after HoB (Brutal Truth outside, Misery Index inside).
Immolation
We arrived during their last few songs. They always are pretty good, and I saw these songs from the very back, and what I heard was okay. The dudes I was with had no interest in them at all, so I made the sacrifice of not seeing Immolation for the fourth or fifth time. I've seen them headline before, so I wasn't too bummed for missing most of their set. They did play "Into Everlasting Fire" from the first album, which was fucking awesome to see.
Birdflesh
These grindcore jokesters played indoors, and I only caught a few of their very short songs. And they were pretty cool. They're not to be taken too seriously, but the band is awesome at what they do. Their live show is much more interesting than their CD music, and I had seen them at a previous MDF, so I was just fine with only seeing about 2 songs.
Atheist
Let me get something out really quickly: I love Atheist. Their 3 albums changed my view of metal when I first heard them, they are death metal for intellectuals and I love every song just about. I saw them at Chicago Powerfest and had a freaking ball. That said, at MDF, something was missing. They were still good, no doubt, and I was still able to enjoy their set, which included the classics "Mother Man," "On They Slay," "Piece of Time," "Retribution," and "Unholy War" (not in that order). One issue is the guitar players, who are neither Kelly (who can't play) or Rand (who's not in the band any more). They actually are the two guitarists from Gnostic, and their chops are good, but at times it seems that both guitarists (who are much younger than their veteran bandmates) cannot completely keep up with the composition of the old Atheist tunes. Maybe it's just because I've listened to those songs so much that I know them note for note, and when they miss several notes in one of my favorite solos, I get a bit perturbed, I don't know. Drummer Steve Flynn wasn't at his best either...maybe a bit strained from playing with Gnostic too? Hmm. Tony Choy was awesome, and will continue to be one of my favorite bassists ever. What a cool dude. Too bad this was his only performance of the festival.....damn.
Napalm Death:
I'm not wildly familiar with their immense body of work, but there were so many fans of theirs in the audience. After Atheist, I worked my way even closer into the mob of people, and they were
rowdy by the time Napalm started. Singer Barney Greenway is certainly more intelligent than what you'd think, as he explains what each song is about and trying to get the crowd into their politically charged lyrics. Despite the anger in their music, Barney has that British charm that certainly won me over, and I was able to find elements that I enjoyed from their set, which was mostly stuff I had never heard before. They ended with a cover of Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" which pleased many a fan. I can say one more thing about the crowd, though: very violent, and trying to stay afloat amidst such a rowdy bunch definitely passed the time through an hour long set, trying to stay at the front for Bolt Thrower...
Bolt Fucking Thrower
I made it to the rail! I made it to the rail! My torso/abdomen/chest hates me for being on the rail, but I made it. Okay, Bolt Thrower was the reason the fest is outside. Seriously...they sold so many tickets for this that they moved it outside so they could sell
more tickets. And the crowd was fucking packed behind me, check out pictures if you can find them. I feel honored to be at the front during their set, which was...MONUMENTAL. They destroyed everyone else at the festival with their performance. The setlist was a
bit iffy (not playing all of World Eater..., playing one too many songs from
Mercenary), but it had its very strong points...like playing the song "Warmaster". I would have liked more songs from Realm of Chaos and VIth Crusade, but overall they just fucking crushed. Their hour-and-a-half could have easily been 2 hours and I'd have still had fun. The only thing that took away from their amazing-ness was the number of people crowd surfing. I had to avoid being kicked in the head with some asshole's boots at least 3 times a song! But I loved Bolt Thrower's show so much.
One more day left...