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My Experience at MDF 2015: Part 4 – Sunday

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For the final day in Baltimore we (now also joined by Josh’s friend Tom who was with us for just that day) decided to make a trip to legendary writer Edgar Allen Poe’s grave.

I decided to wear my Suspiria shirt; one to wear something that for once wasn’t a band and two because it fit the the atmosphere of the exhibit. After getting a picture with his tombstone we headed back to the Edison Lot, stopping by 7-11 for lunch before heading down to the venue. When we got there we ran into none other then Katherine Katz of Agoraphobic Nosebleed.We all got pictures with Katz and I eventually would get to interview her. For this day I would stay at the Edison Lot for the remainder of its run (just like I did last year).

Masacre

When we finally got to the venue we had already missed the first two bands, so the first one I caught was Colombian death metal band Masacre. Knowing nothing about this band I decided to watch them out of curiosity and damn was this awesome. I couldn’t believe a band I never heard of could end up being one of the best bands Sunday had to offer. After this set, I’m now a proud Masacre fan.

Goatsnake

Back in 2011, Goatsnake dropped from playing MDF and where replaced by Ghost.While Ghost were cool to see, I’m glad that this year I finally got to see this stoner/doom super group.

Goatsnake was a nice break from the extreme nature of Masacre and most of the bands from previous days. Goatsnake had a good sound which helped with their trippy atmosphere (until this show I never noticed how much the singer sounds like Alice in Chains’ Layne Stayley).

Primordial

After seeing death metal then doom we then switched to folk metal with Primordial. As mentioned in part three, I am very picky with folk metal. Primordial is a band that is not only an exception but one I find to be top notch. Primordial sounded much more epic live  – especially when they closed with “Empire falls,” their signature song.

Winter

After Primordial the shift returned to doom but with a deep-seated vengeance. I was super stoked to see these death/doom pioneers as I was always a big fan of their only album,”Into Darkness” for quite some time. As it tends to be in real life, Winter was extremely heavy and crushing – one of the heaviest bands on the fest.

Anaal Nathrakh

England’s Anaal Nathrakh were yet another one of my “must-see’s” (Sunday was on a roll). With the exception of the clean vocal sections, the band’s distinct mix of grindcore, black metal and industrial translated great live (a very minor complaint). The crowd went from being crushed by doom to intense moshing. The transition would revert to doom yet again with the next band.

Skepticism

To be honest, I was never a fan of funeral doom. During this band’s set I decided to get food from my favorite MDF vendors Pork Lord Tacos. After eating I went to the shape area. Here I met a girl named Coco who turned out to have read my interview with Teloch of Mayhem as well as friends with my areas infamous Facebook troll Olivia (small world).

Demilich

After Skepticism was over my excitement skyrocketed. One of the bands I wanted to see the most was about to start.

Finland’s tech-death masters were a band I planned on catching no matter who played at the same time. Demilich’s set was perfect: the sound, the energy, the choice of songs – EVERYTHING. This was easily my favorite set from Sunday night and one of my favorites of the whole fest.

Neurosis

Neurosis was always a band I found to be over-hyped. While I am a fan of sludge, the more post-rock infused bands just never did it for me. I was bored during their whole set and was honestly just awaiting to see Amorphis.

Amorphis

Next to Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Amorphis was the fest’s second biggest draw.

This was Amorphis’s second time playing in America (the first being at that year’s 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise). Amorphis was set to play their best album “Tales from One Thousand Lakes” in its entirety.

Unlike ANB (who more then met expectations), Amorphis was the most disappointing band of the entire fest. The main problem was the sound which I immediately noticed was way off. The mic would also tune in and out a lot – most noticeably during the clean vocal sections of “Black Winter Day.”

I didn’t stay for the whole set as I wanted to catch Melt Banana at Soundstage, but people who did told me Amorphis played no encore and would have had time for one if they did. What a bad move for a Sunday headliner.

Melt Banana

Japan’s experimental rock band was up next. I caught up with my friends Nick and Cheyenne and we watched from the rail at Soundstage.

Melt Banana more then made up for Amorphis’s disappointing set. The over-the-top energy mixed with the theatrical light show and vocalist Yasuko Onuki’s chirping vocals made it impossible to not enjoy this experience (she would also talk to the audience in her “chirp voice,” which I thought was pretty funny). As different as it was, Melt Banana was still one of the fest’s best acts.

D.R.I

I had once seen D.R.I. three years ago where they played a two hour set due to it being their anniversary show. Here I only planned to watch them for 45 minutes so it wouldn’t conflict with Portal at Rams Head. Having said that, 45 minutes of D.R.I. is still a lot of songs!

They opened with “Who Am I?” – the perfect way to start a D.R.I. set. Like last time, their energy was great but because of a larger crowd, they were more fun to watch this time around. After watching a decent amount of songs I went over to Rams Head for the final band of the 2015 Maryland Deathfest.

Portal

I got into Rams Head and watched Portal set up from one of the TV screens before finding a great spot where I could see everything.

Portal had a dark theatrical performance that went well with their odd, atmospheric music. They were going over time and their equipment’s power was eventually shut off. This didn’t stop them from finishing their last song. Overall, they were a great way to finish the fest.

After their set Josh,Tom, Matt, Nicole and I went back to the hotel (Jason had already gone back after D.R.I.) before heading home the next day. As always, MDF 2015 was a success and we all can’t wait to see what Evan and Ryan (the fest’s organizers) have in store for us this year.

Music

My Experience at MDF 2015: Part 3 – Saturday

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maryland-deathfest-2015

Saturday was going to be the roughest day of the fest. With so many good bands across the stages, I knew I’d end up moving around a lot.

Before the show we stopped at a pharmacy since some of our friends needed a few things. Here I ran into Joe Sullivan of Metal Rules TV (this was an awesome surprise as his concert reviews are a big influence on mine). Today was the only day that our group included two more people, Gwen and Joff (this was due to them only having Saturday Edison tickets).

Fulgora

As early as 12:15 P.M. (seriously MDF wtf?) Fulgora played. I went into this set knowing nothing about them except that they’re on Phil Anselmo’s of Pantera fame’s Housecore Records. The band played some kind of sludge/death metal mix with a space theme.The drums were impressive but sadly, nothing else was.

Serpentine Path

After Fulgora were done another sludge/death metal fusion took the stage. This was one I was more familiar with. Playing a sludge influenced version of 90’s death doom, Serpentine Path crushed it.

Twilight of the Gods

Twilight of the Gods is a Bathory influenced power metal band. Although power metal is normally not my thing, I will admit this band played well. I’d heard the band started out as a Bathory cover band, which would have been awesome if they played some Bathory songs.

Morpheus Descends

The first of the “must-see” bands of Saturday. Being from the area Morpheus Descends is from, I’d seen them twice before (both secret shows). Now was time to see them play to a much larger audience.

I was joined by Pearl and Andrew of Chicago death metal band Moratorium.We all watched Morpheus Descends play their classic tracks such as “Immortal Coil” and “Corpse Under Glass.” It felt both weird and awesome to see a band from my area play the main stage at a huge festival.

Einherjer

After watching some death metal from familiar ground the lot shifted to viking black metal from Norway. I tend to be pretty picky when it comes to the whole folky side of metal, but Einherjer was always one of the ones I dug. Their epic and atmospheric sounds really translated well on Edison. I could have done without the people in Turisas shirts dancing funny, but it was a fun set regardless. After these guys I would run over to Soundstage.

Full Of Hell

After getting some cheap 7-11 food I went into Soundstage for some powerviolence. Full of Hell played their brand of hyper-aggressive noise really well. I didn’t stand too close to the stage as I was going to leave right after their set.

Vulcano

I rushed back to Edison Lot and got there just in time for some Brazilian thrash. I never had the chance to check these guys out before and boy did I wish I had.They played very raw and primitive old-school thrash that quickly reminded me of Sarcofago and old Sepultura.

Bulldozer

After watching one of Brazil’s most obscure thrash bands, it was time for an Italian one.

I will admit though I’ve made fun of some of their weird ideas and lyrics in articles in the past, I don’t dislike them at all and find them fun to listen to. With that said, I actually really enjoyed their set. My friend Herb, who was standing right up front yelled at them to play their infamous “Dance Got Sick” EP -t o which the bands vocalist, A.C. Wild heard him and laughed.

Tryptikon

On the car ride here Josh and I were both discussing what Tryptikon’s set would be like. We wondered if it would be all Tryptikon songs or if there would be any Celtic Frost covers thrown in for good measure (either variation would’ve been cool). I mentioned that I doubted they would play “Proclamation of the Wicked” or any Hellhammer songs.

As soon as the set started I was wrong. They opened up with “Proclamation of the Wicked,” playing it in the slowed down Tryptikon style. I watched it with my Albany friends Filip and Craig and while we were pretty far, we heard them nice and clear where we were. They played a mix of Trypikon songs and Celtic Frost classics. Singer/guitarist Tom G. Warrior proved me wrong once again when the band played the Hellhammer track “Messiah.” Not only was it an amazing set, it one of the best performances of the whole fest.

Matyrdod 

I rushed back to the Soundstage yet again to catch these Swedish crusties in action, who played a fun energetic set. After Matyrdod I went once again back to Edison.

Arcturus

I got back to Edison right when these guys were about to set up. A very different band on the bill, Artcurus are a Norwegian metal band with avant-garde influences. The bands sound turned off a lot of people but I was excited to finally get to see them (especially after their great new album “Arcturian”). Vortex’s vocals sounded spot-on and the band’s campy theatrics were fun as hell to watch. Arcturus had a great set, playing material from most of their albums.

Razor

The last band of Edison Lot was the old-school Canadian thrash band Razor. While I still wish Sodom didn’t cancel their appearance, seeing Razor was still pretty cool. The band delivered a great thrash performance and a set that included a lot of classics. Herb and I left 15 minutes before their set ended to catch a band we both wanted to see at Rams Head.

Gnaw Their Tongues

We got into Rams Head to watch what was probably the second biggest outlier on the bill next to Mobb Deep. Gnaw Their Tongues play electronic music with black metal influences.

Instead of a full band it was a man programming beats on his laptop while another member did shrieks. I’m not a huge fan of electronic music, but this band is a pretty big. Gnaw Their Tongues had a lot of walk-outs due to being so different from many other bands on the bill, but I enjoyed the haunting atmosphere the band brought with them. Towards the end of their set I yet again went back to Soundstage.

Wolfbrigade

Wolfbrigade are the band that got me into crust punk and are still one of my favorites of the genre. They killed with their high energy and intense circle pits.Their whole set reminded me of first checking these guys out in 12th grade and learning what crust punk is all about.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed

The time had come for the main attraction of the entire fest: Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s first official live show.

The expectations where high. Just the thought of being part of the first real show from a band that never plays live was mind-blowing enough. The venue was extremely crowded. Anyone who had a pass that allowed access to Soundstage on Saturday was here.

The band more then met expectations. The energy was top notch. The sound was crystal-clear and extremely loud and their set had the most violent pit I had ever seen.

ANB would end up being my favorite performance of the entire fest. It felt as if the band had been building up to this very moment from the day they started. When ANB finished we traveled back to the hotel. Walking with us were a bunch of Josh and Nicole’s friends who were also blown away by this moment as well as a guy with a traffic cone on his head yelling that he was the singer for Portal (not making this up).

Check out the final part (Sunday) right here.

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast: Episode 33 – Kieran Smith of Disparo!

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We’re coming at you from a land down under with Kieran Smith of Australian fastcore band Disparo! Smith talks about being an independent artist, booking his own tours – which includes Disparo’s current three month world tour and his humble beginnings as a drummer.

Disparo will be playing at Don Pedro in Brooklyn, NY on June 18, 2016.

Music

The Vault: My Experience at Maryland DeathFest 2014: Part 3 – Sunday

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Editor’s Note: In the wacky world of publishing, some stories don’t see the light of day. Whether they sit on the backburner until they become irrelevant, positions change hands or they just plain get cut, it’s just one of those things. Today, one of those unpublished articles will finally get its due as we traverse the archives of “The Vault.”

After the amazing experiences on Friday and Saturday, it was time for the final day of 2014’s Maryland DeathFest.  This day was mostly doom and sludge metal at the Edison lot, which is why I chose to watch Edison’s entire lineup.

Windhand

First up were Virginia’s female fronted stoner/doom metal outfit Windhand.  They were the most melodic band I’d seen at the fest which felt distinctive after two days of extremities. “Soma,” their latest release at the time was one of my favorite albums of 2013 and it was great to hear it performed live. I loved the way the clean vocals sounded live and thought Windhand’s sound translated well live as a whole. Next up was another stoner/doom band.

Bongripper

I’d been a fan of Chicago’s instrumental stoner/doom crew ever since an old friend of mine decided to randomly show me one of their songs on FaceBook a few years ago. The lack of vocals might turn some people off but I feel Bongripper’s psychedelic atmosphere is perfect on its own. I just sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere’s big change from the intensely violent shows of the past few days for 45 minutes. After Bongripper came yet another doom band.

Graves at Sea

Graves at Sea are a sludge metal band from California. As a big fan of sludge I have always heard of these guys but never got around to listening to them until now. After seeing them I couldn’t believe I hadn’t. The first thing I noticed was the singers unique voice. The music also reminded me quiet a bit of New Orleans sludge greats Eyehategod. All and all it was a fun surprise and after Graves at Sea the days period of slowness ended.

Misery Index

Baltimore’s grindcore three-piece brought the moshing back to MDF. I had seen Misery Index once before open for Cannibal Corpse (with Hour of Penace, Goatwhore and Necroptic Engorgement as well) and they put on a pretty kickass performance. Since I had already seen them before and was getting hungry, I skipped a good amount of their set. I watched the first 20 minutes and then left for the nearest meal.  However, I did get back in time to hear “Traitors.” The next band would continue the intense mosh pits.

Pseudogod

Puesdogod are a Russian black metal band. Like Graves at Sea, they were another band  I’d always heard good things about but never actually got around to. Just like Graves at Sea, I’m glad I finally did.  The Pseudogod’s sound was like a fusion of Incantation and old Morbid Angel with a blackened touch. The rapid-fire drumming was also crushing. Next up was another very blackened band.

Wrathprayer

Puesdogod started the shift in the days genre from sludge/doom to black metal and Wrathprayer continued it. Like Psuedogod, they played blackened death metal. Unlike Psuedogod, these Chileans weren’t very interesting. They just sounded like yet another “kvlt” band who want nothing more than to appeal to the “trve” fans in that market.

Inquisition.

I had seen this Colombian black metal two-piece twice before. The first time was at MDF 2011 (though I only watched two songs due to it being 1:35 A.M.) and the second was as an opener for Marduk and I must say Inquisition owned that show.

Now it was time to see one of my all time favorite black metal bands play a full 45 minute set. Like the other times I had seen them, Inquisition played an in-your-face set with a haunting feel and little talking between songs.A major complaint a lot of people had was that they did not perform there most famous song “Crush the Jewish Prophet.” Although that is a great song, I wasn’t bothered by this as I sometimes feel people forget that’s not the only song in Inquisition’s catalog. Next up was a brief return to sludge.

Soilent Green

At this point I had never seen Nola’s sludge/death/grindcore band live but I had seen Goatwhore several times (which Louis Ben Falgoust II also does vocals). Though their sound is usually considered more sludge than death, their performance defiantly leaned towards death metal. It felt like I was seeing Goatwhore again but playing different songs, which is a good thing. I always loved the energy Goatwhore brings to the stage as well as Ben’s over the top stage moves. While I always found Soilent Green to be average, they put on a great show and the crowd went wild. While I do like Goatwhore more, this live set increased my respect for Soilent Green.

Gorguts

This was my third time seeing Canadian “avant-garde” tech death legends Gorguts.

My first time they were headlining with Origin, Nero di Marte, Necroptic Engorgement and BillxNye. At this show they only played songs from “Colored Sands,” their latest release at the time. While that was a great album (on my top ten of 2013), I wanted to hear more material. The second time I saw them was on 2014’s Decibel magazine tour with Carcass, Noisem and The Black Dahlia Murder. Here they only played three songs.

I figured I would give these guys a third chance to put on a fulfilling set and this time they finally delivered.  Rather than just one, they played songs from all of their albums. Gorguts must have finally gotten promoting only “Colored Sands” out of their system. Next up was the biggest misfit on the bill.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats

For these three days I’d been watching a lineup of mostly extreme metal bands and extreme forms of punk. Now it was time for something completely different and not extreme at all.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats are a British psychedelic rock band, making them the only non-punk or metal band on the whole fest (not saying it was a bad thing as I do love a lot of psychedelic/classic rock). The bands sound reminded me a bit of Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep.When they ended I went over to the next stage to see the oldest band on the Edison Lot.

Candlemass

I have been a fan of this bands older work since I was 16 years old. They were my introduction to non-Sabbath doom metal (and where I first heard the term).

As excited as I was, I was also a little worried. To me, Candlemass has not had a decent album after “Tales of Creation” and since a lot of the members they have now are from after that album, I was wondering if they would even play much of the classic Candlemass tracks at all. They started their set with “Mirror Mirror” (the first Candlemass song I ever heard). This was my first clue that they’d be awesome. Right after that song, their vocalist Mats Levin announced that they were going to play an old-school set (though one later song was played). When I heard him say this I knew I was going to greatly enjoy this.

Candlemass was up there along with Asphyx and Dark Angel for best bands of the fest. Every song they played was a song I knew and unlike the next band, I’d give them the award for “best setlist.”

My Dying Bride

First off I will admit I’m not a fan of goth doom (I don’t have a problem with it just isn’t for me). I enjoy some Type O Negative and Katatonia every now and then as well as the early albums by this band, but I just wasn’t too thrilled to see these guys.

I decided to give these British goth-doomers  a shot anyway as there second album “Turn Loose the Swans” is one of my favorite death/doom albums. I watched them for a few songs, two of which I saw were from that album while the rest of the set was mostly boring. I wound up getting Subway with two people I met at the show before venturing back to Soundstage .

Ratos de Porao (Basement Rats)

Ratos de Porao is an obscure Brazilian crossover/thrash band similar in style to early D.R.I. I was only going to watch about 30 minutes of their set mainly because Ulcerate was going on shortly after them at Rams Head, but half an hour for a band like this is a lot of songs. Like any thrash show, the crowd was circle pitting hard.

Ulcerate

The New Zealand tech-death giants were probably the most technical band I’d seen on this year’s fest. Unlike most tech-death bands today whose main focus is just showing off, Ulcerate focus more on atmosphere, giving them a sound similar to later Gorguts.

Ulcerate was overpowering and loud thanks to the help of Rams Head’s live’s sound system. The band played a lot off their latest album “Vermis,” an album I greatly enjoyed (though not enough to put it on my top of 2013). Next up was the final band of the fest, who could not have been more brutal.

Immolation

Being from the Hudson Valley (Montgomery specifically), I found it pretty awesome that my areas biggest death metal band was ending this year’s MDF.

I saw these dudes three years ago in Kingston, NY with Gigan and Jungle Rot. It was a powerful show and the crowd tore the place apart (literally). Now it was time to see them decimate again in a bigger venue.

Immolation’s set was very different from the last time I saw them. Between then and now, they had a killer new album called “Kingdom of Conspiracy” and they played a lot of awesome old songs that they didn’t play last time. Like always, vocalist Ross Dolan had amazing stage presence and the crowd (or over-crowd really) was going nuts. After watching a few songs, I started to feel tired (a combination of the heat and watching bands all day). I went upstars and lay down on one of the seats and continued watching from one of the TV monitors. Even watching from a screen the performance was still brutal. After Immolation it was time to go back to the hotel one last time. MDF 2014 was a huge success and I do plan on returning as soon as possible.

Music

The Melvins Wreck the Music Hall Of Williamsburg

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When my friend Doug and I saw that The Melvins were coming to NY with a stacked bill including Napalm Death and Melt Banana, there was no way we wouldn’t be seeing this.

As a grunge head, Doug felt he needed to see The Melvins at least once and they were always a band I was curious about. The only date that was convenient for us was Saturday, April 15th in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, also known as the hipster capital of America.

Doug used this as the opportunity to overcome his fear of city driving. As we ventured through New York City’s lower east side slumps and narrow streets we finally got to “The ‘Burg.” Getting there was a weird experience as the area looked very run down and ghetto, yet artsy at the same time. Instead of scary looking people walking around it was mostly all hipsters and punks. We even found a supermarket that was 90 percent vegan and organic food. At 8:00 P.M. we walked into the venue and waited for the first band.

Melt Banana

The big opener was Japanese noise rock titans Melt Banana. I’ve seen them once before at Maryland DeathFest and while it was wacky there they somehow manged to make this set even wackier.

They started their set with wierd video game sounds being played on both the vocalists phone and the guitarist’s guitar. After this they transitioned to their grind and pop influenced noise rock.

Throughout the majority of their set the vocalist would move her arms up and down like a robot while flashing green and red lights on her white shirt. This all helped the bands signature sound of lazer beam guitar riffs and chirping vocals feel even wilder. Mid-set the band did a medley of about six of their shorter songs in one. This included “Dog Song” that was mostly clean vocals with a barking chorus (yes, a barking chorus). After what felt like an amazing drug trip it was time for The Melvins.

Melvins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp5r9qwqpPc

At around 10:00 P.M. the duo of Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover got on stage with guest bassist Steve McDonald of the Los Angeles, Calif. alternative rock band Redd Kross.

They started out with The Melvins’ classics “Eyes Fly” and “Queen.” After these two songs the set list was mostly a mixture of later numbers like “Sesame Street Meat” and covers including the grunge classic “Leech” by Green River, “Halo of Flies” by Alice Cooper (which they closed with) and a song from Redd Kross which McDonald got on vocals for.

The band had a very loud and heavy live sound which fit perfectly with their slower droning tracks. While it was a very long set, it wasn’t boring for a minute as these guys are born performers.

After their set, Doug and his brother decided to leave. We wanted to see Napalm Death but we also didn’t want to be home so late plus we had all already seen them before (I’ve seen them twice and Doug’s seen them once). As we drove back, we instantly wanted to find an excuse to return to the city. Chelsea Wolfe is playing next month and director John Carpenter will be performing his iconic film soundtracks live  in July so hopefully my return will be sooner than later.

Music

The Vault: My Experience At Maryland DeathFest 2014 Part 2 – Saturday

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20131201-030828-265961

Editor’s Note: In the wacky world of publishing, some stories don’t see the light of day. Whether they sit on the backburner until they become irrelevant, positions change hands or they just plain get cut, it’s just one of those things. Today, one of those unpublished articles will finally get its due as we traverse the archives of “The Vault.”

After Fridays success, my friends and I were highly excited for Saturday. The lineup looked amazing as it’s usually considered to be MDF’s main day. After finding an awesome Japaneses place to eat, my friends and I headed back to the Edison Lot to see if Saturday was worth all the hype.

Goat Torment

Having no idea who this band was, I decided to watch them as they were the first band up for the day. By the name alone I made a wild guess that they were a black metal band (I couldn’t be more right).These guys couldn’t look more black metal if they tried. They even yelled “Hail Satan” after every song. With that said they were still an awesome band. Goat Torment played raw, straight-forward in-your-face black metal and made for a great warm up.

Diocletian

Next up on the stage was a black metal band from New Zealand known as Diocletian. Though they were of the same style as Goat Torment, their songs were not as interesting but were still enjoyable. Next up was the first band of the day I knew…

Entrails

Entrails are an old-school death metal band from Sweden that formed in the early 90’s, but made it absolutely nowhere until around 2010. Entrails’ performance had tons of energy, intensity and their sound was spot on. Before this set I had only known a few songs by these guys but now after seeing them I feel the need to explore their discography.

Machetazo

This was my second time seeing Spanish deathgrind greats Machetazo (the first time I saw them was at MDF 2011 in the small indoor stage). They killed then and this time as well. I always find it cool when a drummer is also the lead vocalist. Like last time, the crowd was very energetic and wild. Though I greatly enjoyed their set, I preferred the first time because I just think that indoor venues work better for this band.

God Macabre

God Macabre were a lesser known pioneer of the 1990’s Swedish death metal scene. This very same scene was known for greats such as Grave, Dismember and Vomitory. But how do these guys rank compared to those others? Decent but nothing too great.  God Macabre’s performance was that of a run of the mill death metal band. I wasn’t fully bored by them but didn’t really find anything memorable about their music.

Nocturnus A.D.

I was real excited for this one. For those who don’t know, Nocturnus was a death metal band formed by singer/drummer Mike Browning after he left Morbid Angel (after guitarist Trey Azagoth had and affair with his girlfriend).

Nocturnus’s debut album “The Key” was a very distinct old-school death metal album as it featured keyboards, shredding and lyrics about science fiction instead of the  violent and gory lyrics the genre was known for. The band performing was actually Browning’s  post-Nocturnus band After Death but were playing all of “The Key” so they played under the name Nocturnus A.D.(get it?).

“The Key” is the only album I really knew by these guys so hearing a set completely dedicated to the album made me excited.  They played the whole album in its entirety and sounded great doing it. The only down side was at times the keyboards were a little drowned out but it wasn’t too big a problem.

After they played through all of “The Key” they ended the set with an awesome cover of the Morbid Angel song “Chapel of Ghouls.” The entire crowd (including me) was screaming along to this iconic death metal classic. Nocturnus A.D. was definitely one of the best performances at the entire fest.

Tankard

German beer thrash classics Tankard were up next and the first old-school thrash band I saw at the fest. While not my favorite 80’s thrash band, I never had a problem with them and was curious to see them. The crowd turned into a gigantic drunken circle pit as the band played both old and new material. After every few songs the lead vocalist Gerre would ask audience members for a beer and after they played “A Girl Named Cervesa,” they got two girls from the audience to dance on stage as “Cervesa.” Both the band and the audience just got more and more drunk as the show went on, making it wilder and wilder. After being possibly the one non-drinker watching all of Tankard’s set it was time for me to head over to Soundstage.

Dropdead

I returned back to Soundstage just in time for powerviolence pioneers Dropdead.  Just like Capitalist Casualties yesterday these guys played an awesome set of short songs and like CC I wasn’t bored for a minute. Towards the end of the set came a great surprise. Members of the hardcore punk legends Siege came onstage and with the members of Dropdead, finished the set with several classic Siege tracks. After this great two-for-one set I stayed at Soundstage for…

Birdflesh

Swedish comedic grindcore trio Birdflesh were by  far the wackiest band on this year’s fest. While they were setting up these two guys asked me and a bunch of other people to help inflate these balloon ghosts. When the band performed the two guys threw the balloons along with glow sticks at the audience who then threw them at each other and the band, who performed in their trademark over the top costumes.

Though this band is comedic they still put on an intense and powerful performance with the audience both moshing and throwing glowsticks and balloons. I didn’t stay for the whole set but I got to hear a decent amount of songs. The next band on was Noothgrush – a band I wanted to see but had to sacrifice as they played the same time as…

Unleashed

I rushed back to Edison just in time to catch these Swedish viking themed death metal masters. Unleashed’s set started out with lead vocalist Johnny Hedlund calling the audience warriors. Though I enjoyed their performance, I wasn’t too familiar with the songs they played. I only know Unleashed’s first and third albums (1991’s “Where No Life Dwells” and 1993’s “Across the Open Sea”) and they played virtually nothing from them. I was very confused by the set list in general as those omitted albums contained some of the bands most well known tracks such as “Before Creation of Time” and “The One Insane.”

Dark Angel

The time had come. The moment about 90 percent of people at this fest were waiting for. Not only were they the most hyped band of 2014’s Maryland Deathfest, it was also Dark Angel’s first U.S. show since 2005 and their ONLY U.S. appearance of that year.

As they were setting up, everyone was wondering if they would be able to live up to such hype. They did and you better believe it. Dark Angel delivered their aggressive and powerful brutal thrash metal just as good if not better then everyone expected. The intense guitar riffs, powerful vocals and crazy drumming by none other then Gene Hoglan himself translated perfectly from album to live onslaught. During their set it started to rain. Eventually it got real windy as rain blew towards the stage, adding to the atmosphere.

They had arrived.

After Dark Angel’s epic set Jason and I ran as fast as we could to Soundstage to make it in time to see the next band there.

The Extinction of Mankind

The two of us lucked out and made it just in time for these British crusties to start. Before seeing these guys, all I knew was their split with the legendary Doom. Like the other punk based bands on the bill they were filled with raw intensity and had tons of intense circle pits. After watching there set we walked over to the Ramshead stage.

Schirenc (playing songs from Pungent Stench)

Martin Schirenc

I will admit I was never a big Stench fan (always found them to be pretty mediocre death metal). When we got there, Schirenc had about 20 minutes left in his set and i just sat upstairs chilling with my friend Herb as Schirenc’s music was not interesting me one bit. Once he got off the stage things go more exciting as it was time for the nights last act.

Asphyx

Saturday night ended with Dutch death/doom legends Asphyx (as well as meeting Hoglan on the way to the bathroom). Dark Angel had an insane performance that I thought would be topped by no one else at the fest (I was wrong).

Asphyx had the most crushing performance of the night and of the entire fest. Like it had for Incantation the night before, the great sound system did justice for this bands intensity and Asphyx had a perfect setlist. I have always thought of Martin Van Drunen as of the best vocalists in all of death metal and this live performance showed that he’s even better live then in studio (Hell, this whole band sounds better live then they do in studio). I was pretty tired but even that wasn’t distracting me from watching every second of Asphyx’s magic. After their set we headed back to the hotel once again to rest for the final night at this massive fest.

Music

Top 10 Extreme Metal Love Songs

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10 best metal love songs

A common Valentine’s Day tradition is listening to sappy love songs. Despite what you might think, even metalheads enjoy conveying their emotions for one another. In no particular order, here are ten “love” songs from metal’s more extreme sub-genres; showcasing the various ways to show someone how you really feel.

Vio-lence – Gutterslut

From the band’s humorous and politically incorrect “Torture Tactics” EP. “Gutterslut” is  about wanting to rape a slutty woman. If recorded today, there’s no doubt the members of Vio-lence would have an eternal P.R. nightmare.

Loving lyrics: “Fuck her in the ass good and hard
After I’ve chased her through the yard
I don’t use vaseline ’cause I like to
Fuck dirty and mean“

Strapping Young Lad – Love?

Strapping Young Lad’s most well known song. The song is literally just about love.

Loving lyrics: “I’ll wait for the night to come
So far, suicide at home
For I’m not the man you know…
This love,
IT’S ABOUT CONTROL”

Carnivore – Carnivore

From their self-titled debut, this track was one of the first tastes of Peter Steele’s tongue-in-cheek humor. Nothing shows affection more than referencing forgotten 70’s bands.

Loving lyrics: “Lick me she begged, she pulled down my head,
I love to eat pussy
A taste so fine like sweet April wine,
I won’t trade for any money”

Cannibal Corpse – Fucked with a knife

One of the band’s most well known songs. This live staple is pretty self explanatory and is Ted Bundy approved.

 Loving lyrics:”No escape from your fate, destined to be mine.
Every night I wait to see, in the night, watching“

Ancient – Lilith’s Embrace

A classic black metal track from the 90’s that is mostly known for its good/bad music video. The track tells the story of Adam’s son Cane meeting his father’s first bride Lilith.

Loving lyrics: “I shed bloody tears and she made them disappear
She kissed away my tears
Her powers I could see would forever set me free”

Gorgoroth – Unchain My Heart

From their 2000 album “Incipient Satan” (the first album to feature Ghaal). In case you were wondering, this is not a cover of the Ray Charles song and is one of the few Ghaal era songs to not feature Satan’s name.

 Loving lyrics: “the blood reflecting white
the curse of your heart
eternity
“unchain my heart”

Acid Witch – Witches Tits

Acid Witch were always one for wierd lyrics and here is no exception. Like Cannibal Corpse, this song’s title speaks for itself.

 Loving lyrics: “Covered in boils and sores
Crusted over popped pimples
Discharging pus
With warts for nipples”

Midnight – Vomit Queens

Midnight were always great Venom worshipers down to the lyrics. Although we don’t know what a vomit queen is this song is still awesome.

 Loving lyrics: “Give it to me – Vomit Queen
It’s bursting out – Vomit Queen
Give it to me – Vomit Queen
Aaarrrggghhh – Vomit Queen“

https://youtu.be/zaHMK1vJQtU

Suffocation – Entrails of You

Here on one of their most popular reunion songs, Suffocation show they don’t only care about outer beauty. The song is about killing a woman and having your way with her entrails.

 Loving lyrics: “You are so beautiful; I bathe myself in the entrails of you
Submerge myself in your blood and wear your flesh, you are so fucking beautiful
You are so beautiful; I bathe myself in the entrails of you“

Anal Cunt – Picnic of Love

The title track from the band’s most “experimental” album. As opposed to grindcore with offensive lyrics, this album was pure folk songs about love. See, Seth Putnam was a nice guy!!

 Loving lyrics: “I’ll kiss you for an appetizer
And love you for the meal
Then I’ll ask for your hand in marriage
As I look up lovingly and kneel“

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 27: Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s Richard Johnson

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It’s time to grind with Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s Richard Johnson as we discuss ANB’s live debut at last year’s Maryland Deathfest, recording their latest release “Arc,” future plans and more.

Music

King Parrot: Dead Set Review

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When one finds a band that sells a t-shirt bearing the words “I’m not here to fuck spiders,” it’s safe to say they have no idea what they’re in for.

That band is King Parrot; a destructive grindcore act from the hardcore pubs of southern Australia who is bestowing their sophomore album entitled “Dead Set” on Pantera and Down’s legendary front man Phil Anselmo’s (who also produced the release) Housecore Records.

The album kicks off with “Anthem of the Advanced Sinner.” If you’re familiar with King Parrot’s music the difference in production is night and day compared to their first album “Bite Your Head Off.” The clarity of each individual member is striking and it goes to show what a difference a larger budget and ample amounts of time can make.

“Dead Set” progresses deeper into darkness with “Need No Saviour,” “Hell Comes Your Way” and “Like a Rat,” boasting speed and relentless grind with true precision and technicality. The plunge then goes further with “Tomorrow Turns to Blood” and “Home is Where the Gutter is” when the grind becomes blackened and sludgy. The songs slowly start to accumulate grooves in all the right places, twisting King Parrot into form.

“Sick in the Head” and “Punisher” shake things up a bit by starting with thrash laden riffs before taking some groove oriented turns at Albuquerque. One of the best things about King Parrot is that their music is all over the place, never sticking to the same formula twice. We could be looking at the first “progressive grindcore” band – if ever there could be such a thing.

Although every musician has bolstered their repertoire on Dead Set, no one has improved more than vocalist Matt “Youngy” Young. Youngy’s voice has gotten significantly higher (which he attributes to quitting cigarettes) and more ferocious at that. Whereas Youngy sonically was a bit more like Steve “Zetro” Souza (Exodus) on “Bite Your Head Off,” he’s much more in the vein of Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, Lock Up) on “Dead Set.”

The final two songs “Reject” and the title track combine everything that King Parrot have done so far on “Dead Set” and then crank it up a few notches for good measure. The title track not only revolves around a blackened breakdown, but it also clocks in at six minutes and 49 seconds; the longest song King Parrot has ever recorded to date.

King Parrot continues to be unpredictable with “Dead Set” and have clearly gone a long way from playing locally to tens of people. With the added experience from the success of “Bite Your Head Off,” the band has musically matured for the better and it shows on every crevice of “Dead Set”.

After all, they’re not here to fuck spiders.

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 9: Toxicology’s Mike Maher

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Episode 9 brings us Toxicology’s Mike Maher to talk about his band, the local metal community and social issues in America.

Check out Toxicology at http://www.facebook.com/ToxicologyBand.