Crossing Axes: The Making of Maryland Deathfest: The Movies, Pt. 2

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I still nurse beautiful memories of Maryland Deathfest ’09 (review here). Bolt Thrower, Asphyx, Rotten Sound, Misery Index at their best – I still get chills at the thought. (Actually, I probably get sweaty at the thought. Goddamn, did it get hot there.) Director David Hall of Handshake, Inc. made a documentary about MDF ’09 called Maryland Deathfest: The Movie (review here). A few months ago, he recounted the pre-production stage of making the film. Now he picks up with filming the actual fest. – C.L.

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The Making of Maryland Deathfest: The Movies, Pt. 2

So I last left off with the “border blues” of Maryland Deathfest: The Movie, the film we shot at Maryland Deathfest VII. After a year of pre-production and development, we made it through to the USA. Once we cleared the border in Niagara Falls, I drove the rest of the trip, doing 140 the whole way and coasting into Baltimore on fumes. We arrived a day late and a little road weary – but we had arrived. We checked into the hotel, and I found Curran Reynolds, another producer on the film. He and I set out to find and buy as much booze as humanly possible.

I first met Curran through Today Is the Day. He was the band’s publicist when we made the Axis of Eden movie. Curran helped get two videos from that movie on MTV and subsequently did PR for my film Disgorge, Mexico. Not only is he an underground metal media PR guru, but he also drums in Wetnurse and now Today Is the Day, and books Precious Metal at the Lit Lounge. The guy is a fucking marine, scary talented, and a super huge mensch.

We found our way down a strip of strip clubs and dives and located a bar that sold take-away. Locked and loaded, we consumed heroic amounts of beer and vodka and crashed. Due to the border problems, we missed the pre-party (including Ghoul!!!), but we were ready to take on MDF. With an amazing view 17 stories-up of downtown Baltimore, we cracked the lock on the windows, blasted them wide open, and fell asleep to the sound of traffic and pimp calls in the charged Baltimore night.

In the morning (it was Deathfest day one), we got down to The Sonar pretty early. For anyone who hasn’t been to MDF, the fest takes place inside and outside of the nightclub Sonar. There’s a large indoor room where the bands play, then another large room where merch and vendors are set up. Outside, a full city block is blocked from traffic, and a massive fenced-in area has more vendors and an outdoor stage.

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The bands the first day were: Hero Destroyed, Triac, Jig-Ai, Sayyadina, Gnostic, Pigsty, Venomous Concept, Victims, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, Marduk, Mayhem, Asphyx. It ended up that Marduk had border problems and didn’t make it into the States. Still…an INSANE line-up. I don’t care what your stance on Mayhem is, it was FUCKING MAYHEM. With Cattle Decap and Pigsty, man!

Within five minutes of our crew getting to the Sonar, I noticed Shane Embury standing a few feet away from me. And Kevin Sharp, barefoot and in a cowboy hat, was leaning in a doorway just behind me. It was good timing, since Napalm Death was one of the few bands I wasn’t able to get in touch with before the fest. I nervously introduced myself and was relieved to find that Shane was a totally cool guy. He gave us permission to film Napalm Death – off to a good start.

The camera crew set up home base next to the soundboard, and all we had to do was wait for Hero Destroyed to go on. The crew took their spots, and I was to myself. It felt weird. This was the first time since the previous October that I had nothing to do. No emails to write or edits to check or artwork to submit or paperwork to fill out. My wife and kids were back home. I was literally a free man.

One of the perks of making MDF the Movie is getting all-access passes to the fest. It’s not like other fests or concerts that are locked down with mega-tight security; it’s a pretty open fest. There are two green rooms, and a couple “backstage” areas. But when it’s busy as hell, or you want to get a really good view of a band, it’s nice (and indispensable for our camera crew) to be able to get anywhere in the fest without a hassle.

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As the camera crew prepared to film, I wandered outside in the backstage area and discovered something really wonderful: the dollar beer tent. There was a guy inside a large tent at a table with large tubs of beer: Natty Bo, Bud, and something else. If you gave this guy a dollar, he gave you a beer. I slapped down a 20 and was good for about three hours. This was a bit of a bone of contention among the crew, because I insist I was working, and they insist I was getting pissed and having a great time – pretty much the same thing either way.

The first day was amazing. Everything went smoothly. Jig Ai, Cattle Decapitation, Venomous, Pigsty, and Asphyx stick out as highlights. Asphyx’s set was truly historic…their first show EVER in the USA. A sea of people crammed together outside in the hot Baltimore night as sirens blared and faded in the distance. “Asphyx, Asphyx, Asphyx!” The crowd starting chanting and pumping their fists in unison. When the band members walked onto the stage, everyone seriously lost it. At that point, I knew we had a movie on our hands.

The rest of the fest and filming went as smoothly. One of our camera operators got bit on the foot by a cockroach and got a tennis ball-sized shanker to show for it. We all got a little sunburnt, and I accidentally smoked PCP (what?). But other than that, the whole production and the fest was a serious blast. It’s apt that the fest is billed as “North America’s Biggest Metal Party of the Year”, because that’s exactly what is. You should go.

Next Installment: Post-production and the battle to get Bolt Thrower in the movie!!! (spoiler alert…we failed :()

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BUY MARYLAND DEATHFEST: THE MOVIE

Movie trailer
Handshake, Inc. official store

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