dcowboys311
Member
Sort of...a lot of it has to do with the fact that they've already had nearly every headlining death metal band play the fest. All that's left is Morbid Angel.
What's your take on the next Maryland Deathfest?
- Thread starter Palabra de Dios
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General Zod
Ruler of Australia
I've always been surprised they don't have more Black Metal. There seems to be the same relationship between Death & Black that there is between Prog & Power. In addition, it seems like an untapped market, as there isn't a Black Metal festival here int he U.S. Finally, it seems Black Metal is the more popular of the two genres, and would likely help them increase their gate. Regardless, adding BM bands to the card seems like a much more natural expansion than Corrosion of Conformity.
Interesting. Within my very limited sample size of metal friends, most folks seem to enjoy thrash and death, but black metal is more of an acquired taste. That is certainly the case with me. I like fewer than five black metal releases. I find the black metal style to be significantly different from the other forms of extreme metal.
There are a few black metal fests in the US, but you won't find big names like Dimmu Borgir there.
The Maryland Deathfest emphasizes the relationship between death metal and grindcore (It's probably a good reason why people here recognize so few band names... Similarly your typical grind fan would be unfamiliar with ProgPower's roster) But even so, bands like Nuclear Assault, Cathedral, Coroner have such long histories and love among fans that they transcend any genre-labels (deathfest).
I would guess (and it's just a guess) that the promoters would prefer to bring deathmetal and grind to fans who normally wouldn't see these bands plays. Of course they don't want to lose their shirts, but it's not always about money and customers.
The Maryland Deathfest emphasizes the relationship between death metal and grindcore (It's probably a good reason why people here recognize so few band names... Similarly your typical grind fan would be unfamiliar with ProgPower's roster) But even so, bands like Nuclear Assault, Cathedral, Coroner have such long histories and love among fans that they transcend any genre-labels (deathfest).
I would guess (and it's just a guess) that the promoters would prefer to bring deathmetal and grind to fans who normally wouldn't see these bands plays. Of course they don't want to lose their shirts, but it's not always about money and customers.
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
Your likely correct, in that a more natural relationship probably exists between Death & Thrash than Death & Black. That said, there seems to be a ton of cross over between the two genres these days, where reviewers are hard pressed to determine whether a band is truly Black or Death, in much the same way reviewers are hard pressed to determine when a Power Metal has introduced enough intricacy to be considered Prog.
I'd be curious to know if your sampling of friends is representative or not (with respect to the genres being more exclusionary than I thought).
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
There are? Are you talking about actual festivals, or some promoter booking one Norwegian band, ten local bands, and calling it a festival?
This is something I became aware of when I nearly attended two years ago. By the by, are there any gateway Grindcore bands?
I'm just guessing, but I would suspect the promoter started with the mentality you described, and now sees it as more of a business than a labor of love. And similar to Glenn, is likely realizing that he needs to expand beyond the limits the festival name imposes, if he wants to festival to remain viable in the long term.
Death and black metal mingle often, I agree. I like a lot more blackened death metal bands than I do black metal bands.
And I love classic melodic death, which has a huge black metal influence.Yeah, it would be interesting to see what Joe Deicide thinks of black metal. None of my friends really fit that profile. ;-)
dcowboys311
Member
Yes, there are a few black metal festivals. Real festivals. Off the top of my head...Samhain Black Metal Fest, Rites of Darkness (not strictly black metal, but a good bit), Gathering of Shadows...there are a few more.
Death metal has quite a few different 'crowds.' Not really sure how to put it. The crowd that this fest went after in the beginning years is the crowd that is likely to hate black metal. There really isn't a strong relationship between the death and black scenes at all until you get into the blackened death stuff, and well, that's obviously a crossover. But most pure black metal fans hate death metal and vice versa.
Plus, the black metal they've added over recent years has tended to be bands that are ridiculed by both the death and 'trve kvlt black metal' scenes, like Watain. Great band in my opinion but they're a joke.
Also, Zod, what do you mean by gateway grindcore bands? You mean bands that newcomers to the genre typically get into? I'd recommend Napalm Death, Repulsion, Terrorizer, and Brutal Truth.
Death metal has quite a few different 'crowds.' Not really sure how to put it. The crowd that this fest went after in the beginning years is the crowd that is likely to hate black metal. There really isn't a strong relationship between the death and black scenes at all until you get into the blackened death stuff, and well, that's obviously a crossover. But most pure black metal fans hate death metal and vice versa.
Plus, the black metal they've added over recent years has tended to be bands that are ridiculed by both the death and 'trve kvlt black metal' scenes, like Watain. Great band in my opinion but they're a joke.
Also, Zod, what do you mean by gateway grindcore bands? You mean bands that newcomers to the genre typically get into? I'd recommend Napalm Death, Repulsion, Terrorizer, and Brutal Truth.
Zod - This does not get to Joe Deicide and Dan Darkthrone, but you might enjoy the thread on this topic I started on PMX:
http://pmx2.krose.org/forum?action=view&forum_id=1&message_id=400244
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
It seems these (from what I can quickly discern) fall into the category of one Norwegian band and 10 locals. Or perhaps the bands that played Samhain last year are so underground, that I'm just not familiar with them.
I've never heard anyone suggest that Watain was a joke. I guess we're hanging out on different boards.
Exactly what I meant... thanks.
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
Thanks John. I began to poke through that thread a bit, but there's a lot there and I have a bunch of crap I need to get done today. I'll definitely look through it all tomorrow and post some thoughts.
dcowboys311
Member
Don't really agree with that. This year's ROD had bands from Thailand, New Zealand, Singapore, UK, a few other countries, and the debut performance from a US based death metal band who is currently the most hyped thing in the underground. Samhain was mostly US bands, but bands that don't play often at all. Only one or two were local. Gathering of Shadows had at least one overseas band (Australia, I think) and a few bands who also don't play often at all, regardless of location. I think the only band from Colorado on that bill was Nightbringer.
Must be. They're just a bit ridiculous. Every interview I've seen with them has made them out to be giant tools. EVERY BAND IS FALSE, ONLY WATAIN AND DISSECTION ARE TRUE. Just stuff like that. I'm sure if you were to scan the Nuclear War Now or even the MDF board, you'd see a good bit of people laughing at them. Great band though. Just can't take em seriously.
Hmm. I actually became interested in Watain from reading an interview with one of the guys, where he talked about being a fan of classic metal like Rainbow, the Dio Sabbath, etc. He came off as being more down to earth than a stereotypical black metal uber-misanthrope.
Yeah there might be a death-black relationship musically-speaking. But when it comes to the fans, that's a different story.
Winterheart
Power Metal Maestro
This year was my first time going and I had a blast! I can't wait to go back next year, because the line-up is superb! Lots of great lesser-known bands are on it.
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
So I'm curious, were you familiar with these bands before they were announced? Or did you discover them to be quality acts, because you looked into them after they were announced? With the exception of Kreig, I don't recall ever hearing any of their names mentioned.
Ahhh... so it's the band members who can't be taken seriously? I've never read any interviews with them, and was unaware of the band's personality.
Is Nuclear War Now the forum you read for underground/extreme stuff?
dcowboys311
Member
dcowboys311
Member
For the Rites of Darkness fest, I was familiar with probably 60% of the lineup. Found a few cool bands as a result of the announcements.
Knew probably half of the lineup for Samhain.
Gathering of Shadows had a few bands who I knew but the majority of the lineup was unfamiliar to me.
I read NWN fairly often...don't post there though. It's a more...elitist crowd. Pretty funny at times but you find a good bit of cool bands. A lot of garbage though. It's pretty much the internet home of the crowd who worships bands like Blasphemy and Sarcofago.
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
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