Maryland Deathfest 2016: Saturday, May 28
…
Rams Head and Edison Lot photos by Levan TK. Follow Levan on Instagram at @levan_tk
Soundstage photos by Blair Hopkins.
…
With the fest more than halfway over, and having already seen the majority of bands on my must-see list, I felt at more liberty to explore. It’s tempting to spend one’s time at any music festival sprinting from one set to another trying to see a bit of every band. After four years of indulging in Maryland Deathfest, though, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s much better to feel free enough to enjoy one band’s complete set and then rest in between, to peruse merchandise if only to admire the artwork on display, and to strike up conversations with people. The most intoxicating thing about MDF isn’t the array of bands, and it’s certainly not the $9 tallboys of Stella Artois. If you’re the sort of person who fights the urge to talk about metal, or relate everyday things to metal on a daily basis, then the high point of the festival is just being able to enjoy immersing oneself in the genre’s aesthetic, people and language without any expectation that one should do otherwise.
In the interest of doing so, I took my sweet time to get to Edison Lot on Saturday, and missed Hirax, one of only two must-see sets on my list that I did not attend. I hear they put on a great show, too.
Arriving just a little too late, I was treated instead to a lesser-known classic metal act, Arizona’s Atrophy. They are the latest in a long series of disbanded thrash bands to reform in recent years, probably thanks to the large potential audience that the internet provides. I recall Morbid Saint doing the same three years ago. And, much like when I saw Morbid Saint, I wasn’t really familiar with Atrophy’s material beyond “Preacher Preacher.” Unlike Morbid Saint, though, Atrophy seemed unenthusiastic and didn’t impress. Their performances sounded clean, but unenthusiastic.
Hail of Bullets were another story. One of the bands I most looked forward to seeing, Hail of Bullets played their first show with new vocalist David Ingram, formerly of Benediction, who hadn’t performed live in ten years. Like the military machines that inspire their work, they functioned with a kind of precision that can’t be deterred by natural forces–in this instance, a boiling hot sun. To my mind, they played a perfect set, opening with “Swoop of the Falcon” and then working backward through their short but excellent catalog. They inspired my favorite pit of the weekend, thanks to a high-speed circle during “Red Wolves of Stalin” and me losing my damn mind during “DG-7.” Ingram wore a Bolt Thrower shirt and dedicated “Tokyo Napalm Holocaust” to the memory of that band’s recently deceased drummer, Martin “Kiddie” Kearns. Pound for pound, I enjoyed Hail of Bullets the most out of any band at MDF.
…
…
I can’t say the same for Impaled Nazarene. Finnish black metal has never been my thing, but it looked as if their fans loved it. There’s a manic energy to their music that gets bodies moving and, apparently, gets pink beach balls tossed into their air.
Exhausted by heat, I trekked to Soundstage to catch General Surgery, who took the stage drenched in fake blood that made stagediving a slippery–and risky–proposition. Not that it stopped anyone from trying.
The last time I saw Testament they didn’t impress me. The Testament that headlined Edison Lot was an altogether different, and greatly improved, band. This is the best lineup they’ve ever had: founding guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick plus singer Chuck Billy joined by journeymen virtuosos Steve DiGiorgio on bass and Gene “The Atomic Clock” Hoglan on drums. Together they were on fire. Skolnick especially cheesed it up and looked to be having almost as much fun as the audience, who were either moshing, pumping fists, or making out. I found myself surrounded by what looked to be OG thrash couples reliving their amorous teenage feelings in close proximity. Chuck Billy sings babymaking music. Who knew? Their set wisely centered on their more heavy ’90s material, especially The Gathering, and ended with the first wall of death I’ve ever seen at MDF during an extended interpretation of “Formation of Damnation.”
…
…
After that, I stomped back to Soundstage for Negative Approach, probably the most historic hardcore band from Detroit, Michigan, and local legends in my old Midwest stomping grounds. Their rendition of the title track from their lone album Tied Down got me frothing at the mouth, even though all in all they were one of the least-heavy bands of the weekend. Without the fuzz and dirt in the original recordings their songs sound an awful lot like other Michigan punk forebears like The Stooges.
I ought to have stayed at Soundstage. Discharge dropped from the bill and were replaced by a second Wormed set, one less well-attended but equally energetic.
…
…
I only stayed for one song. I has excited as hell to see Craft. The punk-black mavericks were a huge draw for me, and talking about them became something of a massive in-joke among my friends and I. We would crush beers or slam shots and yell “fuck the universe” in public. Craft became a scapegoat idea to justify all of our naughty behavior, and we weren’t the only ones.
…
…
Craft completely sold out of shirts in two hours. Before they played, Rams Head was full to capacity, and after their fumbled, boring, muddy-sounding set most of that crowd flooded the merch booths again.
“Wanna bet all those people are trying to return their Craft shirts?” A friend said.
Singer Nox, in particular, is much to blame. He looked completely lost on stage and frequently missed his vocal cues.
To borrow a quote from that same friend: I want to commit to never seeing that band play again.
…
ImpaledNazerine_01
ImpaledNazerine_02
ImpaledNazerine_03
ImpaledNazerine_04
Craft_04
Craft_01
Craft_02
Craft_03
All Rams Head and Edison Lot photos by Levan TK.
…
... ... ... ... ... ... Aaron’s Picks ... ... ... Lachlan’s picks ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... -- Christopher Harrington ... ... ... ... Adam Casey, the sole musician of The Boy Who Spoke Clouds, is a dear friend of mine, and a true savant. He is so full of life and creativity that being in his presence cannot but yield inspiration. This was the case instantly for me upon meeting Adam, we connected on many levels spoken and not, and for this reason I wanted to record the Of Hearth & Home album nowhere else but with him. The album would not be what it is without his guidance, support and genius. This fact was only exacerbated when I invited Adam to perform a The Boy Who Spoke Clouds set on a bill with my band Encircling Sea. Having not seen him perform before this, I knew not what to expect, but was eager to see him perform a solo multi-instrument set like an avant-garde one-man band. I was not disappointed, in actuality; I was thoroughly moved as he performed a rendition of this album. Pure ecstatic trance is only way I could describe what I saw and felt. This album was the second release on my little label, Natural World, and I couldn’t be prouder or luckier to have released it. From the moment this record begun I was transported into a timeless void, where the spirits of my ancestors danced around the eternal flame of life. This is the feeling that Light The Fires! gave to me as a gift and it helped me go through a huge personal transformation. At a time when I had relocated my life to a vastly different environment, hundreds of miles away from my family to start a new life with my wife as she was about to give birth to our son. This time was full of joy and everything was new and wonderful, but at the same time it was very daunting, and I was struggling to grasp onto everything that was happening and wrestling with the profundity of what this new life was to entail. I was now a father and what did that mean? Well, it meant I had to connect not only to the present and that which is new, but particularly connect with the past, my past. The generations before me give me a deeper connection to the present and truly show me what being a husband and father would mean. Light The Fires helped me understand that in a way that I am truly thankful for. This album is really something else. On paper it seems so daunting and laborious, two CDs of purely acoustic music with song lengths longer than most albums today, no thanks I imagine most would say. And it does take some time to truly understand its greatness, but when it is revealed, the Earth will open up and embrace you within its bosom. Fearthainne is THE reason I decided to start writing an acoustic album. Before I connected with this album I played a lot of acoustic guitar, but never with such focussed intent on creating something so deliberate. The power of this album is in repetition and its intent. These songs are ritual and if you give yourself over to them, you will experience some of the powerful magic within. I found it so utterly grounding, I listened to this record at least once a day when I first came upon it, that it was like my daily meditation, guided by this music, I had to do it in order to feel on track with the day. As this album is purely acoustic and given my obsession with it I was naturally drawn to picking up my acoustic guitar and playing with layered arpeggios and drone like acoustic strumming, this was a natural attraction too as black metal is based on a similar foundation. I have connected with members of Fearthainne on numerous occasions but I don’t think I ever have explicitly said how much this album means to me, so I will say it here. Thank you. Now under the moniker, Cycle of the Raven Talons, Ruhr Hunter is another project of Chet W. Scott, the man behind Blood of the Black Owl and Glass Throat Recordings, the label that my album will be released on and from which so much of my inspirational music comes from, as you may have noticed. Moss & Memory is album of ancient sounds and transcendental songs crafted from acoustic and primitive instruments. The sounds on this record, let alone the intent of the songs themselves, are something to inspire awe. I spent a great deal of time, when crafting the first songs for Of Hearth & Home, sitting in the afternoon sun with Moss & Memory playing in the background whilst pondering the meaning of things. Chet has since become someone I would call a brother, albeit still a virtual one at this point, but that will change one day, and I cannot thank him enough for his music, inspiration and friendship. I feel like I could leave this section blank and you would understand why this record in on this list. Steve Von Till’s solo albums are, at least in my humble opinion, the best musical output he creates. They will be records that in a generation or more our children, or their children, will look back to as an inspiration. His music is timeless perfection. Whether I knew it or not, this record has got to be one of the bigger influences on my lyrical output for Of Hearth & Home. I wanted to write songs of a deeply personal and intimate nature that connected with something real and tangible like my family, ancestors and the land I am from. Von Till offers a very poetic rendition of that idea. Songs of the heart, and of the hearth, songs about his place in life, in both the physical and spiritual sense. Kim Larsen can do no wrong in my opinion. Whether it is Martial Industrial (Vril Jäger) or funeral doom (Black Wreath), I love it all. But this project in particular really holds my heart, the melodies on this album are otherworldly and dreamlike, they transport to the field full of sunshine under the shady bough of an old tree as a gentle breeze blows on your face. Music that calls in the spirits or transports you into nature is the music I am drawn to listen to and make, this album is a beautiful example of the transcendental effect that music can have. There are few albums so exquisitely crafted as this. The melodies are just so beautiful and delicate. Like most of the artists on this list, Birch Book’s B’eirth is involved in multiple projects and a man of many talents with a penchant for making beautiful and sincere music. I remember so vividly the day I first heard this record, I was driving home very late one night from an Encircling Sea rehearsal and it was a 3 hour drive that night to get home. A dear friend had recently given me a copy of this record and I had yet to listen to it, so driving home I thought what better time to really enjoy n album, and I listened to it three times back to back. Tenhi claim to open the doors between worlds with their music and such claims can often seem dramatic, over emphasised stagecraft in order to appeal to a certain demographic, a trick of the trade if you will. It’s not in this case. I truly believe music to be the connection to the spirit world that our ancestors knew so well, a world we have vastly lost contact with and understanding of. A world that, in these times of disconnection from everything meaningful and traditional, we so easily can focus on the gimmick, on the tag line, the click bait that gets our attention for a moment and then it’s gone and who cares, it means nothing, on to the next thing. This album is challenging, some days I love it and others I find hard to tolerate, those days are days I am more the modern individual man of nothing, and I don’t deserve to connect with so, it doesn’t let me. Find peace with that which is old, traditional, magical, spiritual and challenging. Tenhi will grant you safe passage on your journey. I come from punk rock background musically; my formative years were all about punk. I view my musical journey as a progression toward truth, towards the essence of the ancient musical soul within your blood. I feel that maybe I share that with Pablo from Sangre de Muerdago. I loved and still love his punk bands, especially Ekkaia, and feel like this project retains that same spirit in a way. I love not only how beautiful and brilliant this music, but also how unique it is within this modern neo-folk scene, if I can even call it that. We are finding more and more that musicians are fusing their background in punk or metal with the traditions of their ancestors and connecting to something very old and very specific to their heritage. This is no better illustrated than in Pablo’s music. There could not be a more grounded musical offering, timid yet robust, delicate yet vibrant, Novemthree make pure folk music. As said before, I gravitate towards truly sincere and intimate music. Music of a deep personal nature that sacrifices nothing for glory, it is what it is and lays it all bare. Novemthree do that so very well. This album is so simple yet it is layered with delicate intricacies and nothing is ever overdone, yet it is always fully realised and the song structures are so cathartic. Aside from the tremendous performances on this record, the song structures are something that greatly inspired me as a musician. I do not subscribe to the mentality of surprise song writing or anticlimactic song structures, I feel that you should follow the idea through to its end, whether long or short, you should fully realise the idea and provide yourself as the writer, above all else, the true liberation of that emotion. When it is my time to perish Carve a niche deep in the barrow Come those who loved me ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... -- Christopher Harrington ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Okay, the Black Legions Circle is a source of contention for most. A strange collective of French musicians, most likely teenagers thanks to photos which have slowly surfaced over the years, churning out tape after tape after tape in the early-to-mid '90s. Celebrations of Satan and darkness, penned mostly in a language of their own design (Gloatre). Some of their music just kind of missed the mark (see: Susvourtre. No, not sharing that one here.), but sometimes they really hit the "inhuman music made for disturbed people" nail on the head. I often wonder if the mystique of the Circle added to the unsettling nature of their music, but then I revisit the "Father audio Project" of primary figure Vordb Bathor Ecsed (now Vordb Na R.iidr) and truly revel in the inhuman, abstract black ambiance of its first demo. Hearing this when I was 15 or 16, I actually found myself in the throes of fright, even checking over my shoulder, though my back was against a wall. Now? I might not be scared, but there is a pitch-black, spiritual aspect to this demo which is undeniable. Pure fucking psychosis. Absolute chaos. Dark Tribe's second album, the only one of its kind in a mostly pagan-styled-metal existence, is mired in explosive, enraged energy. If the sprinting, dash-and-gasp musical approach isn't enough to break a sweat, the endless triple voiced attack will certainly leave you exhausted. I wonder where black metal would be had Dark Tribe continued down this path, but, for now, "In Jeraspunta" is a curious case of sudden, brief punctuated equilibrium. This is one to leave blasting when you hand candy to wayward trick-or-treaters, especially if you don't want any to come back. I feel like using this one is kind of cheating. The legendary Silencer, who only released a demo (1998) and full-length of the same name (2001), find controversy over fifteen years past their demise. Though the musical element, composed and performed by Andreas "Leere" Casado, largely follows the blueprint laid forth by Bethlehem's early works, to which Casado would fully admit in Dayal Patterson's "Black Metal: The Cult Never Dies Vol. I", Silencer's black-and-white, love-or-hate existence lies solely within its vocal performance. There are many legends surrounding Nattramn's existence, mostly of his own design. We don't know his real name, nor where he actually lives. We only know he has been institutionalized, maybe due to species dysphoria -- the rumors of him cutting off his hands and replacing them with pig trotters are false, though his book of poetry "Grishjärta" (pig's heart) outlines a complete detachment from humanity. Instead of feeling empowered by his condition, however, Nattramn just wants to fucking die, and this self-hatred certainly manifests in his vocal performance. This wailing, gibbering sort of moaning, screeching, crying, and choking truly makes this music hard to listen to. I love it, and have gone as far enough to own the album on all three formats, have framed my poster, and wear a t-shirt with pride, but even I can only take it in small doses. Okay, another album which isn't necessarily black metal, but, much like Moévöt, exists adjacent to it and carries its spirit. Absolutely bewitching music, the sounds of hexes and creatures in the woods. Some refer to this as darkwave, which, fine, makes sense, but there is a terrifying blackness to Nebelhexë and Nachthexe's gloomy synthesizer and voice incantations. Some are quick to cite their marriages with notable black metal luminaries Samoth and Fenriz, but I feel Aghast's creepy sounds come from a different place of darkness than the castles and snow which fueled Emperor and Darkthrone (as well as deny the notable, chauvinistic sense of discrediting among black metal fans, but I digress). Hexerei Im Zwielicht Der Finsternis, "Witchcraft in the Twilight of Darkness," celebrates the obscured magick from deep within the soul, what drove people to practice black magic in the first place. This is truly possessed, and perfect for the elongated darkness in the days ahead. I always jokingly described this album as "sounding like skeletons riding horseback," though I guess that also fully described the album cover. Toteslaut definitely suffers from performance issues -- the drums never fully stay "on time," the riffs shift, and the album generally scuttles along -- but that adds to its charm. The clumsiness adds to this slinking, horrific atmosphere which absolutely resembles images of skeletons reassembling and slowly shambling their way toward you, the stiff, terrified victim. Unfortunately, Nåstrond were never able to recreate this sound on future releases, eventually fully moving into ambient territory before breaking up last year, but at least we are left with this testament to black metal's earlier sense of terror and horror.Doing the Right Thing: Dawn Ray’d Discusses “The Unlawful Assembly”
The Listening Party: Lachlan Dale
Beneath’s “Ephemeris” Brings Sci-Fi Fantasies to Life
Ten Folk Albums Which Inspired Of Hearth & Home’s “Songs Of Love & Warmth”
Lay my body upon the altar
Offer my flesh to the ravens
A woven platter of fruit
Adorned with wild flowers
Arrange my bones within the hollow
Face my skull to the north
Light candles and sing
Sing of beauty, sing of life
Sing of beauty, sing of death…Concept and Bombast: Moonspell’s “1755” (Album Premiere)
Live Report: The Obsessed, Cobalt, and Savage Master
Krallice release collab album with Neurosis’ Dave Edwardson, playing shows
Barrowlands Find Warmth Inside The Frost On “Tyndir”
Malokarpatan Celebrates Old Ways On “Nordkarpatenland”
Editor’s Choice: The Evil That Men Do
Live Report: Boris, Helms Alee and Endon
Five Spooky Albums For Your Halloween
All Soundstage photos by Blair Hopkins
…