Concerts I've been to over the past few months (part 4): Maryland Deathfest IX

May 2011

This show was a big one, so it requires its own entry....

Maryland Deathfest IX on May 27th, 28th, and 29th, 2011 at Sonar in Baltimore, Maryland

The trip up there wasn’t so good, having to wait an hour for the bus to start up and trying to sleep, but it was well worth it. At least the trip home was 20 times better…for some reason it’s easier to get through customs when returning back home to Canada.

I ended up traveling by myself and while it did suck to be myself sometimes (mainly on the bus rides), there is a plus to traveling independently: you don’t get dragged around by others haha, and you really gain a sense of independence and freedom. For that reason I loved traveling by myself…it was my first time traveling outside of the country on my own, that’s an accomplishment for me!

Anyways, now I’ll do my best to summarize the past 3 days. I met some great people as usual, and discovered some new music I will be looking into listening to more. Next year will be difficult to top, but it is the 10th anniversary so we’ll see what’s in store!

I didn’t spend much on merch, as I was on a budget. I think I ended up spending $30 on shirts, which is pretty impressive for me, hah. Surprised I managed to hold back because there was so much good stuff being sold there. In the end, I purchased Inquisition and Neurosis shirts, I’ll have pictures of them soon once I finish altering them so they actually fit me.

Here’s a recap of the shows I saw:

Day 1, May 27th:

Nails: I don’t listen to much hardcore at all, but they were really good. I was close to the stage at first, but had to move back to really hear what their music sounded like, as it sounded like a big muffled mess closer up.





Nocturnal: Female-fronted death metal. There are several bands with this name, so I’m having a difficult time finding anything about them. First time hearing them, but I was glad to have heard them.





Funebrarum: Watched their performance based on the recommendation of a friend at the fest. More death metal, they seemed like really nice guys.






Aura Noir: I had just listened to their album ‘Black Thrash Metal’ and was intrigued after hearing it. They sound better live, I really like a ‘blackened thrash’ sound.






Neurosis:The one band I had been waiting to see all day, and one of the main reasons I had decided to go to mdf this year. I managed to secure a spot in the second row…but just as I did, it was clear it was going to rain by the clouds looming overhead. Rain and thunderstorm it did! As a result, everyone in the crowd had to wait for the storm to pass- which it did, but an hour later. The rain didn’t damper anyone’s spirits though, as the energy was still quite high for when they finally did begin to play. Neurosis sounds much heavier live, and I’m so happy they decided to end their set with ‘Through Silver In Blood.’ I knew they were going to play that song when they brought out the extra drums! Neurosis’ performance was definitely one of my personal highlights.

Exhumed: I couldn’t see much of their set, but I liked what I heard. Some grindcore to end the night was a good way to go. When they ended their set, all I remember seeing was them raise up their guitars so the backs were revealed to say something having to do with blood and grindcore… I can’t remember. But I do remember seeing the lead vocalist’s bloody face and the dried blood on the stage leftover from their performances the next two days of the fest! I’m pretty sure the blood was fake though.

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Day 2, May 28th:

Creative Waste: Grindcore from Saudi Arabia. Apparently their guitarist had cancelled out last minute, so they had a replacement guitarist, he did well. I never would have known he was a replacement until the vocalist had said so. I don’t listen to much grindcore because I’m pretty particular about it, but I thought they were good.




Mammoth Grinder: Hardcore/sludge from Texas. I think because of the added sludge elements I liked them better than most hardcore I have heard…also the vocals were to my liking.






Cretin: Grindcore/deathgrind band I ended up staying around for because I had no clue who to go see next, hah. I wasn’t familiar with their music or any of the other bands playing outside. I think their music was pretty intense sounding, and again I liked the vocals.




Cianide: I ended up watching them after someone I had met during the Cretin set suggested we go watch them. Cianide is a death metal band from the states, but with doom metal elements! They were really impressive, I liked the heavier sound. They’re one of those bands that I should have listened to a lot sooner.




Nunslaughter: Meh. I just couldn’t get into their music. At least the drummer was entertaining to watch…he had a really funny voice, he was doing commentary in between songs to introduce each one, hah.





In Solitude: Heavy metal from Sweden. I watched their performance as someone had recommended I go see them, saying they were great live. They weren’t kidding! I really don’t listen to much heavy metal, but In Solitude was amazing. Before going to the show I had listened to their self-titled album; listening to it at home just doesn’t do justice to their live performance. I’d say their music was a welcome change from all the death metal I had listened to over the past day and a half.


Hail of Bullets: Death metal from The Netherlands. Again, saw them based on a friend’s suggestion. So glad I did, they were awesome. The band has members from Asphyx, one of my favourite bands. The vocalist, Martin van Drunen, is one of my favourite vocalists as well.




Doom: Managed to catch the last 10 minutes of their set, so I don’t remember much. I just remember the place was packed for them. I’ll have to check out their music elsewhere.






Exhorder: I watched their performance from the other side of the fence, as opposed to on the grounds. More thrash metal I’ll have to look into.







Voivod: A friend of mine from Québec had said that Voivod were one of the really good live bands they had seen, and now I can add them to my list of great live performances too. I hadn’t heard their music at all, except for a cover of ‘Forgotten in Space’ done by Agoraphobic Nosebleed. The crowd loved them, and all I can say is fyeah Canada, haha.



Acid Witch: After Voivod I made my way to the indoors stage to secure a spot for Acid Witch’s set, and the final two sets of the night (which I will get to). I was really anticipating these last 3 performances. I was pretty excited to hear Acid Witch, as I had heard they played psychedelic death/doom metal. Really liked them, not disappointed at all. I usually don’t like keyboards or synths in bands, but it worked well with the music…well I guess that kind of thing would be integral to creating a psychedelic sound anyways.


Hooded Menace: Another reason I had come to mdf was to see these guys. They seemed like a very reserved band, not really interacting with the audience. All the members were wearing hoodies, how suiting. Their performance was killer, so heavy.




Inquisition: I was really excited to see them, since I knew they would be playing a set with mostly new material. They opened with ‘Astral Path to Supreme Majesties’, which is my favourite track from the new album. The guitarist didn’t play the crazy riff in it like I was expecting, guess it’s omitted from live performances. Still, I can’t complain as they were another highlight for me. I was so lucky to be front row, plenty of room to headbang hah. The vocals still sound very strange, he sounds like ET, but somehow it’s likable….I guess it works with the style of music. Their set got cut short by one song because of time limitations, but it was still a 10/10 set.

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Day 3, May 29th and the final day:

Oak: Doom/death metal from Baltimore, excellent. No words really needed for them, I just wish they had played longer.







Nightbringer:Black metal band I ended up staying around to watch because there were no other bands playing outside, hah. Nothing mind-blowing about their music, but I didn’t mind it. They weren’t boring to watch/hear or anything. I liked the corpse paint designs on the vocalist’s and guitarist/vocalist’s faces, they were more intricate looking then other designs I’ve seen.


Bad Acid Trip: This band confused me a bit, as I didn’t know what to make of their music. I didn’t hate their performance, but I was trying to figure out what I would classify them as…probably something along the lines up experimental grindcore. I will say that they were really entertaining to watch though, the vocalist was quite charismatic, dancing about and making weird gestures and facial expressions haha. During their set, the mdf party brigade struck, with people in the pit throwing inflatable toys and glow sticks onto the stage, haha. The vocalist went along with it though, playing with the toys and glow sticks, so funny to watch.

Dead Congregation: Excellent death metal from Greece, I was so excited to see them. Another highlight for me! I was lucky to be in the front row for a bit, until it started to get really crazy and some big guy nearly crushed me to get my spot…damn my being skinny. Oh well, they were great, even better than I had hoped for. The vocals and instrumentation complement each other really well.

Nokturnel: Can’t remember much from their set at all, I think I was sitting down at that point and wasn’t really focusing on their music.







Repugnant: A friend at the fest had told me this band featured members from Ghost, so I figured hey, why not go see them. More death metal, not bad at all. I was a bit confused as to why they were wearing corpse paint though, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a death metal band use it.

Malignant Tumour: Another band I was sitting down for and wasn’t really focusing on anything. Yeah, at this point I was dead tired. Again, I’ll have to check out their music elsewhere.






Orange Goblin: After taking a short break, I managed to get a spot up front for Orange Goblin, a stoner metal band from the UK. Again, this was a contrast with much of the other music that was being played over the weekend, so I was content watching them. The crowd really liked them, and the vocalist was really interactive with the audience.


Coroner: After taking another break, I felt like I had enough energy to watch the legendary Coroner. I had never listened to them before (I know their name), but I knew I should go watch them because of the big deal that was being made over their appearance at the fest; I probably might not have had another chance to see them if I missed them at mdf. This was their first performance in the US in 15 years, so I could understand peoples’ excitement. I actually really enjoyed their set, really good thrash metal. They ended up playing two encore songs, which was awesome.

Last Days of Humanity: I don’t know how I managed to stay around for the last two bands of the night, but somehow I did. Last Days of Humanity is a grindcore band I had heard of because of the video ‘Ernie and Bert go brutal’…..haha. Probably a strange way to hear of a band, but whatever. During their set, I saw someone in the crowd with an Ernie puppet, making it thrash about, hahah. Guess they probably saw the video too. The mdf party brigade also made a visit, with people in the pit wearing costumes (one person was wearing a chicken costume- I should add I saw a chicken crowd surf for the first time this weekend), someone moving about with in inflatable unicorn that eventually tossed onto the stage, and more glow sticks tossed onto the stage. But back to the music! This band is one of the craziest bands I have heard live, I was surprised I didn’t mind hearing their music as I didn’t like the vocals at first- also, the drums are crazy!

Ghost: The final band of the night and the final band of this year’s round of mdf. I was really looking forward to seeing them too. This band took me a bit to get into, because like I stated before I am not too familiar with the genre of heavy metal. Ghost’s music has some psychedelic elements, so it gives it a bit of a twist. The band performed their whole album ‘Opus Eponymous’, and came out on stage decked out in costumes- the vocalist had his typical sparkly pope outfit and skull face, while the rest of the band wore cloaks with chains around their necks. I don’t know how they managed to perform under those hot lights with costumes, it reminded me a bit of Portal in that sense. Just like on their album, they ended with the instrumental track ‘Genesis’, which sounded so much better in person. I personally really liked their performance, it was a better ending to mdf compared to last year’s final band of the fest. For some reason I enjoy the vocals, but I know some people would think of them as annoying…and their music in general. But to each their own, right? :P

More photos can be found here, hereand here.

I’m so happy I made the trip, I saw some of the best performances I have seen yet! Also, I would say I saw a fair amount of bands this year :D There are some ridiculous looking photos of myself on this site....oh dear.

The lineup for next year is already starting to look very, very promising....so with that said, I'll be making the trek again.