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October 4, 2008
Reporter: Jesse
Maryland Death Festival 6 - 2008

BANDS AND SHOW TIMES:

Friday - May 23, 2008
Skarp - 5:15 - 5:45
Afgrund - 6:00 - 6:30
Torsofuck -  6:45 - 7:20
Ingrowing  - 7:40 - 8:15
The Day Everything Became Nothing - 8:30 - 9:05
Phobia - 9:20 - 9:55
Squash Bowels - 10:10 - 10:50
Martyr - 11:05 - 11:45
Grave - 12:00 - 1:00

Saturday - May 24, 2008
Decrypt - 12:25 - 12:50
Defeatist - 1:05 - 1:35
Keitzer - 1:50 - 2:20
Kalibas - 2:35 - 3:05
Waco Jesus - 3:20 - 3:55
Behold...The Arctopus -
4:10 - 4:45
Defeated Sanity - 5:00 - 5:35
Flesh Parade - 5:50 - 6:25
Disfear - 6:40 - 7:20
Coffins - 7:35 - 8:15
Fuck...I'm Dead - 8:30 - 9:10
Ghoul - 9:25 - 10:05
Repulsion - 10:20 - 11:00
Monstrosity - 11:15 - 11:55
Anaal Nathrakh - 12:10 - 1:10

Sunday - May 25, 2008
Copremesis - 1:05 - 1:35
Infected Malignity - 1:50 - 2:20
Japanische Kampfhörspiele - 2:35 - 3:05
Engorged - 3:20 - 3:55
Gruesome Stuff
        Relish - 4:10 - 4:45
Hellnation - 5:00 - 5:35
Circle of Dead
        Children - 5:50 - 6:25
Gadget - 6:40 - 7:20
Dead - 7:35 - 8:15
Impaled - 8:30 - 9:10
Dying Fetus - 9:25 - 10:05
Macabre - 10:20 - 11:00
Blood Duster - 11:15 - 11:55
Nuclear Assault - 12:10 - 1:10
So as we waited for the last member of our entourage to arrive from his six hour drive from New York City, we got ready to head down to the venue.  Time was on our side though as it started late seeing as it was only a half-day of sorts and the first two bands were forgettable as far as we were concerned.  Torsofuck probably should’ve been added to that list as they were quite boring.  Ingrowing had a small bit of hype coming in because it took so much just to get them into the country.  Czech bands have had a notoriously difficult time obtaining visas, so for them to finally get approved was a huge win for the organizers and the fans.  I was stoked and I have to say that they lived up to it.  Very impressive and clearly professional.  They were quite gracious as well at their merch table; fist-bumping people and multi-grip handshaking and giving away lots of stuff to anyone who bought stuff.  Cool fucking dudes. 
Whether or not death and grind is your thing, you have to respect the daunting task it must have been for the organizers to pull it off.  Bands from clear across the world were there and were there in numbers and the professionalism was bursting at the seams.  The Maryland Deathfest is no two-bit local showcase with one or two big names.  The lineup is chock full of bands who could headline just about any other show across the country.  In fact, one fest that will not be mentioned by name had a headliner that almost opened MDF on Friday until they were moved to midday on Sunday.  Nothing against that fest, but it just shows the magnitude of the star-power in this year’s lineup.

We made our third consecutive annual pilgrimage to Baltimore from east-central Pennsylvania in the usual fashion.  The Mount Vernon hotel was our destination this year as we dumped the Sheraton and their ridiculous rates as well as their attraction to yuppie scum.  We needed a dirtier, older and rowdier hotel to call home for three days and the Mount Vernon was just that.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great hotel and the staff were all very friendly to a bunch of social rejects with tiresomely offensive shirts… and there wasn’t a single dick-headed lacrosse player to be found.  While we were standing in the lobby waiting for our room to be ready, one of the managers and her supervisors started talking to us and were just wondering what the event was that brought all these long-hairs and Satan shirts into their hotel.  I told them it was the Maryland Deathfest and it happens every Memorial Day weekend.  So then the typical “who’s playing?” questions start coming.  Long story short, they were sorry they asked.

Another Memorial Day weekend brings us to yet another Maryland Deathfest.  Number 6 to be exact and this one would have high expectations to live up to.  The largest billing to date because of the addition of Friday to the main fest and not just a pre-fest as it had been known in the past.  If Grave is playing, then there’s nothing “pre” about it.  It’s the real deal.  In fact, the entire list of bands was humbling.  Maryland Deathfest has solidified itself as the premiere metal fest in North America. 

Ingrowing

Mount Vernon
Hotel
seemed like their set was reserved a tad. Grave was killer.  This was my first Grave show in the nearly fifteen years that I’ve been a fan, so I was highly pumped.  They played a nice clump of their classics but still left off a few notable songs in which I was slightly disappointed by.  They also seemed to play far too much from their new album which made no sense to me.  On a label-driven tour, I could understand, but this is a one-time fest appearance and the new album had just barely been released.  Come on guys, you know what the fans at these types of shows want to hear.

were very good at it.  Squash Bowels were a little bit of a disappointment as they had no stage antics at all.  I was under the impression that they were partially known for that.  Good set, but even the guttural growls were missing.   So up to this point, it had been nothing but grind bands and we were about to be treated to two veteran bands of distinctly different styles.  The fact that Squash Bowels played third to last kind of lent credence to the fact that even though Friday was meant to be part of the fest, it still felt like a “pre-fest.”  On the full days, the third to last slot is generally reserved for one of the bigger names on the fest and the contrast is usually mixed in more often.  By the time Martyr played, their style was a bit of a shock.  I thought they played very well and had really good sound, but it didn’t seem to me that they played their best stuff.  I’ve been listening to them for several years and I don’t consider myself to be an expert of  their  material,  but  it
Leaving the venue that night after Grave was finished was much different from previous years.  For one, there were still two full days left and we were still up for more drinking seeing as we only arrived at about 6:30pm.  It was a nice feeling not to be sore as hell.  That would change.

One  awesome aspect of MDF weekend
is the influx of metal heads into Baltimore.  For three days, we inundate that city.  When we’re all assembled at the show, we obviously are at home with each other, but as we spread out into the touristy parts of town, namely the inner harbor, the looks of disgust from the natives are priceless.  Shirts with hilariously awful sentiment are in everyone’s faces.  “I Am a Human Toilet,” Lividity - “It’s Not About Satan, It’s About Pussy,” Waco Jesus - Domestic Battery with an outline of a woman in crutches and of course the endless amount of Satan praise and anti Jesusness.  The cast of characters are in full force as usual at MDF.

Grave

Grave
The Day Everything Became Nothing, as my buddy Jim aptly pointed out, was like the Hatebreed of grind.  Groovy and heavy as hell with breakdowns every- where, only they had ultra deep growls.  Lots of fun and it would become a trend that the Aussie bands in attendance came to impress.  Phobia did their best Napalm   Death   impression   and

Martyr

Disfear

Coffins
Photos courtesy of Brandi Valenza
So, after that yawn-inducing set was over, Disfear, one of the highlights of the entire fest played next and were seriously a joy to see.  So much energy and just loved the fact that they were there. No pretenses or jokes.. just rocked for forty minutes. Lindberg is an amazing frontman.

Coffins was really cool in a Runemagick sort of way. The singer was really short though, so I could barely see anything on stage.  Then someone broke a string and that took a lot off of their set, which was disappointing.

The next four bands would prove to be most intense three hours of the fest, by far.  Fuck… I’m Dead were the second Aussie band to play and were a  complete  surprise
cooler. Behold… the Arctopus, as expected, was a complete trip to see live.  For about 3 songs anyway.  The sixteen string bass (which is basically just two fret boards stuck together side by side) is quite the attraction and watching the guy handle that thing like it’s nothing was impressive.  But gimmicks bore easily.  Cool band though.

Defeated Sanity is a fairly typical brutal death band who aren’t anything to write home about.  Not bad, but not great.  Flesh Parade I don’t get.  This is where the huge difference between grind heads and death heads come out.  If you listened to the grind fans, you’d think that Flesh Parade blew everyone away and destroyed the entire place.  What I saw was a band who had no set list and couldn’t figure out what song to play next and spent a good portion of their set just standing around staring at each other.  Grind fans’ bias is extremely transparent when they’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt to unprofessionalism  and  rail  against  bands  who  actually  know  what  they’re doing.
So after being tourists for the afternoon, we made our way back to Sonar in time to catch Waco Jesus and ready ourselves for a great nine hours.  Waco was great and super fun as expected.  The singer must have had about ten beers on stage during their set. Really dig that band.The drummer was manning their merch table the next day  and  couldn't  have  been cooler.

Inner Harbor
to me. They all came out wearing white dress shirts and black ties and were probably the most incredible grind band I’ve ever seen live.  Amazing aggression.  Before Ghoul even took the stage, those who have seen them know that they were going to be the most theatrically awesome band of the weekend.  First, amid some creepy organ-grinding music, a hunchback with an old man Halloween mask came out onto the stage and introduced them.  “All the way from Creepsylvania…. GHOULLLLLL!!!”  Then the four freaks in bloodstained burlap bags on their heads came running out and induced the most impressive and massive most pit an indoors show has ever seen.  It had to have been fifty feet in diameter, and that’s probably being conservative.  Saying that Ghoul is a crowd favorite would be an understatement to end all understatements.  A few times between songs, this goofy “preacher” wearing a cape and a dollar sign would come out and speak in a southern accent about all the sinners in the audience and called Jesus “a great banker” which made me laugh for a while.  The second time he came out, the “mutant mutilator” appeared from backstage and tore his neck out with fake blood going everywhere.  Ghoul just fucking rules so much.


Ghoul
Photos courtesy of Brandi Valenza
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