Maryland Deathfest XXI Info

Maryland Deathfest kicks off this week and while I’m not putting a proper survival guide together this year I wanted a place to put some useful info all together for everyone. First up, find the official schedule of bands here: https://deathfests.com/set-times/

The official Maryland Deathfest Facebook group can be found here, which is a great place for official updates, to find people to buy/sell tickets (beware of scammers), or to find posts on people complaining about me shooting video at the fest.

You should be aware that starting Wednesday May 20th the three regular MDF photographers, Hillarie Jason, Aaron Pepelis and Josh Sisk, will have a photo exhibit of their MDF photos from past years displayed at Toki Underground, a Japanese restaurant/bar located at 2731 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD 21218 and it will be showing thru June 20th.

Also, the above mentioned MDF photographer Hillarie Jason will be selling just 100 copies of her photo book full of her shots from last year’s MDF XX at the official MDF merch booth.

There’s an unofficial meetup for people wanting to visit Baltimore’s world famous aquarium, which is walking distance from the festival itself. This is one of Baltimore biggest tourist attractions and is most known for the giant shark tank that has a spiral ramp you can walk down the middle of as sharks swim all around you. Details on this meetup are posted in the MDF Facebook group here but here’s the gist of it:
When: Friday, May 22nd at 11:30 AM sharp
Where to Meet: The ticketing booths directly in front of the National Aquarium
The Plan: We will have plenty of time to explore the exhibits and grab a bite before the first bands unleash hell at 3:30 PM.

Philly based tattoo artist Kirsten Flaherty, aka HellriderTattoo, will be tattooing at Transmission Tattoo at 1001 W 36th St A, Baltimore, MD 21211 all MDF weekend long. Shoot her a DM on Instagram here or email her at HellriderTattoo@Gmail.com to inquire about rates and availability during the fest. Below is some of her flash that she will have available but she’s open to other ideas as well.

And finally below is an alphabetical list of all the bands playing (and the bands that have canceled) with what day/time/stage they will be appearing on. Remember the official Deathfest schedule linked at the top of this page is always the most correct version of the schedule but I wanted to make an easy place to look up bands by name to find out when they’re playing.

1914 (Ukraine) – Sat Nevermore Hall 12:10am – 1:00am (technically Sun morning)

Aberration – Sun Nevermore Hall 4:05 – 4:40

Acheron announces cancelation of all 2026 festival appearances

Aftermath – Sun Soundstage 7:15 – 7:50

Aisle19 – Sun Soundstage 3:05 – 3:30

Anatomia (Japan) Due to logistical issues with tour

…And Oceans (Finland) – Sun Nevermore Hall 10:50 – 11:40 (signing at 4:00)

Antichrist Siege Machine – Sun Nevermore Hall 8:50 – 9:35

Atavistic Decay – Sat Angel’s 10:40 – 11:10

Avernus – Thurs Nevermore Hall 8:05 – 8:50

Batushka (Poland) (the “real” version) – Sun Nevermore Hall 12:20am – 1:20am (technically Mon morning)

Black Lung – Thurs Nevermore Hall 5:00 – 5:35

Blood Red Throne (Norway) – Sun Power Plant Live 7:05 – 7:50 (signing at 3pm)

Bone Weapon – Fri Angel’s 10:40 – 11:10

Bongripper – Thurs Power Plant Live 7:15 – 8:00

Bongzilla – Thurs Nevermore Hall 11:45pm – 12:35am

Cancer (UK) Death Shall Rise set – Sun Market Place 4:40 – 5:30

Caveman Cult – Sun Market Place 3:30 – 4:10

Cemetery Moon – Sun Angel’s 11:45pm – 12:15am

Cephalic Carnage (Old school set – First 3 albums) – Sun Soundstage 12:45am – 1:30am (technically Mon morning)

Cephalotripsy – Thurs Soundstage 8:50 – 9:30

Cerebral Hemmorhage – Thurs Soundstage 4:30 – 5:05

Chaotian (Denmark) No longer on schedule

Condemned – Thurs Soundstage 7:20 – 8:00

The Crown (Sweden) – Fri Power Plant Live 11:10 – 12:00 (signing at 6:45)

Cryptic Shift (UK) Entire US tour canceled

Dead Void (Denmark) – Sat Soundstage 2:00 – 2:35

Death Angel performing Act III in its entirety – Sun Market Place 6:15 – 7:05

Der Weg einer Freiheit (Germany) – Fri Nevermore Hall 10:45 – 11:35 (signing at 6:45)

Desolus – Sat Angel’s 9:15 – 9:45

Destruction performing Infernal Overkill in its entirety – Sat Market Place 7:55 – 8:45

Diabolic Oath – Fri Soundstage 6:50 – 7:25

Dying Fetus first 3 albums set (Purification Through Violence, Killing on Adrenaline, Destroy the Opposition) – Sun Power Plant Live 11:10pm – 12:00am

Emasculator – Thurs Soundstage 5:40 – 6:25

Excrescence – Sun Soundstage 5:40 – 6:15

Gestation – Sat Soundstage 3:05 – 3:35

Glorious Depravity – Sat Angel’s 11:45pm – 12:15am

God Dethroned (Netherlands) – Fri Market Place 5:55 – 6:45 (signing at 3:15)

Grave (Sweden) – Old School Grave/Corpse set – Sun Market Place 7:55 – 8:45

Grave Infestation Canceled “due to extenuating circumstances”

Gudsforladt – Sun Angel’s 10:50 – 11:20

Havukruunu (Finland) – Sat Nevermore Hall 10:55 – 11:45 (signing at 7:00)

Hellbutcher (Sweden) – Sat Nevermore Hall 8:50 – 9:40 (signing at 3:00)

Hemorrhoid – Sun Soundstage 4:15 – 4:50

Houkago Grind Time (Andrew Lee of Ripped to Shreds) – Sun Soundstage 8:40 – 9:25

Jarhead Fertilizer – Sat Soundstage 8:15 – 8:50

Kontusion – Sun Soundstage 11:35pm – 12:20am

Kreator (Germany) performing songs from Pleasure to Kill, Terrible Certainty, and Extreme Aggression – Sat Market Place 9:45 – 10:45

Laceration – Sat Power Plant Live 5:35 – 6:10

Lair of the Minotaur – Thurs Nevermore Hall 6:30 – 7:15

Left Cross – Fri Power Plant Live 6:50 – 7:35

Lividity – Fri Soundstage 12:00am to 12:50 am (technically this is Sat morning)

Lömsk (Sweden) – Fri Nevermore Hall 5:15 – 6:00

Macabre – Sat Power Plant Live 7:05 – 7:50

Mellow Harsher – Sat Soundstage 4:15 – 4:50

Melting Rot – Fri Soundstage 5:25 – 5:55

Miasmatic Necrosis – Sat Soundstage 10:45 – 11:15

Monstrosity – Prefest Nevermore Hall Weds 9:00 – 9:50

Morta Skuld – Sat Power Plant Live 10:50 – 11:25

Mortician – Sat Power Plant Live 8:50 – 9:35

Napalm Death – Prefest Nevermore Hall Weds 11:25pm – 12:25am

Necrofier – Fri Market Place 4:40 – 5:20

Novembers Doom – Thurs Power Plant Live 8:45 – 9:30

Old Man’s Child (Norway) – Fri Market Place 9:40 – 10:40

Oranssi Pazuzu (Finland) – Fri Nevermore Hall 12:15am – 1:15am (technically this is Sat morning)

Ordh – Fri Soundstage 4:20 – 4:50

Organ Dealer – Nevermore Hall Prefest Weds 6:45 – 7:20

Ossuary – Sat Soundstage 7:15 – 7:55

Pan-Amerikan Native Front – Fri Nevermore Hall 6:55 – 7:40

Pathology Due to a band member suffering an injury that will require extended physical therapy, Pathology are no longer able to perform at MDF 2026

Pig Destroyer Prowler in the Yard set – Sat Market Place 6:15 – 7:00

Poltergeist – Sat Nevermore Hall 5:35 – 6:10

Primitive Man – Nevermore Hall Prefest Weds 7:45 – 8:30

Putridity (Italy) – Thurs Soundstage 11:00 – 11:45

Repulsion – Nevermore Hall Prefest Weds 10:15 – 11:00

Rotten Sound (Finland) Murderworks and Exit set – Sat Soundstage 12:45am – 1:30am (technically Sun morning)

Rotting Christ (Greece) playing an old school set (1989-1995) – Fri Market Place 7:40 – 8:40

Rottrevore – Fri Soundstage 10:40 – 11:20

Rwake – Thurs Nevermore Hall 9:25 – 10:25

Sarcófago (Brazil) (performed by Gerald “Incubus” Minelli and the Laws) – Sun Market Place 9:45 – 10:45 (signing 5:30)

Sardonic Witchery – Sat Nevermore Hall 6:35 – 7:15

Sex Prisoner – Sun Soundstage 10:35 – 11:10

Shitstorm – Sat Soundstage 11:40pm – 12:15am

Sinister tribute set 2 members of Sinister couldn’t make it due to illness so lineup will be filled out by members of Maligancy – Sat Power Plant Live 11:45pm – 12:15am

Slimelord (UK) Entire US tour canceled

Soil of Ignorance (Canada) Not sure why they can’t play but it was announced here

Solitude Aeturnus – Thurs Power Plant Live 10:30 – 11:30

StarGazer (Australia) Due to personal circumstances, StarGazer have informed us that they are cancelling their appearance at MDF 2026

Terror Corpse – Sat Soundstage 5:35 – 6:10

Tithe – Fri Angel’s 11:30pm – 12:00am

To Violently Vomit (ex-Disgorge US) – Fri Soundstage 8:40 – 9:20

!T.O.O.H.! (Czech Republic) A member of had a personal matter arise that will prevent him from traveling to MDF next week, so they had to cancel

Tómarúm – Sun Angel’s 9:20 – 9:50

Torsofuck (Finland) – Thurs Soundstage 12:20am – 1:05am (technically Fri morning)

Torture Rack – Sat Market Place 2:25 – 3:05

Unmerciful – Sun Power Plant Live 5:35 – 6:15

Vio-Lence – Sun Power Plant Live 8:50 – 9:40

Warbringer – Sat Market Place 3:30 – 4:15

Wayfarer – Fri Nevermore Hall 8:45 – 9:25

Whiplash – Sat Market Place 4:40 – 5:30

Windhand Due to booking recording studio time at the same time

Witch Vomit – Fri Market Place 3:45 – 4:20

Withering Soul – Fri Angel’s 9:10 – 9:40

Woe – Sun Nevermore Hall 7:05 – 7:50

Wolfheart (Finland) – Fri Power Plant Live 8:45 – 9:35

Wrathprayer (Chile) – Sun Nevermore Hall 5:35 – 6:15

Cradle of Filth & Suffocation ticket give away

Cradle of Filth is making their way to DC to play at the historic Black Cat venue on Monday, May 11th with death metal legends Suffocation and support from Ghost Bath and Cultus Black. We’re so excited about this show at DCHM that we’re giving away a free pair of tickets to this very show to one of you lucky readers! I’ve noticed that some of you have struggled to figure out how to leave comments in the new WordPress comment system so you can enter by either leaving a comment telling me your favorite song by any band playing this show on my Instagram post here OR you can leave a comment on this post as usual, making sure to include an email address so I can contact you if you win. If you want to double your chances of winning you can even enter in both places. Then this Thursday, May 7th at 2pm the contest will close and a winner will be selected from all valid entries using Random.org! If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours then another winner will be selected. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can purchase tickets here.

Cradle of Filth has been releasing their unique style of extreme gothic metal since the early 90s and in March 2025 they released their 15th studio album, The Screaming of the Valkyries, however they’ll be playing some of their classic songs on this tour as well. Suffocation raised the bar of technicality and brutality in death metal when they released their debut album Effigy of the Forgotten in 1991 and they’ve never let up since! Ghost Bath are from North Dakota (not China) and play a somber style of post-black metal that fans of Alcest and Deafheaven will want to check out. The opening band, Cultus Black, is a nu-metal band formed by James Anthony Legion after he left Motograter. Now check out the videos of all of these bands below and tell me your favorite song by any band on the bill!

Cradle of Filth – Malignant Perfection

Suffocation – Seraphim Enslavement

Ghost Bath – Rose Thorn Necklace

Cultus Black – House of Straw

Lorna Shore ticket give away

We’re gonna do things a little differently this to so read carefully! The deathcore superstars Lorna Shore are coming to the Theater at the MGM National Harbor casino on Sunday, September 21st and best of all we’re going to give away a pair of tickets to this very show to a lucky DCHM fan! I’ve noticed that some of you have struggled to figure out how to leave post comments in the new WordPress comment system so for this contest you can enter by either leaving a comment telling me your favorite song by any band playing this show on my Instagram post here OR you can leave a comment on this post as usual, making sure to include an email address so I can contact you. If you want to double your chances of winning you can even enter in both places. Then this Friday at 12pm noon the contest will close and a winner will be selected from all valid entries using Random.org! If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours then another winner will be selected. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can purchase tickets here.

Lorna Shore‘s 2022 break out album Pain Remains solidified them as a heavyweight of the deathcore genre and just last Friday they released their follow up album, I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me. This tour also features support from Detroit based The Black Dahlia Murder, already legends of the melodic death metal genre. Also playing is Shadow of Intent a New England based deathcore band with symphonic leanings, and the opening band is PeelingFlesh, a slam death band from Oklahoma. Now check out these videos from each band and leave a comment on this post or Instagram (here) to enter to win your pair of tickets to this sick show!

Lorna Shore – Glenwood

The Black Dahlia Murder – Panic Hysteric

Shadow of Intent – Mechanical Chaos

PeelingFlesh – Midnight

Ticket Give Away: Fu Manchu at the Black Cat 9/18/25

Fu Manchu has been one of the pioneers of the stoner scene since the 90s and their big riffs have made them fans with metal heads, stoners and skaters alike! On Thursday, September 18th, the band is playing the legendary Black Cat and we’re so excited that we’re giving away a pair of tickets to one of you lucky DCHM readers! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite stoner or desert rock album ever. Then on Saturday, September 13th, 2025, at 5pm Eastern the contest will close and a winner will be selected from all valid entries using Random.org! Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly when you enter so I can contact you if you win. When you leave a comment you must click the little email icon and enter your email in (only I can see the email address you enter) otherwise I won’t be able to contact you if you win. If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours then another winner will be selected. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can purchase tickets here.

Fu Manchu burst out of the Southern California desert rock scene with their own high energy take on the stoner sound and formed a devoted fan base after releasing classic albums of the genre like The Action is Go! and King Of The Road and an iconic stoner style cover of the Blue Öyster Cult hit song “Godzilla.” Several of Fu Manchu’s tracks ended up on various Tony Hawk skateboard video games that were hugely popular on the Playstation 2, gaining them an even wider audience. The band still puts out studio albums full of killer riffs, including 2024’s The Return of Tomorrow. Now go get in the comments and tell me what your favorite stoner or desert rock album of all time is!

Some local releases for Bandcamp Friday

This Friday, August 1st, will be the first Bandcamp Friday since May of 2025! For those that don’t know, on Bandcamp Fridays the Bandcamp music site drops their cut from any sales that happen in that 24 hour period, so bands get 100% of the share of each sale (minus credit/debit card fees if you pay with one) which makes it a great day to support bands and buy some new music! To that end, I thought I’d round up a few local metal releases that have come out since the last Bandcamp day.


Obsidian Blade is a new local band with a trad metal/NWOBHM vibe but the members have all been involved in other bands in the DMV scene for some time. They’ve started playing out live a bit but so far this is their only recorded song available, and it dropped on June 10th.


The Borracho guys are at it again with their repetitive heavy grooves as their new full length album that releases on August 8th, though you can pre-order now and enjoy the 3 preview tracks right now.


Kontusion finally dropped their debut full length album on July 25th and man is this some back-to-basics filthy, brutal death metal! None of that spacey death metal that is in vogue to be found here.


Cemetery Sex is a local goth band and their debut album is dropping August 1st. The album showcases Anastasia Noire’s beautiful vocals that soar over the rainy-day vibe guitar riffs.


The most intense music in this post comes by way of Blood Monolith on their debut album that dropped on May 16th. This has been one of my favorite albums to drive around blasting this summer!


As The Sea Parts is a black/death band that formed in the 90s, went on hiatus for about 20 years or so, and finally dropped their debut full length on July 11th. The album has former Dying Fetus drummer Erik Sayenga on drums and sick cover art by Mark Riddick!


Fresh off their appearance at this year’s Maryland Deathfest, I.C.E. just released their third full length on July 11th and their frigid black metal riffs will def keep you cool in the dog days of summer.


If you dig instrumental metal with a fiddle then be sure to check out the newly remixed version of Seasick Gladiator‘s self-titled debut from 2017 that just dropped on July 12th.

That’s what I’ve got for now but if you know of any other metal releases by local bands since the last Bandcamp Day, or any that are pre-orderable just email me at DCHeavyMetal@Gmail.com and I’ll add them to this post!

Sadness and Barbelith ticket give away

Don’t forget that this Monday, May 5th is Cinco de Mayo and you be able to catch the depressive atmo-black metal band Sadness‘s tour at Songbyrd that night! The Texas band is headlining a killer line up that night which includes Barbelith, Curse and Torvus and because I want to make sure people don’t overlook this sick show so DCHM is giving away a pair of tickets to one of you lucky readers. To enter just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite depressive, atmospheric or just generally mopey band is. Alcest, The Cure, Xasthur, Deafheaven, it all counts! Then on Friday, May 2nd, 2025 at 5pm Eastern the contest will close and a winner will be selected from all valid entries using Random.org! Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly when you enter so I can contact you if you win. When you leave a comment you must click the little email icon and enter your email in (only I can see the email address you enter) otherwise I won’t be able to contact you if you win. If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours then another winner will be selected. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can purchase tickets here.

Sadness formed in the Chicago area but has since moved their project to Texas where in just 2024 alone they released 3 full length albums! Barbelith is a Baltimore based black metal band that started out with a more raw sound but has since gotten much more atmospheric in their musical direction and I can’t recommend the 18 minute single track EP Deathless Master enough! Also from Baltimore will be the duo Curse, who have a more synth based sound but bring the sorrow just the same. The local openers on this one, Torvus, are not to be missed either. Their catchy take on the goth metal sound is as inspiring as it is depressing. If you haven’t heard of any of these bands please take some time to check them out below and then enter to win a pair of tickets to this stacked line up on May 5th at Songbyrd!