Upcoming Benefit Shows In Our Area

The world is often a cruel place but we can make it a little better for those in need when we attend benefit shows that donate the proceeds to good causes. There’s a few coming up in the DMV that I thought I’d mention here real quick (you can always get the full list of upcoming metal concerts in the greater DC, Baltimore and Northern Virginia area on our handy calendar here).

Ben Blanton plays drums in Fuzz Voyage and was the original drummer for Foehammer, plus has performed in many other bands around the DMV. Additionally he is a regular face at hard rock, punk and metal shows in the DMV. Without going too much into detail, he’s had a medical emergency that left him in a coma and while he’s recovering we all know nothing about extended stays in this country’s medical system is cheap. As such there’s not one but two upcoming benefit shows for Ben scheduled right now. The first is coming right up, this Saturday, February 24th, in Frederick when Borracho headlines a show with Bloodshot, Marshal Fuzz and Et Mors also on the bill. A donation of $15 is asked for Ben but of course you’re always welcome to give more if you can. More details are on the Facebook event page for the benefit show here.

If Frederick is too far of a hike for you there’s another benefit show for Ben at the Pocket in 7DrumCity in NW Washington DC on Sunday, March 3rd. This show’s line up is headlined by Rise Defy with additional sets by Seasick Gladiator, Et Mors and Bodied. Yep Et Mors is playing both but it makes sense as the two members of the bands were originally introduced to each other by Ben. Anyways, this show is also asking for a $15 donation for Ben and more info can be found on the Facebook event page for this benefit show here.

Ever since the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israeli civilians last October the government of Israel has been massacring Palestinians in Gaza as though they are all part of Hamas, which has created an enormous humanitarian crisis in the region. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East offers humanitarian aid in the region and this show’s proceeds will be donated to the organization. This show will be held at St. Stephen’s in Columbia Heights on Friday, March 29th. This gig will be headlined by local grind band No/Más but also performing will be the Palestinian fronted Nø/Man as well as Big No and Cimitir. They’re also asking for a $15 donation (presale tickets available here via Bandcamp) and you can get more info on this show via its Facebook event page here.

Live video footage of recent shows in DC

This summer I’ve started shooting more video footage of bands playing live around the area. I upload all my posts to my YouTube page (here) but I thought I’d post the footage I’ve shot lately. I’ve obviously seen other bands play as well but this is the video footage I’ve shot so far this summer.

Dawn of Ouroboros at Atlas Brew Works on 3 June 2022
Song: Spiral of Hypnotism

Tómarúm at Atlas Brew Works on 3 June 2022
Songs: Where No Warmth Is Found / Awake Into Eternal Slumber

Et Mors at DC Brau on 25 June 2022
Song: Damaged Pathways

Total Maniac at the Runaway on 1 July 2022
Song: Witch Christ

Bat at the Runaway on 1 July 2022
Song: Wild Fever

No/Más at Pie Shop on 8 July 2022
Songs: ???

Severed Satellites at DC Brau on 10 July 2022
Song: ???

Seasick Gladiator at DC Brau on 10 July 2022
Song: debut of new song that doesn’t have a title yet

Murdersome at DC Brau on 16 July 2022
Song: ???

Murdersome at DC Brau on 16 July 2022
Song: Revel in Darkness

Wythersake at DC Brau on 16 July 2022
Song: Cast into Swine and Sea

Mortal Ground at Pie Shop on 30 July 2022
Songs: We Are The Frontline / Freeland Whippet (In Memory of James Burns)

Mortal Ground at Pie Shop on 30 July 2022
Song: Little Deaths

Caustic Casanova at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Songs: Red (King Crimson cover) / Shrouded Coconut

Valkyrie at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Song: Afraid To Live

Valkyrie at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Song: Secrets of the Mind

Valkyrie at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Song: Fear and Sacrifice

Some new local heavy metal releases

Just thought I’d make a round up of some great recent (nothing before January 2022) and upcoming local releases to check out. If you’re in a band I missed feel free to email me at DCHeavyMetal@Gmail.com and I’ll add your release too!

The first one isn’t even an album but local politician (elected delegate of Virgina’s 13th district) and metal head Danica Roem made these awesome metal style campaign shirts as a fund raiser for her campaign. Order soon (here) as they won’t be available very long.

Weed Coughin is, as you might expect, a stoner band, though they’ve got some grimy sludge aspects to their sound as well. The Frederick, Maryland based band released their debut album, Other Worldly, on January 31st.

The Dregs play sludge/doom and released a 2 song EP titled Nightshade on February 25th.

A Sound of Thunder released a new music video on February 25th for their song, Theme from Shadowman, which is an official tie-in to the Valiant Comics character Shadowman. You can purchase the single here. They’ve also got a new album out in May and you can find more info on that later in this post.

Haunted Shores is an instrumental side project of Periphery guitarists Mark Holcomb and Misha Mansoor that is a lot more intense than their djent main band. They released their first album since 2011, titled Void, on March 11th but it isn’t on Bandcamp so you’ll have to check this link for the different places to buy it.

Kontusion is a new two piece death metal band featuring DC’s own Chris Moore on drums (Repulsion, D.O.C., ex-Magrudergrind) along with Mark Bronzino (Iron Reagan, Mammoth Grinder) and if the first track they’ve released is any indication, their debut EP (out March 25th) is going to rip!

Day of Departure is a DC based progressive band and they are set to release their self titled debut full length on March 25th.

Darkest Hour plays hardcore infused melodic death metal and they are releasing a 2 song EP with both tracks being not just re-mastered versions of older songs but entirely re-recorded versions of those songs. It’s out on April 1st, which is a Bandcamp Friday.

False Church plays intense metallic hardcore and their debut album, Dystopian Dissent, is being released by Horror Pain Gore Death Productions on April 22nd (preorders are available now though).

No/Más is an exciting grind band from DC and they’re releasing their debut album on Closed Casket Activities on April 29th. You can pre-order (including vinyl) here and listen to their new track “Exile” below.

Iris Divine is a progressive metal band from Northern Virginia and they currently have a Kickstarter campaign running for their upcoming third album, Mercurial. They already have most of the recording process completed they’re just looking for funding to get everything out to fans, which is expected to be in May. They’ve already met their funding goal but you can still pledge through April 6th to get your copy through the Kickstarter campaign here.

A Sound of Thunder has a new album, The Krimson Kult, out on May 20th, that was inspired by events that took place during the pandemic.

Black Lung from Baltimore plays psychedelic doom and they’ve got a new full length album, titled Dark Waves coming out on Heavy Psych Sounds on May 27th.

Stellar Death is a proggy instrumental metal band with spacey sci-fi flourishes. Their new EP Sentient (Chapter 1) will be out on June 10th via Bravemusic.

Yatra from Ocean City plays some heavy sludge along the lines of High on Fire and Lord Dying. They announced that their new full length album, Born into Chaos will be out June 10th on Prosthetic Records but you can already listen to a track and pre-order it now.