Gothic | DCHeavyMetal.com

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!

July 28, 2025
Categories: Album Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Gothic, Shameless Promotion, Stoner, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: As The Sea Parts, Bandcamp Friday, Blood Monolith, Borracho, Cemetery Sex, I.C.E., Imperial Crystalline Entombment, Kontusion, Obsidian Blade, Seasick Gladiator . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 1 Comment

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!

April 29, 2025
Categories: Black Metal, Contests, Gothic, Songbyrd . Tags: Atmospheric Black Metal, Barbelith, Curse, goth, Gothic, Sadness, Torvus . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 6 Comments

Katatonia and The Ocean ticket give away

Katatonia at the Black Cat

Katatonia is coming all the way from Sweden to play the Black Cat on Wednesday, November 9th, and they’re bringing The Ocean Collective and Cellar Darling with them! Even better, DCHM is giving away a pair of tickets to this very show! All you need to do to enter: is just tell me your favorite band to listen to when you want to get into the Halloween mood. Then on Halloween, Monday October 31st, at 5pm Eastern the 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. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours 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.

This show is going to be the first night of the North American tour and Katatonia has a new album coming out in January titled Sky Void of Stars. Hopefully we’ll get to hear some of these new tunes on the tour (and be sure to check their music embedded video below for one of the new songs). Also along on the tour is the German band The Ocean Collective. Their proggy post-metal sound is a perfect compliment to Katatonia, and you should also check out their video embedded below for a song they did that features Katatonia’s vocalist Jonas Renkse. Cellar Darling is an up and coming Swiss band with progressive leanings and all three of the band’s members are former members of Eluveitie. Anyways, go check out the music videos by all three of these great bands and leave a comment telling me what your favorite band to get you into the Halloween mood is!

Katatonia – Atrium

The Ocean – Jurassic | Cretaceous (feat. Jonas Renkse)

Cellar Darling – Avalanche

October 26, 2022
Categories: Black Cat, Contests, Gothic, Shameless Promotion . Tags: Black Cat, Cellar Darling, Contest, Give Away, Halloween, Katatonia, The Ocean, The Ocean Collective . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 9 Comments

Paradise Lost ticket give away

Paradise Lost at Baltimore Soundstage

The legendary Paradise Lost is coming to Baltimore Soundstage on Tuesday, October 2nd, along with Sólstafir and The Atlas Moth. Their dark style of doom metal is perfect for this season where the weather starts to turn so we’re giving away a pair of tickets to this show to a lucky one of you DCHM readers. To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite metal band to listen to in the Autumn months. Then on Friday, September 28th at 5pm EST the contest will close and a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries. The winner will get two free tickets the show! Be sure to enter using an email address you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that, I hate spam too. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Master for $27.50 here.

Paradise Lost formed in Halifax, England, in the late 80’s and is one of the Peaceville Three, along with Anathema and My Dying Bride, who all formed a much darker take to doom metal in the early 90s while all signed to Peaceville Records. In fact it was Paradise Lost’s sophomore album, Gothic, that the genre of gothic metal gets its name from. They’ve influenced countless bands yet somehow Paradise Lost, who still features all their original members aside from the drummer, manage to put out solid material. This isn’t an old band that just plays their old classics, they still put out solid material, including their 2017 album Medusa, which was #1 on Decibel Magazine’s top 40 albums of 2017. In addition to the rare chance to see Paradise Lost in the US the tour has some excellent support acts. Sólstafir from Iceland blends post rock with viking metal, adds a pinch of country western and a heavy dose of melancholy. The opening band is The Atlas Moth, a post metal band from Chicago that has been getting better and better with every album. Now check out these videos of the bands below and leave a comment letting me know what your favorite metal band to listen to in the Autumn is.

Paradise Lost – Blood And Chaos

Sólstafir – Silfur-Refur

The Atlas Moth – Holes In The Desert

September 26, 2018
Categories: Baltimore Soundstage, Contests, Doom Metal, Gothic, Peaceville Three . Tags: Baltimore Soundstage, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Paradise Lost, Peaceville Three, Sólstafir, The Atlas Moth . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 22 Comments

Maryland Deathfest X Recap

Maryland Deathfest is the area’s biggest metal event every year and while it has taken me a few weeks to get through the mountain of photos and videos I shot at Maryland Deathfest X but I’m finally done! There’s so much stuff that I’ve actually broken this post up into several posts, this one and then one for each of the four days. You can see all of my MDF X photos and videos, including things that aren’t posted here, by going here for photos and here for my videos on YouTube. Also, I came across a site run from Las Vegas called Total Fucking Mayhem (check it out here) and they’ve got some quality video footage, sometimes much better than mine, that they’re are allowing me to use in this post as well. They also have some from bands I didn’t see so check out their YouTube page for those videos here.

Keep in mind I didn’t get a press pass for the fest so all the footage I shot was from the audience, moshers and crowd surfers going overhead just like everyone else. I did a lot of waiting to get up front for specific bands so I could get some good shots, but even so there are some I simply couldn’t get up close for since I still haven’t figured out how to be in two places at once. Also, I was pretty much stationary so I had to shoot whoever was on the side of the stage I was most of the time. Some bands I took more time to shoot for whatever reason, usually because they are a personal favorite of mine, and for some bands I don’t really love any of my shots of but hey when you shoot this many bands at once some are going to be much better than others.

I had a lot of fun at this years Maryland Deathfest, it was great meeting some fans of the site and handing out stickers, meeting people from all over and talking metal with them, and of course getting to see some rare and just plain kick ass performances. If you’d like to read the whole post you’re awesome and please start here, but if you’d just like to skip ahead to any one day you can do so below, or you can even just click on a band’s name below to read my paragraph about them and see my photos and videos of them as well.

Day 1: Thursday
Rorschach
Dying Fetus
Absu
Eyehategod
Agalloch
Autopsy

Day 2: Friday
Macabre
Napalm Death
Godflesh
Unsane
Setherial
Nasum

Day 3: Saturday
Looking For An Answer
Dragged Into Sunlight
Hellbastard
October 31
Morbid Saint
Archgoat
Horna
Brujeria
Morbid Angel
Tsjuder
Haemorrhage
Winter

Day 4: Sunday
Coke Bust
Disma
Demonical
Morgoth
Rwake
Ulcerate
Church Of Misery
Pentagram Chile
Saint Vitus
Electric Wizard
Sargeist
Bethlehem
Mortuary Drape

June 19, 2012
Categories: Black Metal, Concert Reviews, Dark Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic, Grind, Hardcore Metal, Industrial, Maryland Deathfest, Norwegian Black Metal, Sludge Metal, Sonar, Stoner, Tech Death, Thrash Metal, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Concert, Festival, Heavy Metal, Maryland Death Fest, Maryland Death Fest X, Maryland Deathfest, Maryland Deathfest X, MDF, MDF X, MDFX, Metal, Music, Sonar . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Marilyn Manson ticket give away

The king of goth shock rock, Marilyn Manson, is coming to the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland on Tuesday the 1st of May! Support on this show will be by The Pretty Reckless. DCHeavyMetal.com is giving away a free pair of tickets to one lucky reader and all you’ve got to do is post a comment below telling me which song you’d like to hear Marilyn Manson play the most. I’ll pick one lucky winner at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries at 5pm EST on Friday 2 March 2012. Be sure that when you post you use a valid email you check regularly because I’ll need to contact you if you win. And don’t worry, I won’t add you to any annoying email lists or sell your address info or anything annoying like that. I hate spam too! You can only enter once, multiple entries will be disqualified. However, you can get your friends to all enter and have them bring you along if they win.

This will be Marilyn Manson’s first tour to support his upcoming album, Born Villain, which is coming out in May. So I’d imagine you’ll be able to hear some of those songs before the album is even out, pretty sweet! The album is a concept album and Marilyn Manson himself described it as a “suicide death metal” style of music, whatever that means. The opening act is The Pretty Reckless, a goth band fronted by Taylor Momsen who you may recognize as having played Jenny Humphrey on the TV show Gossip Girls. The band has been getting decent reviews and now they’re opening for the entire Marilyn Manson tour as well. If the contest is over when you read this, or you just can’t wait to get tickets, you can buy them online for $58.50 from Live Nation here. Check out this latest Marilyn Manson video, directed by Shia LaBeouf (the guy from the Transformers movies) of all people, below. It’s a trailer for a documentary about the making of the album that Shia shot, but it does have music in it too. Under that is a music video by The Pretty Reckless. And under that, leave a comment to enter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ici-K631qu4