Know of an upcoming metal concert that I missed? Is your metal band playing a show you want others to know about? Email me all the info, flyers, and links to the bands involved (if possible) at DCHeavyMetal@Gmail.com and I’ll add it to the calendar below.

February 2012

Weds 15 February – Lock Up and Goatwhore and Strong Intention at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Lock Up is a kick ass band from the UK. They feature some awesome metal musicians including Tomas Lindberg from At The Gates, Shane Embury from Napalm Death and Nick Barker on the drums (from Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Testament, Brujeria and more). You may remember they were supposed to play at Maryland Deathfest in May 2011 but they had visa problems and could not make it into the country to perform. So now is your chance to catch these guys live. It should be awesome! They’re playing with the New Orleans based band Goatwhore and the Frederick, Maryland locals Strong Intention on this tour. Tickets are $18 ($21.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix). Doors open at 6pm. This show is open to all ages.

Thurs 16 February – Biohazard and Madball and Sworn Enemy and CCWB and Carthage at Recher Theatre (Towson, Maryland) – Biohazard is back and the hardcore/rap metal band has put out a new album with all of their original members titled Reborn In Defiance. However, after the recording they parted ways with their pornstar vocalist Evan Seinfeld as well as recruited a new drummer. The guitar player, Billy Graziadei, has taken over lead vocal duties however. Touring with Biohazard is another New York hardcore band, Madball. They were formed in the late 80s as a side project of Agnostic Front’s vocalist Roger Miret. He would let his little brother, Freddy “Madball” Cricien, take over on the mic and that’s how they got the name. There’s also some local hardcore bands on this show, namely Sworn Enemy, CCWB (which stands for Cecil County White Boy$) and another band named Carthage. I don’t really know much about any of the local acts but you can click their names above to check em out. Tickets are $17 advance ($22.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Recher Theatre) or $20 the day of the show (add $1 to that if you’re under 21). The doors open to 7pm and it is open to all ages.

Thurs 16 February – Scale The Summit and Elitist at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – Their Strings Are Voices Tour – Scale The Summit is a kick ass instrumental band that goes through phases of technicality and laid back atmospherics for a really unique sound. I really like this band and I highly recommend checking them out! They’re playing with a band called Elitist that I am unfamiliar with, and I have no idea who the local opening acts will be. Tickets are $10 ($13.70 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive). This show is open to all ages. Empire lists the show as starting at 5pm, but that seems too early to be right, unless there are just a ton of opening acts they aren’t listing on their website.

Fri 17 February – Visceral Disgorge and Inhumation and Visceral Violation and La Riña at Irene’s Sky Bar (Silver Spring, Maryland) – Well if you’re looking for a night of brutal metal this is it. We’ve got steaming piles of death metal vomited onto more pungent death metal at this show. Visceral Disgorge is headlining and as if they didn’t bring enough of the sickness with them they’ve brought Inhumation and Visceral Violation with them. Yes that’s right, this show is so brutal is has two bands with the word visceral in the title! This show is $10 to get in and the music starts at 9pm. Irene’s Sky Bar is located at 11300 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20902 (click it to see it on a map).

Sat 18 February – Lies Of A Murder and Myopic and Bastard Thieves at Asefu’s (Washington, DC)

UPDATE: This show has been canceled.

Sat 18 February – Down Society and Soul Craft and La Riña and Throwdown Syndicate at Old Fire Station #3 (Fairfax City, Virginia) – Another local show with some metal coming to the Old Fire Station #3
in old town Fairfax City. Down Society is a cover band playing metal and hard rock songs with a female vocalist. Soul Craft is a band that draws influences from Bad Brains and Black Sabbath. La Riña is a band that is a hybrid of power metal and metalcore. And Throwdown Syndicate are a ghetto metal band, a hybrid of rap and metal that should not be confused with crap like Limp Bizkit. There’s a $5 cover to get in. The doors open at 8pm and the show starts at 9pm. Ages 21+ only.

Sat 18 February – Gradius and Kysmet and Yesterday’s Saints and A Sound Of Thunder and Cammo Shorts and Division and Cab Ride Home at Balls Bluff Tavern (Leesburg, Virginia) – Göteborg In The Burg – This isn’t the February installment of the monthly local metal spotlight at Balls Bluff Tavern, it’s a show where bands will be covering songs from the 90′s Gothenburg, Sweden melodic death metal acts! Expect to hear covers of bands like At The Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, The Haunted and maybe even Soilwork. The bands will be playing some original tunes as well, so it won’t be covers only. This show will have seven bands playing so it will use both floors of the venue. This way a band can set up while another is playing and the metal will be pretty much continuous all night! There’s some good acts here, grind from Gradius and Cammo Shorts, power metal from A Sound Of Thunder and Division, metalcore from Kysmet and some straight up metal shredding from Yesterday’s Saints and Cab Ride Home. It will be cool to see what songs different bands choose to play. This show is just $5 to get in, that’s less than $1 per band! Ages 21+ only. Balls Bluff is located at 2D Loudoun Street SW, Leesburg, VA 20175 (click it to see it on a map). You can get more info by going to this concert’s Facebook event page here.

Sat 18 February – Throne Of The Artilect and From Nothing We Conquer and Behind The Madness and Epitome Of The Weak and Eyes Of Eli and Boltt and Palkoski at Elks Lodge (Woodbridge, Virginia) – Here’s a local metal show with mostly metalcore acts, however Boltt is more of a traditional hard rock band and Palkoski is a serial killer themed grind act. This show is $10 at the door to get in, no presale. It is open to all ages as well. The doors open at 6:30pm and the first band starts at 7pm. The Elk’s Lodge is located at 14602 Minnieville Rd, Woodbridge, VA 22193-3218 (click it to see it on a map). You can get more info by going to this show’s Facebook event page here.

Sun 26 February – Forsaken Entity and Balor’s Eye and Trumpet The Harlot and Lovely at the Ottobar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Forsaken Entity is a new band that apparently is a hybrid of power metal and nu-metal, which I’m sure everyone has been dying to hear. However, Balor’s Eye is on this show and they’re a techy instrumental metal band that totally kicks ass. Trumpet The Harlot is a deathcore band that I really don’t know much about since you can only play like part of a song on their Facebook page. Lovely I don’t know anything about since they’re far too hard to search for with a name like that. Anyways, tickets are $8 advance or $10 the day of the show. You can get advance tickets from Balor’s Eye here. If you’d like more info on this concert you can check its Facebook event page here.

March 2012

Thurs 1 March – Deicide and Jungle Rot and Abigail Williams and Lecherous Nocturne and Orthrus and Krass Judgement at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – One of the big three of American death metal makes another appearance at Empire. One of the most blasphemous and controversial metal bands ever, they’re also pretty damn brutal. They’re playing with Wisconsin’s most brutal death metal act, Jungle Rot, as well as Abigial Williams (they seem to open on every other tour these days). Local support is coming from Krass Judgement and the excellent Richmond based black metal band Orthrus. Give them a listen if you haven’t yet (here) and be sure to get there early to see these guy shred, you’ll be glad ya did! Tickets are $22 advance ($26.10 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive). Doors are set to open at 6pm and it’s open to all ages.

Fri 2 March – Corrosion Of Conformity and Torche and Valient Thorr and A Storm Of Light at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – The North Carolina based Corrosion Of Conformity brought their crossover sludge metal to Sonar back in May as part of Maryland Deathfest, however since that time Pepper Keenan has rejoined the band. I’d assume that means he’ll be with them on this tour, which will be supporting their new self titled album. Support on this tour will be Miami’s “thunder pop” band Torche and Valient Thorr from North Carolina. The opening act will be A Storm Of Light, featuring Josh Graham who is probably best known as visual artist who does the lighting and video effects during Neurosis concerts. Tickets are $20 advance or $23 the day of the show. Tickets go on sale Friday 6 January 2011 at 10am. Doors open at 7pm.

Sat 3 March – Ilsa and Windhand and Natur and Pilgrim and Midnight Eye at St. Stephen’s Church (Washington, DC) – Here’s a hell of a show that you’ll be coming to if you know what’s good for ya! Local tech metal band Midnight Eye opens up this awesome show. Check them out if you haven’t already, these guys shred! After they play it’s Pilgrim from Rhode Island, a doom band that’ll may you cry for your mommy. After you wipe away your tears it will be Natur up next, a band from NYC with an old school metal sound. Things will get crazy when Richmond’s Windhand hits the stage with their crushing doom sound. Last up is DC favorites Ilsa, a local crusty death/doom band. Tickets are $10 and it is an all ages show. The show starts at 6:30pm sharp! It’s at a church so NO drugs or alcohol. And don’t be a dick and start shit, if people get in fights they’ll stop letting metal bands play there. The venue is located on the corner of 16th and Newton streets, or 1525 Newton St. NW, Washington, DC 20010 (click it to see it on a map). You can get more info on this show by going to its Facebook event page here.

Sat 3 March – Possessed at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – Possessed is an old school metal band from San Francisco, California, and is probably most famous for coining the term Death Metal by the song with that title on their classic album Seven Churches. The band has gone through a lot of changes since then, Larry Lalonde went on to play in Primus and everyone else has left the band for one reason or another. Everyone except Jeff Becerra that is. He used to play bass as well as be the lead vocalist, however now he only performs the vox because in 1990 he was paralyzed from the waist down when he was shot during a bank robbery he had no part in. Dude can headbang in a wheelchair though! For a while the band Sadistic Intent was playing as his backing band of Possessed and in fact they played that way when Possessed played at Maryland Deathfest in 2010. However only the drummer from that line up is left and none of the newer members are from Sadistic Intent. The other bands on this bill haven’t been announced as I write this, but I’ll add them when I know who they are. Tickets are $20 advance ($25 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive) or $22 the day of the show. Doors open at 6:30pm. This show is open to all ages.

Sun 4 March – 15th Anniversary Tour – Children Of Bodom and Eluveitie and Revocation and Threat Signal at Rams Head Live (Baltimore, Maryland) – Finland’s guitar wizards Children Of Bodom are returning to the states for a 15th Anniversary Tour and the final stop is in Baltimore! They better play a lot of stuff from the Follow The Reaper album this time, they skipped a lot of that when they played Jaxx in July of 2011. Anyways, they’re bringing with them a rather eclectic line up of support acts. Eluveitie is a folk metal band from Switzerland with eight members playing all kinds of instruments including bagpipes. Revocation is a great band coming out of Boston and they’ve been on the rise for quite some time, these guys are really something live and I recommend you check them out if you haven’t seen them live (or even if you have!). Threat Signal is a Canadian melodic death metal band and they’ll be the opener for this tour. Tickets are $20 advance or $25 the day of the show. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets go on sale 11/11/11 at 10 am here. This show is open to all ages.

Weds 7 March – Michael Schenker at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – Temple Of Rock Tour – Michael Schenker has been a member of both the Scorpions and UFO and in 1979 he started his solo band. In 1986 he joined with the Irish vocalist Robin McAuley and formed the McAuley Schenkery Group which lasted until 1992 when Michael went back to his original solo band. However, on his lastest solo album, Temple Of Rock, he had three vocalists perform with him, each on different tracks. One of them was Robin McAuley, who Michael is bringing on tour with him, including this show at Empire. I’m not sure who the openers on this tour are, or even who the local support is yet. Tickets are $25 ($29.25 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive). The doors open at 7pm. This show is open to all ages.

Thurs 8 March – Sourvein and Order Of The Owl and Heaviness Of The Load at Sidebar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Sourvein brings their brand of stoner sludge to Baltimore from, uh, North Carolina, or New Orleans, or Los Angeles, or wherever the hell they call home these days. Along with them on this tour is Order Of The Owl, featuring Brent Anderson who is formerly of Zoroaster. They have a similar sound to Zoroaster actually, so if you like their psych sludge you’ll probably like these guys too. Click their name in the listing above and you can stream or download for free one of their songs. The opening act is Heaviness Of The Load, a local Baltimore doom band. In all it should be a fun show. I haven’t seen what the cover charge is going to be, I can’t imagine it would be much more than $10 tops. The show starts at 9pm.

Sat 10 March – Hate Eternal at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland)

THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELED

Tues 13 March – Iced Earth and Warbringer at the 9:30 Club (Washington, DC) – Iced Earth is doing their first North American tour with their new vocalist, Stu Block. They are doing a co-headlining tour with Symphony X but Symphony X will NOT be playing this concert. Iced Earth added a few more dates to the end of the tour and they will feature the thrash band Warbringer instead, and this show at the 9:30 Club is one of those dates. There are two types of tickets available, a regular general admission and a VIP ticket. The regular tickets are on sale right now from Artist Arena for $25 ($30.50 after fees). The VIP tickets are $75 ($83.50 after fees) and include a general admission ticket, a autographed tour poster, a sticker set, a t-shirt (sizes S – XXL), a commemorative laminate and a meet and greet with Iced Earth. You can get either kind of ticket here (user name: iced and the password is: earth). Doors are set to open at 7pm.

Tues 20 March – DevilDriver and The Faceless and Dying Fetus and Job For A Cowboy and 3 Inches Of Blood and Impending Doom and Wretched and Anu at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Metal Alliance Tour 2012 – The Metal Alliance tour is coming back and I have to admit this line up isn’t as interesting to me as 2011′s tour. They seem to have decided to go for a more deathcore theme this time. DevilDriver is a pretty big band though, and playing with the catchy tech band The Faceless and Maryland’s own Dying Fetus will surely draw a good sized crowd, and you can be sure there will be some slamming mosh pits. There will also be local bands added to this show (local act Anu has been added as one of the locals). There are two types of tickets available for this show. You can get a regular ticket for $22 ($25.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix). You can also get a VIP ticket for $65 ($68 after fees from Artist Arena) that includes a regular ticket as well as an autographed poster of all the Metal Alliance bands, a Metal Alliance beer koozie, a bottle of Metal Alliance hot sauce, a commemorative VIP laminate, and issue of Revolver magazine and a meet and greet with the Metal Alliance bands. This show will be open to all ages, and the show starts early at 3:30pm.

Sun 25 March – Dysrhythmia and Cleric and Torrential Downpour and Balor’s Eye at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Dysrhythmia is a kick ass instrumental metal band that will blow you away live. I’ve seen them twice before and they never disappoint, these guys can play! Both guitarist Kevin Hufnagel and bass player Colin Marston have been playing in the reformed version of Gorguts. Colin also plays guitar in Krallice. Dysrhythmia has said they will be playing all new material from their upcoming album on this tour. This is a killer show you’ll definitely want to check out. I don’t know much about Cleric or Torrential Downpour but you can check em out by clicking their names above. Local support act Balor’s Eye is also a bad ass instrumental metal band and will fit in perfectly on this bill. Tickets are just $8 ($10.95 if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix). Doors open at 8pm. This show is on the Talking Head Club Lounge stage.

Mon 26 March – Speedwolf at Sidebar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Speedwolf is the aptly named band of a werewolf motorcycle gang that is rolling into Baltimore on this March evening. They play a style of dirty old school speed metal that is as fun as it is raw. Everyone will compare these Denver, Colorado natives to Motörhead I’m sure however fans of Midnight will probably really enjoy these guys as well. This tour is to support their album Ride With Death that came out in November. As of the time I write this the opening acts haven’t been announced yet and neither has the cover charge. The doors are set to open at 7pm.

Weds 28 March – Van Halen and Kool & The Gang at the Verizon Center (Washington, DC) – Van Halen is touring again and this time to support their new album A Different Kind Of Truth. They’ve added their original singer, David Lee Roth, back into the band and this will be his first album with the band since they released 1984 in the year of its name. They’ve also got Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, on bass now. I’m not sure if Diamond Dave will be playing any Sammy Hagar era Van Halen songs, but that might be kind of interesting to hear if he does. Really, as long as Eddie can still nail the solo on Eruption I’ll be happy. The opening act is Kool and the Gang, an R&B act that seems an odd choice for an opener on this tour but whatever. Tickets go on sale from Ticketmaster at 10am Saturday the 14th of January and they’ll be for sale here. Ticket prices, before any fees, will be $149.50, $89.50, $59.50, and $29.50, depending on their location of course. This concert starts at 7:30pm.

Thurs 29 March – Alcest and deafheaven and Auroboros at DC9 (Washington, DC) – If you’re into bands that blur the line between black metal and shoegaze then this show is for you! French band Alcest is probably the most popular band of this style and if you missed their impressive show at Jaxx last September when they opened for Enslaved, you’ll definitely want to catch this show. Hell, even if you were at that show you should come out to this, they’ll be playing a longer set since they’re headlining and not only that, they’re playing with deafheaven, a band from San Francisco that plays a similar style of music as well. Quite a back to back punch of blackgaze! A local opening act has been added, the excellent Auroboros. While they aren’t shoegazey or black metal, they do kick some serious ass and are one of the area’s rising stars in the metal scene. Go give them a listen (here) if you haven’t already, you’ll be glad ya did! Tickets to this show are $12 (both advance and day of) and you can buy them online from Ticket Alternative here. Doors open at 7pm and the music starts at 8pm. This concert is open to all ages.

This tour is also coming to Golden West Cafe in Baltimore on Weds 28 March 2012. Please note Auroboros will only be on the DC date. Tickets for the Baltimore show are $8 and are available here.

Thurs 29 March – Paganfest America Part III – Turisas and Alestorm and Ex Deo and Arkona and Yesterday’s Saints at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Paganfest is coming back to the States again and this time they’ve got a whole new line up of folk metal for you. Turisas is one of the leading folk metal bands from Finland and they’ll be headlining. They’re also playing with the pirate themed band Alestorm from Scotland. Ex Deo is a Canadian band made up of members of Kataklysm, however Ex Deo is their project that focuses on ancient Rome. And the opening act on the tour is Arkona, a pagan folk band from Moscow, Russia with a female lead singer. It’s not every day you get to see a metal band from Russia so get there early to catch these guys. I’m betting more local acts will be added as well. Tickets are $17 advance ($20.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix) or $20 the day of the show. It’s open to all ages and the doors open at 5:30pm. This show will be on the main stage at Sonar.

Sat 31 March – A Sound Of Thunder at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – Out Of The Darkness CD Release Show – Local power metal act A Sound Of Thunder is releasing their second full length album, Out Of The Darkness, and this is the big release show for it! While the female vocals of Nina Osegueda are probably the first thing you’ll notice about them live you’ll soon be sucked in by the great riffs and kick ass solos of lead guitarist Josh Schwartz. Tickets are just $8 presale (you can buy them directly from the band at the bottom of the page here) or $10 at the door the day of the show. The opening acts haven’t been announced yet but I’ll post them when I know about them. Doors are set to open at 6pm and this show is open to all ages.

Sat 31 March – Jungle Rot at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Jungle Rot is a brutal death metal band from Wisconsin. If you missed them opening for Deicide at Empire (formerly Jaxx) on March 1st, you can catch them now in a headlining gig at Sonar in Baltimore. As I write this the local opening acts haven’t been posted yet. Tickets are $12 ($14.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix). Doors open at 7pm and the show is on the Talking Head Club Lounge stage. This show is open to all ages.

April 2012

Sat 14 April – Protest The Hero and Periphery and Jeff Loomis and The Safety Fire and Today I Caught The Plague at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Well here’s a tour that had its dates slip before it was officially announced. It has been confirmed as true however. For now I just know that the Canadian proggy band Protest The Hero will be headlining, though you’d think Sonar will probably draw a big crowd for Maryland locals, and djent masters, Periphery as well. I believe this is the first Jeff Loomis tour since he left Nevermore as well. His band’s line up is explained here. The Safety Fire is a band I haven’t heard of before, though I believe they’re from London, UK. Tickets are $15 advance ($18.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix) and $17 the day of the show. This show is on the main stage at Sonar. Doors open at 7pm. This show is open to all ages.

Tues 17 April – All Shall Perish and Carnifex and Fleshgod Apocalypse and Conducting From The Grave and The Contortionist at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – This Is Where It Ends 2012 US Tour – Here’s a tour full of deathcore slam bands. All Shall Perish headlines a line up mostly California based deathcore and metalcore acts, however The Contortionist is from Indiana and Fleshgod Apocalypse, probably the most brutal band in the line up, comes all the way from Italy. I haven’t seen anything about local openers yet. Tickets are $14 ($17.70 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive). Doors open at 5pm. This show is open to all ages.

Tues 17 April – The Black Dahlia Murder and Nile and Skeletonwitch and Hour Of Penance at Rams Head Live (Baltimore, Maryland) – The Black Dahlia Murder is headlining quite a line up that will be coming to Baltimore just after tax time (so get these tickets early!) The ancient Egyptian themed death metal band Nile is opening, which is sort of odd since they usually headline their own tours. In addition Ohio based thrash band Skeletonwitch will be playing and the opening act is Hour Of Penance, a death metal band from Italy. Should be quite a killer show! The show isn’t listed on Rams Head Live as of this posting, but I’ll try to get the link to buy tickets posted here as soon as I see it.

Tues 17 April – Aborted and System Divide and Diamond Plate at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland)

THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELED

Sat 21 April – Gwar and Kylesa and Ghoul and Legacy Of Disorder at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Return Of The Maggot World Tour – Richmond’s ultimate shock metal band Gwar is coming to play Sonar in Baltimore on this Saturday night in April. They will drench the audience in blood as the execute various celebrities on stage, entertaining as hell I gotta admit. They’re playing with the unlikely band Kylesa, who are pretty good but seem out of place on this bill. They’re one of the best bands coming out of the Georgia sludge scene. Ghoul makes more sense on this tour, a thrash band with a focus on gory b-flick horror movies. I don’t know much about Legacy Of Disorder, other than they’re from New Zealand. This will be a fun show! Tickets are just $20 advance ($24.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix) or $23 the day of the show. Doors open at 7pm. This show is on the main stage and is open to all ages.

Weds 25 April – Rammstein at 1st Mariner Arena (Baltimore, Maryland) – Rammstein is the most famous of the Neue Deutsche Härte bands from Germany and they’re returning to the US for a tour to support their latest release, a greatest hits album titled Made In Germany. The band is known for having large displays of pyrotechnics and you can bet this show will be no different. There are 3 price ranges for tickets. $45, $68 and $88. However after fees are tacked on they are really $63.30, $87.75 and $108.20. You can buy tickets online from Ticketmaster here. The show starts at 8pm. As far as I can tell, they haven’t announced any opening act yet.

Thurs 26 April – Revocation and Cannabis Corpse and Ramming Speed and Universal Remonster at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Boston’s metal bad asses Revocation are coming to Baltimore again! While they open for Children Of Bodom at Rams Head Live on March 4th, they’ll be headlining this kick ass line up at Sonar so expect a longer set. They’re playing with Richmond’s pot smoking Cannibal Corpse parody band Cannabis Corpse and the thrash band Ramming Speed who is also from Boston. Local support will be the from grind act Universal Remonster and I’d guess more bands will be named as the date nears. Tickets to this show are $12 ($14.95 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Thunder Tix). Doors open at 7pm. This show is open to all ages.

Fri 27 April – Sepultura and Krisiun and Havok at Sonar (Baltimore, Maryland) – Here’s a Brazilian metal 1-2 punch for you. Brazil’s biggest metal band, Sepultura, is touring the US again and this time they’re playing with Krisiun, who is probably the biggest death metal band from Brazil. You’ll notice that the thrash band Death Angel is on the flyer image above, but they are not playing every date on this tour, and unfortunately this is one of the dates they aren’t playing. This is also the only area appearance for this tour. However the kick ass thrash band Havok will be opening so you’ll still be able to get your thrash on. This show isn’t up on the Sonar calendar as I write this, but I’ll update this concert’s info with more details when I find out about them.

May 2012

Sat 5 May – Behemoth and Watain and The Devil’s Blood and In Solitude at Rams Head Live (Baltimore, Maryland) – The Decibel Magazine Tour – Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth make their triumphant return to the US on this tour, their first since their main man, Nergal, was sidelined with leukemia in 2010. He successfully found a bone marrow donor and after months of recovery the band is touring again. Also playing will be the Swedish black metal band Watain, known for creating an atmosphere of death by having decaying animal parts on stage while they play. The last time they performed in the area was at Maryland Deathfest in 2010 and they caused a stir when they “assaulted” the bass player for DRI when he jumped on stage during their set. Before them will be the band The Devil’s Blood, which is more of a 70s style throwback rock band with a gothy vibe and a woman on vocals. The opening act is In Solitude, another sort of old school sounding band who also have clean vocals and sound sort of like a doomy version of Ghost. Ticket prices are a bit confusing on this one. You can get a ticket for $20 (before fees) from Rams Head Live here, or get them for $25 the day of the show (if they aren’t sold out of course). Decibel is also selling two kinds of tickets through their site here (you have to scroll down). Normal tickets are $24.75 ($29.75 after fees) which also includes a commemorative laminate OR you can get the premium package for $40 ($45 after fees) which includes a ticket, a tour shirt (with the art shown on the poster image you see above, sized S thru XL only), a tour poster and a “skip the line” pass that gets you early entry into the venue. Buying either kind of ticket from Decibel (but NOT from Rams Head Live) will get you entered into a contest to win an ESP guitar (though they don’t specify which model). Also, for some reason on Decibel’s page it says the tickets you are buying are for will call (aka they hold them at the venue’s box office for you) however the $5 fee added to each ticket price up there is for shipping and handling. Well they’ve definitely made sure to make this all confusing. This show is open to all ages and doors are set to open at 6pm.

Weds 9 May – Opeth and Mastodon and Ghost at the Fillmore (Silver Spring, Maryland) – Heritage Hunter Tour – Opeth and Mastodon are co-headlining this tour and the area’s only stop is at the new Fillmore in Silver Spring. The opening act will be Sweden’s mysterious Ghost. All three of the bands on the bill have sold out their most recent shows in the area, and they each headlined them as well, so you can bet tickets will go fast for this show! Tickets are $29.50 ($37.50 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Live Nation). Doors open at 6:30pm and the show starts at 7:30pm.

Fri 11 May – Overkill and Belphegor and Aborted and Black Guard and System Divide and Diamond Plate at Empire formerly Jaxx (Springfield, Virginia) – New York thrash legends Overkill are coming back to Empire and they’re bringing five more bands with them, including the Austrian blackened death metal band Belphegor and breakdown a minute death metal act Aborted. Tickets are $22 in advance ($27.10 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive) or $25 the day of the show. Doors open at 6pm and it’s open to all ages.

Mon 14 May – Kittie and Blackguard and The Agonist and Bonded By Blood and Lash and Krass Judgement at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – Kittie is a Canadian metal band made up of four women. They’ve been together since the 90s and in 2011 they put out the album I’ve Failed You which this tour is supporting. Blackguard is a pirate themed metal band. The Agonist is a female fronted metal band also from Canada. Bonded By Blood is a thrash metal band from Los Angeles. The band Lash I couldn’t find anything on. There used to be a all female band from Australia with that name, but I can’t tell if it’s that band or not. The only local opening act I’ve seen confirmed is Krass Judgement, though there may be others. It should be noted that this is the first show of the tour. Tickets to this show are $15 ($18.90 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive). Doors open at 6pm This show is open to all ages.

Mon 21 May – Sabaton and A Sound Of Thunder at Empire formerly Jaxx Nightclub (Springfield, Virginia) – Swedish Empire Tour – This show is a flashback to last October when the Swedish power metal band Sabaton played at this same venue (then named Jaxx) with the same local support, the female fronted A Sound Of Thunder. However some of you may have missed that since Dream Theater was playing the same night back in October. Well if you missed that show here’s your chance to make up for it. Tickets to this concert are $14 ($17.70 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Amped & Alive). Doors open at 6pm. This show is open to all ages.

Tues 22 May – Meshuggah and Baroness and Decapitated at the Fillmore (Silver Spring, Maryland) – The Ophidian Trek 2012 – Here’s a show that I know a lot of people have been waiting for more info on! Meshuggah is coming to the US with Georgia’s Baroness and Poland’s Decapitated. Baroness is a bit weird on this line up, but they’re a great band so it’s not like they’re unwelcome on the line up. Also, there’s a pretty good chance that everyone in attendance will get to hear Bleed AND Spheres Of Madness played live in the same night, how sick is that? Tickets are $25 ($33 after fees if you buy a ticket online from Live Nation). Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm.

Thurs 24 through Sunday 27 May 2012 – Maryland Deathfest X has announced all of the bands that will be playing the festival’s 10th anniversary show in 2012. Below you will find a list of which bands are playing on each day, though keep in mind it is not the order that the bands will be playing in. The set times are yet to be announced and will probably be done when the event is closer. Of course I’ll keep everyone posted on that here. Tickets are on sale now. You can get a four day pass for $180, or a three day pass for Friday, Saturday and Sunday for $150. You can also buy tickets for individual days, and those prices are: Thursday $40, Friday $50, Saturday $52, Sunday $52. All of those tickets can be purchased, without any extra fees or shipping costs, at the Maryland Deathfest website here. Keep in mind that Day 1, Thursday the 24th will be indoors only while the other three days will include the indoor stage as well as two outdoor stages that will be build on the street for MDF.

UPDATES: Thursday has sold out so individual tickets for Thursday as well as 4 day passes are no longer available. So far one band has already had to drop off, Desaster, and they have been replaced by Absu. Interment has also dropped off the bill because one of the band members has “personal family issues” at that time. Black Witchery has been moved to now play Saturday instead of Friday. Yob has been moved to now play Sunday instead of Saturday.

Thursday 24 May 2012
Autopsy
Agalloch
Eyehategod
Absu
Dying Fetus
Rorschach
Desaster
Needful Things
Die Pigeon Die
Extermination Angel

Friday 25 May 2012
Godflesh
Napalm Death
Nasum
Artillery
Negura Bunget
Unsane
Ghoul
Macabre
Demigod
Today Is The Day
Morgion
Nashgul
Castevet

Saturday 26 May 2012
Morbid Angel
Brujeria
Anvil
Tsjuder
Confessor
Winter
Horna
Black Witchery
Archgoat
Noothgrush
The Devil’s Blood
Hellbastard
Deviated Instinct
Interment
Haemorrhage
Looking For An Answer
Dragged Into Sunlight
October 31
Infernal Stronghold
Bloody Phoenix

Sunday 27 May 2012
Electric Wizard
Saint Vitus
Suffocation
Morgoth
Dødheimsgard
Yob
Sargeist
Church Of Misery
Bethlehem
Unanimated
Disma
Demonical
Ulcerate
Rwake
The Day Everything Became Nothing
Cough
Nausea
Coke Bust
Agents Of Abhorrence
Backslider

July 2012

Sun 29 July – Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival 2012 – Slipknot and Slayer and Anthrax and The Devil Wears Prada and As I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandria and Whitechapel and High On Fire at Jiffy Lube Live (formerly Nissan Pavilion) – Well this year’s Rock Star Mayhem Fest is at least an improvement on last year’s with Slayer returning to the fold. There will also be another band added to the line up, but we won’t find out who until March 5th. This probably means the band is already on tour right now and they don’t want to announce they will be on Mayhem Fest yet for fear that it will reduce that tour’s ticket sales until after that tour is over. This show is going to have two stages. The main stage will host Slipknot, Slayer, the mystery band and a rotating slot featuring of of the following: The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying or Asking Alexandria. The second stage will be headlined by Anthrax and have the other two bands not in rotation on the main stage that day, as well as Whitechapel and High On Fire and a “Jagermeister opener”. I’m not sure what that means exactly, it could be either a local band that is signed on with Jagermeister (like Part Death) OR Jagermeister could hold battle of the bands contests in each area and have the local winner be the opening act. The ticket presale doesn’t start until April 6th, but I’d bet Slipknot and Slayer fan clubs will get first shot at presale tickets. You can sign up for the ticket presale (and get an email alert) by going here. Mayhem fest has posted a (non-Facebook) event page for this date here that hopefully will be updated with more info at some point.

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