Maryland Deathfest XVI starts Thursday and while I’m not doing my Survival Guide this year I still wanted to make a post about MDF. This year I’m going to focus on things you don’t want to miss, including a big section and the end highlighting two bands from each venue on each day of the fest. None of the highlighted bands are headliners so hopefully you’ll check out some bands that you might not have otherwise.
First things first, below you’ll find the most current set time schedule I’ve got. It’s a link so click/tap it to see it full sized. Of course it’s subject to change but as of this writing it is the most up to date.
Be sure to check the official Maryland Deathfest Facebook page (here) which is usually the first place they post updates on things like cancellations, though I really hope there aren’t any more. Also be sure to follow their official Instagram account (@deathfests) for beautiful live photos of the bands while the fest is still running. And of course be sure to follow my Instagram account (@dcmetalchris) and/or Twitter account (@MetalChris) for unofficial photos and commentary throughout the fest.
The official Maryland Deathfest Pre-fest show is tonight at the Ottobar! Headlined by the meme-tastic Mortician, an old school death/grind band originally from Yonkers, New York. Their sound is defined by its ultra downtuned guitar tone, programmed drums and the extensive use of clips from horror movies. However the band is having a recent resurgence in popularity, if you want to call it that, due to the massive amount of memes that have sprung up around the band (you can get in on the fun here). The pre-fest show is already sold out but you can get all the details about it on the Facebook event page here. Just know that if you are in town and don’t have a car, the Ottobar is not within walking distance of the other venues that MDF will be happening at so you’ll need to get a ride/cab/Uber to get there.
If you’re not going up to Baltimore a day early for the pre-fest show but still want to see a metal show tonight be sure to head over to Atlas Brew Works and catch Howling Giant, Borracho and Caustic Casanova. Howling Giant is a doom/stoner band from Nashville, Tennessee and this is the DC stop of their tour. Also, it’s a rare chance to see Borracho live. You may have noticed they haven’t been playing as many shows lately and that’s because their drummer moved to Peru for work. On the rare occasions he’s back in town they tend to play a show so see them while you can! It should be noted that the brewery will have the Capitals/Lightning game 7 on the TVs so you won’t have to miss the game if you’re at the show. Get all the details about this show on the Facebook event page here.
Pentagram Pancake Brunch is back this year! Nurse your bangover on Saturday and/or Sunday with brunch at Baltimore Soundstage starting at 10am and running until 1pm (Sat) or 2pm (Sun). It’s an all you can eat breakfast of bacon, pentagram pancakes and eggs plus bottomless Bloody Marys, blood orange mimosas or Irish coffees. There will also be guest DJs playing metal. Each day is $20 or for just $30 you can get a 2 day pass. Buy at the door or in advance. Tickets for Saturday can be purchased here and tickets for Sunday can be purchased here. Both links will let you buy the 2 day pass if you’d prefer. More details about the Pentagram Pancake Brunch can be found on the Facebook event page here.
Speaking of food, there’s plenty around the venues but if you want some of the best craft beers and American food in town try walking over to the Pratt Street Ale House at 206 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21201. They’ll be giving a 10% off all food and drinks discount to all Maryland Deathfest attendees during the entire fest, just show them your wristband for the discount.
On Saturday Goatwhore will be playing a free show at Angels Rock Bar, located inside the Powerplant area across from Rams Head Live and just upstairs from the Leinenkugel restaurant/bar. It’s a matinee show and the local Baltimore band Emerge A Tyrant will be performing as well. It will be ages 21+ only. The doors open at 4pm, Emerge A Tyrant plays at 5pm and Goatwhore will go on about 5:45pm. If you RSVP to the Facebook event page (here) you can get $3 Miller Lite drafts, $4 Smirnoff cocktails and $5 Smirnoff bombs from 4pm to 7pm on Saturday.
Maryland Deathfest XVI ends on Sunday night but Monday you can still catch a few grind bands that played the fest doing a post show at Atlas Brew Works. Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition, Viscera Infest and Pulmonary Fibrosis will be goregrinding the night away with support from Myxoma, a band fronted by Evan Harting, one of the MDF organizers. SCD and PF are both French bands and VI is from Japan, so it’s a rare chance to catch these international bands here in DC.
Thursday Band Suggestions
Gateway to Hell Thurs 5:25pm Rams Head Live – The first band to go on stage at this year’s MDF is a great local stoner/doom band called Gateway to Hell. They band has a real sense of rhythm and they jam out some sweet riffs. Don’t miss the chance to see this local Baltimore band on such a big stage. Check out their song “Scorched Earth” from their 2017 EP Clovers.
Khemmis Thurs 6:20pm Rams Head Live – Khemmis is a band from Denver that really broke out in 2016 with the release of their sophomore album Hunted. The band sounds like something of a cross between older Opeth and Pallbearer. Their songs use both clean and harsh vocals, like Opeth, and they play some really great doom riffs too. Also of note, their drummer, Zach Coleman, is the head brewer at the black metal themed brewery Trve Brewing out in Denver. Khemmis has a new album coming out in June titled Desolation but for now give a listen to their song “Three Gates” from Hunted.
Gutted Thurs 7:45pm Baltimore Soundstage – Gutted is technical death metal the fast and brutal way. This relentless Hungarian band gets their name from the Cannibal Corpse song on the Butchered At Birth album. Maryland Deathfest XVI gives us a rare chance to catch this underground band live. Check out their song “Into Oblivion,” featuring guest backing vocals by Attila Csihar of Mayhem, from their 2016 album Martyr Creation.
Defeated Sanity Thurs 10pm Baltimore Soundstage – Defeated Sanity is a tech death band from Germany that is really brutal yet they’ve also got a very strong Focus era Cynic influence. The influence is so strong that they even have former Cynic vocalist Max Phelps doing vocals for them now. You may also recognize Max from his days filling Chuck Schuldiner’s role on the Death To All tours or from his locally based band Exist that was direct support on the 2017 Gorguts tour. Check out the song “The Mesmerizing Light” from the Dharmata section of their 2016 release.
Friday Band Suggestions
Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition Fri 6:25pm Baltimore Soundstage – SCD is a death/grind band from Paris, France. They manage to write catchy songs despite being so fast and heavy and you know that’s going to result in some crazy pits at MDF. Note that they are also playing Atlas Brewery in DC on the Monday night after Deathfest. Check out the song “Apostate Angels (Ritual And Taboo)” from their album Raping Angels in Hell which was released in September of 2017.
Blood Incantation Fri 8:45pm Rams Head Live – The new style of “cavernous death metal” is all the rage right now in the world of underground metal and Blood Incantation is one of the hottest bands of the trend. Rightly so I might add, they have managed to blend that crushingly heavy gloominess of the cavernous style and combined it flawlessly with the technicality and excellent songwriting that every death metal fan craves. Check out “Chaosplasm” from their 2016 instantly classic album Starspawn and do not miss these guys live, they always put on an excellent performance.
Integrity Fri 10:30pm Baltimore Soundstage – Integrity rose out of the Cleveland hardcore scene in the 90s and is noted for being one of the pioneers of blending hardcore with heavy metal. Locals will recognize Domenic Romeo, formerly of the band Pulling Teeth and the owner of A389 Recordings, on lead guitar for Integrity these days. It should also be noted that Integrity worked with Baltimore brewery Oliver Ales to make an official beer (that you might still be able to find cans of at Pratt Street Ale House during MDF). Check out the song “Die With Your Boots On” from their 2017 album Howling, For The Nightmare Shall Consume, showing that they still got it!
God Dethroned Fri 11pm Rams Head Live – The Dutch band God Dethroned was a rather middle of the pack death metal band in the 90’s. Then in the late 00’s they shifted their focus from blasphemy to military history similar to fellow Dutch band Hail Of Bullets. In 2009 they released their album Passiondale about the bloody World War I battle of the same name. This was a massive shift for the band, in all the right directions as the album marks not just their change in lyrical direction but better songwriting and production as well. Listen to “Poison Fog” from Passiondale, a song about the horrors of mustard gas in trench warfare during WWI.
Saturday Band Suggestions
Blurring Sat 5:05pm Baltimore Soundstage – Blurring is a death/grind band from Rochester, New York, that is the current project of a quite familiar face at Maryland Deathfest, Dan Lilker. Dan has graced the MDF stage with bands like Nuclear Assault, Autopsy, Brutal Truth and probably others I’m not remembering right now. Blurring might be the most intense of all these bands, their speed and brutality make them a stand out even at Maryland Deathfest. Check out their song “November” from their 2017 EP Cloud Burner.
The Ruins of Beverast Sat 7:40pm Rams Head Live – The Ruins of Beverast is a German black metal band started in the early 00’s. The band has a dark atmospheric and shamanistic bent to their sound. They have played MDF before back in 2014 but they played on the outdoor stages and I’ll be honest, their sound mix was pretty awful that day. It will be great to see them on a proper stage this time around and I’m sure it will sound better. Check out the long build up in their song “Towards Malakia” from their 2017 album Exuvia.
Pig Destroyer Sat 9:20pm Baltimore Soundstage – Local band Pig Destroyer became one of the premiere grindcore bands with the release of their boundary pushing 2001 album Prowler in the Yard. The band has continued to innovate with each new album and the intensity of their live shows is legendary. They’ve got a new album coming out later this year and while I don’t have any insider knowledge of their MDF playlist, maybe we’ll get lucky and hear some new material. For now check out their song “The Diplomat” from their 2012 album Book Burner.
Master’s Hammer Sat 11:10pm Rams Head Live – Master’s Hammer is one of the oldest black metal bands from eastern Europe, they predate the 2nd wave from Norway. The Czech band formed in the late 80’s and is one of the first bands to bring symphonic elements to black metal. They also incorporated Czech folk elements and their lyrics are still entirely in Czech. I don’t think they’ve ever been to the US before and this is a rare chance to catch one of the genre’s early underground innovators live here in the US. Check out the song “Geniové” from their classic 1991 album Ritual.
Sunday Band Suggestions
Neolithic Sun 4:40pm Baltimore Soundstage – Let’s face it, Neolithic is probably on this bill because their vocalist is Evan Harting, one of the two main organizers of Maryland Deathfest. However Neolithic actually fucking rips and this new death/crust band is definitely worth seeing at MDF regardless of their ties to the organizers. Check out their song “Cult of Ignorance” on their just released EP of the same name.
Thantifaxath Sun 6:40pm Rams Head Live – Thantifaxath is a mouthful to say but the Toronto based black metal band that is just… eerie. They were added to this year’s MDF line up when Darkspace was forced to drop off. Even so, they’re a great band that is worth seeing even if they weren’t originally meant to play MDF this year. Be sure to check out their song “The Bright White Nothing at the End of the Tunnel” from their 2014 album Sacred White Noise.
Wormrot Sun 10:40pm Baltimore Soundstage – Wormrot is a band that came out of left field, or more accurately, they’re from Singapore. To date they’re released three albums of some top notch grindcore. It’s kind of amazing how they keep this level of quality up in their releases and right now I think it’s safe to say they’re one of the premiere grind bands in the world. You won’t want to miss the rare chance to see them live here in the US. Listen to their song “Fallen into Disuse” from their 2016 album Voices.
Opera IX Sun 11:15pm Rams Head Live – Opera IX is an Italian melodic black metal band once fronted by the enigmatic Cadaveria before she went solo. The band continued on and added folk elements to their sound over the years. I remember going to the Tower Records in Tysons Corner in 2000 to pick up the Behemoth album Thelema.6 and I picked up this Opera IX album on a whim. I have been a fan ever since and to say I’m excited to see them at MDF is an understatement. Check out the epic song “Act I: The First Seal” from that album I bought in 2000, The Black Opera: Symphoniae Mysteriorum in Laudem Tenebrarum.
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