Another year over. My bruises and hangovers are gone and bittersweetly adjusting back to the work grind. A truly wonderful experience yet again and many a story to tell. Obviously we didn't get to see every single band because unless time travel or telepathic cloning was real, it would be impossible to pull off, or i'd just see barely 3 minutes of each band even if I had the stamina or funds to get me back and forth from each venue.
DAY 1 (THURSDAY):
Our group and I broke tradition of waking up hungover at 4am to catch our flight at 6:45 to adjust to a more comfortable 1pm flight which worked out way smoother than planned. We were also one body short this year which put the accommodation fee up a bit, but nonetheless was confident in the fact that my money was being invested in a comfortable bed that would await me each and every night I staggered back to the hotel room. The flight up was bumpy, which upset one of our buds since he hates flying (personally, I love it) and the bimbos in front of us were making us a little uncomfortable passing a 2 year old around like it was a teddy bear, but otherwise uneventful. We landed, texted our loved ones that we are still alive, unpacked, found food, and headed straight into The Rams Head.
A bit of a back story with MDF. Last year they got some criticism from attendees who complained Sonar (the venue it was held at for the last few times), was either unprepared for the horde of metalheads (which led to some last-minute executive decisions like a "tent stage" for the smaller bands, and all the complaints about the slow lines throughout the weekend), or flat out lied to the organizers about curfew times for Baltimore (which are set for 11pm, which was why Venom's set was cut short). Whatever the reasons behind the infamous year, it's past and they've since learned from it. So, onto this year. I surveyed Rams Head as it was a new venue (for MDF attendees at least) and found it to be quite luxurious. A 2 story auditorium, with not only bars but food courts on each level, plus a built in public bleacher room where people can take a load off.
WHITEHORSE was just starting as I walked in and hypnotized the crowd with their own doom/sludge/noise hybrid sound for a good 30 minutes. I've never seen them live but liked the music, albeit it's kind of enduring to make it through a 17 minute song of the same riff over and over. But a good appetizer to what I dubbed the "doom day" (Seven sisters of Sleep played before them actually, so they didn't actually start off the night).
SOURVEIN got up onstage soon after, and it was bittersweet watching them set up as I thought this would be their last ever performance (later to be a rumor, as they were confirmed for a handful of shows afterwards as my friend pointed out to me). They ripped through their set with a ferocious speed and strength it was a little intimidating.
TORCHE followed promptly after, and this was a good contrast to the brooding sludge Whitehorse brought before. They woke up the crowd and belted out song after song with no time to talk or chit-chat. Steve's guitar (or mic) was feeding back pretty bad throughout the whole set which he was getting more and more annoyed with as the set progressed...
COFFINS were up next and, again I was a first time viewer of them and they practically stole the show for me. Just high energy (albeit playing at a dooms pace), but they were all over the place, especially the small bass player, whose bass wah solos were everywhere and completely LOUD.
CROWBAR were Crowbar, and admittedly I left 20 minutes in because the combo of beer & jet lag was not sitting well and I felt like I was about to pass out. I missed quite the fuming rant by Kirk when a fan (or just drunk guy) got up on stage and got promptly tackled to the ground next to Kirk and he swung around and foot-clocked him (the fan) right in the temple, thus followed by a scathing bitching from Kirk feuled by what I assume is lack of sleep. Skip to 2:25 and just keep it playing....
All I had (I bitched about)
We treated ourselves to a delicious chicken & waffles lunch at Miss Shirleys, and properly fueled up we set down to the Edison Lot. Now, again i'm comparing to last year but I feel it's necessary only to show A.) People who were there last year, who didn't attend this year, and B.) invert A. This couldn't have been a better upgrade than what Sonar was. Picture if you will a HUGE parking lot with 2 main stages, with more than enough room to mingle around and move comfortably from each stage with no hassle or spilling a drink. Here's visual proof:
Not shown are the food vendors, which besides being plentiful were easy to navigate through even with bands playing. Merch & other vendors had a space to themselves behind the food vendors along with a tented area for the bigger distros and T-shirt print shops that needed all the space they could get. Additional bonuses were a shaded (under an overpass, yeah) area with picnic tables ideal for recuperation and feet resting, and a bathroom corner that made the lines of Sonar a distant and laughable memory. Security too, and I feel strange to even rave about this, was FANTASTIC! Quite possibly the best team (or if they are all friends of the organizers, kudos to them) of people anyone could ask for. I've been an avid concert goer since '95 and these people were almost like old friends. Spraying all the sunbruned people with water, handing out the occasional beer and sunscreen, even crowdsurfing a few times. If you want a good vibe, I guess get people who are into it as much as you are, right? Hahaha! Alright, all of that is in place.
CASTEVET - Admittedly one of the oddball additions I thought, and not many were into them either. Still, I was liking them and the bass tone dude has was just a twangy, gnarly mess of low end.
MGLA - A band I seriously thought I'd never see at all and HOLY FUCKING SHIT they were amazing! They played their set faster than on record and it just added to the amazement. Really catchy stuff. One of the highlights for sure
RUINS OF BEVERAST - Again a "never thought I'd see" band, and while I liked them, not many others did. People complained mainly about the vocals not translating well, but I was fine with them.
CANCER - At this musical juncture, I met a buddy of mine and we drank in salute to his long trek over to the east coast for this thing. But, yea Cancer were pretty good, musically tight, but performance wise a little on the forgettable side, however the novelty of seeing them wasn't lost.
AGALLOCH - Saw them before, and their set had highlights that time. This time the luster wore off kinda quickly. It was mainly unfamiliar material (haven't heard anything new since 08) and it wasn't exactly resonating well with all the black & death metal that played earlier.
AT THE GATES - Another highlight. 16 year old me was moshing like crazy to "Suicide Nation" and "Terminal Spirit Disease", full of energy, on point and busted out song after song. No complaints, other than the time conflict with Bolzer who were playing right up the street. Had to duck out around the 7th or 8th song though.
BOLZER - Yet another highlight. 2 dudes that literally brought the venue down to it's knees. These guys were the diamond in the rough as literally NO ONE knew who they were and were playing over some of the main attractions as well. So yeah, glad I could be a part of their set.
IMPALED - It's Impaled, you either know them or wandered in randomly to them. Their set at Soundstage was a huge gore party and I got tossed up unwillingly within the first 10 minutes. Crazy kids.
ENTHRONED - Wandered out of Impaled a bit to catch my breath and watched them. Eh, take it or leave it.
INCANTATION - After all these years, Kyle STILL has a mustache! They delivered, but like clockwork fatigue and drunkeness set in and a good 30 minutes in I had to leave from utter exhaustion. Still from what I saw it was good.
So, cons being I missed Necros Christos (which dude looked like a pirate? lol) Taake, and Solstifir who (according to instagram) looked like drag queen cowboys that were playing $3,000 instruments. Pass on that.
lolwut?
DAY 3 (SATURDAY):
Washed and happily letting the pain meds do their work we set off (again) to the Edison Lot.
DIOCLETIAN - Fast & noisy as all hell.
ENTRAILS - Totally fucking ripped!
MACHETAZO - The bassiest grind I've ever heard. Just TONS of low end going fast as fuck too.
GOD MACABRE - Well received I thought. Would have liked to pick up their vinyl relapse had out, but oh well.
NOCTURNUS AD - Literally put me in a trance on how tight they were. Literally they sounded just like The Key, only live. Bonus to covering Chapel Of Ghouls at the end. Even if drummer flubbed it.
TANKARD - This is more about the pit that happened for them, Tankard were good but the fucking 80 foot wide pit that opened for them was the highlight easily.
SACRIFICE - People were divided on them, but I thought they were vicious! Just an all out thrash attack, bonus to Jed from SYL coming out and jamming for the last song.
BIRDFLESH - First time seeing them, and they were absolutley crazy. They had a good 4 or 5 songs in a row talking about anal sex and several kids were screaming every single lyric to them. Glowsticks, blow-up dolls, and backpacked kids (including myself) in spades.
UNLEASHED - Sounded good, good energy, song selection sucked I thought.
DARK ANGEL - I'm understating this when I say people went apeshit for them. When "Burning Of Sodom" started, people were screaming hysterically, cutting their wrists open and bleeding all over themselves and other people.
PUNGENT STENCH (SCHIRENC) - Klystar Boogie!
ASPHYX: I got 10 minutes up front and was content with hearing Martin Van Drunen scream for that long. Watched from the bleachers the rest of the time...shit i'm old.
DAY 4 (SUNDAY):
My most anticipated day. Ironically, the most sober i've been was for this day too.
WINDHAND - Saw 10 minutes and merch shopped. I was hoping they played Amaranth but no dice on that, eh.
BONGRIPPER - Seeing them sober was oddly enough a good time. Played 2 songs in 30 minutes, several people took pride in making a flag with HIPPIE KILLER written out to show them while they played.
GRAVES AT SEA - Absolutely fucking crushing live, add them to the list of "Never thought I'd see..." It was hard to have recording control over the grooves they laid out, but I managed a minute of this before the phone crapped out...
MISERY INDEX - Adam Jarvis is a BEAST on the kit.
