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June 4, 2010
Report & Photos by Jesse
Maryland Death Festival 8 - 2010
Hi everyone.  Yes, we made it through another Maryland Deathfest and with our attendance to the pre-fest this time, it was our longest MDF as well.  Four days of intense metal shows is an endurance test like no other, especially considering the weather and heat.  If you read my report from last year, you’ll know never to let me try and predict your future.  They didn’t move the fest and the proverbial “ace up the sleeve” never materialized, at least not from where I was standing.  I guess it was easy to get caught up in the major coup it was for them to have Bolt Thrower play and adding the outside stage that I didn’t think that they would be as content as they were to ride that wave for another year and basically tread water like they did.  Granted, they had a score of cancelations this time which did lessen the fest’s overall impact and was out of their control, especially the very late cancelations of Sodom and “Possessed,” even though Sadistic Intent played Possessed songs during their set, whatever.

There was nothing wrong with the lineup this year, but the fact that so many of the main bands were announced so early, we were left wondering if there was going to be that one huge addition seeing as they had so much time to do so, and who knows, maybe they were trying to and it never happened.  It just seems that with the kind of pull MDF has, Obituary and Entombed were not very inspired additions.  They still rock the fuck out and people love the hell out of them and they both certainly delivered.  Cancelations are inevitable, but the replacements this year were pretty lazy too.  Krallice?  They could’ve gotten them to play on a day’s notice if they had to.  Nirvana 2002? Now, before all of the underground nerds come yelling, I know of their significance to the Swedish death metal scene, but they’re a relic.  They’ve done next to nothing in the recording department and if not for a lot of praise in that Swedish Death Metal book, no one would even know who they are (and neither would the majority of you reading this who are getting all huffy) and Relapse wouldn’t have released that demo compilation album.  I’m not saying don’t invite them to play, but a four p.m. slot on the inside stage would have been more fitting and not second-to-last on one of the outside stages.

That of course, brings us to the big “reunion” bands: Autopsy and Gorguts.  Let me preface this by saying that I did not watch either one.  Not because I don’t like them, but because circumstances worked out so that I had more important things going on.  Either way, both bands benefit largely from being absent for such long periods of time.  “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” never rang more true than in the case of Autopsy.  Highly influential and a classic name but  I’m convinced that had they been active this entire time, releasing albums, touring and playing fests like most other bands, they would not be headlining material at MDF.  Same for Gorguts but to a lesser extent seeing as they haven’t been dormant for quite as long as Autopsy.

But enough of that, let’s get to the fest!
The pre-fest on Thursday was just like the old days.  One stage and nothing doing outside the club.  It was nice to show up at the hotel and not have to wait in line and get our room a few hours before check-in which would really prove its worth on Friday when everyone would be showing up at once.  Opening the entire event would be Ex Dementia; a fairly young band with huge potential who play a gore-drenched style of old-school death metal akin to what you typically see on Razorback’s roster.
Closing out the night would be two of the fest’s biggest crowd-favorites, Birdflesh and General Surgery, who seem to play nearly every year, for good reason.  I’ve said this before and will say it again; Birdflesh are the goofiest grind band to ever rip the skin off of your face.  Just total insane fun and the crowd goes complete apeshit for them.  You haven’t seen a mosh pit until you see Birdflesh at MDF.  General Surgery never disappoints with their groovy goregrind and I never get tired of seeing them.  On any other day, that would have been an amazing single-night tour show, but was only an appetizer.
Nekromantheon
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Nekromantheon was the next band that we were interested in seeing and they really surprised me and most other people watching.  The singer was wearing an Aura Noir shirt which was very fitting considering that they were basically Aura Noir Jr.  A ripping thrash three-piece that had the crowd going crazy, Nekromantheon is a band to seriously watch for in the future.  P.L.F. seems to really be gaining some momentum lately and are becoming much more known in the grind scene.  After seeing them play at last year’s fest, I also saw them here in Austin with Unholy Grave and here they are again playing Maryland Deathfest.  They deserve all the attention too as they really are impressive.
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Since adding the third day to the fest, Friday’s lineup on the two previous years were a little underwhelming and sort of came off as a pre-fest of its own.  Good bands for sure, but they held back on the quantity of big names by only having a few each time.  This year would be a different story completely. 

Before I get into the bands, let me quickly describe the new stage arrangements as there was a second outside stage this year.  The street in front of the Sonar was again closed and fenced in and on one end was the new stage, right next to that Hollywood Diner.  The other stage was on the other end and around the corner of the club.  This was good and bad.  The good was that since they weren’t directly facing each other, if two bands happened to be playing at the same time (which did happen a few times) then there was little worry of the sound clashing.  The bad was that the “side lot” stage, as it was called, was so far away that you either had to leave the band you were watching early to get a good spot or just resign to the fact that you were going to be in the back because most sets were either five minutes apart or started at the exact time the other band was supposed to end, which doesn’t happen.  The other thing about the side lot stage was that it was at an incline, meaning you were looking slightly up at the band.  That’s good if all you care about is being able to see them, but if you wanted it loud, you had to be very close to the stage.  Down at the bottom of the hill, the sound was not loud enough to require earplugs.  The problem with both outside stages is that the speakers are head-level with the crowd and with no walls for the sound to reverberate off of, it got noticeably quieter the further back you went.  The speakers should have been elevated and pointed down slightly.  Too many bodies created a muffling effect.  Back to the point of having to move from stage to stage, don’t forget about the inside stage and overlapping sets.  There was a lot of movement and a lot of clock-watching which does distract you from watching the bands.
general_surgerybd2
We got there a little late and ended up standing in line for almost forty-five minutes only to see the notice at the entrance that Possessed wouldn’t be playing tonight due to missed flights.  There’s always one.  Watain requested to play inside, so I guess either another band on the inside stage dropped off too that I didn’t notice, or they played outside, switching with Watain.  After getting inside and situated with the surroundings and acquiring a beer for each hand, it was almost time for Nazxul to play.  This would be our first chance to see how the new stage would work out and sound.  I have to say that Nazxul sounded amazing, if you were close enough.  They had a very tight set and never once had a stoppage in play.  I still think they should have been playing inside though.
After them, we walked over to the side stage to see the only band that would be playing on it that night, Malignancy.  Complete contrast to Nazxul, Malignancy is brutal, technical death metal with a total joker for a singer.  Pretty entertaining and fun to watch.  I left a few minutes early to catch the end of Birds of Prey’s set and wished that I had caught more of it.  After some socializing outside, we went back inside and claimed a spot up near the front for what would be one of the top three sets of the whole weekend.  Watain blew the entire place up and the people crammed in so tight that it was hard to breathe.  They had plenty of stuff on stage to add to their atmosphere and I couldn’t even imagine how lackluster it would have been if they had been outside.  They were just plain evil.  Their set was fairly long, over an hour I want to say, so that by the time they were done, Gorguts had already started and the crowd for them was packed.  After that onslaught from Watain, I wasn’t about to force my way up close for Gorguts and honestly needed a break and a breather.  From where I was, Gorguts sounded great, but I couldn’t make out any single song.  After our extended break, it was inside for Coffins who I’ve wanted to see again since the last time they played when they lost a lot of time fixing a broken guitar string.  Heavy, heavy, heavy.  Coffins brings the death/doom like only Runemagick can.
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Nekromantheon
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General Surgery
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Malignancy
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Watain
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BANDS AND SHOW TIMES:

Friday, May 28, 2010
MAIN ROOM STAGE
3:30 - 3:55 - The Communion
4:10 - 4:35 - Putrescence
4:50 - 5:20 - Defeatist
5:35 - 6:05 - Tombs
6:20 - 6:50 - Jesus Crost
7:05 - 7:35 - Birds of Prey
7:50 - 8:20 - Trap Them
8:35 - 9:35 - Watain
10:45 - 11:20 - Gride
11:35 - 12:15 - Coffins
12: 30 - to end of night - D.R.I.

OUTDOOR STAGE 1
5:50 - 6:30 - Nazxul
9:40 - 10:40 - Gorguts

OUTDOOR STAGE 2
6:45 - 7:20 - Malignancy

Saturday, May 29, 2010
MAIN ROOM STAGE
11:45 - 12:10 - Howl
12:25 - 12:55 - Sulaco
1:10 - 1:40 - Fuck the Facts
1:55 - 2:25 -Ingrowing
2:40 - 3:10 - Obliteration
3:25 - 3:55- Jucifer
4:10 - 4:45 - Impaled
5:00 - 5:45 - Blood Duster
6:10 - 6:40 - Verbal Abuse
10:45 - 11:20 - Deceased
11:35 - 12:15 - Wolfbrigade
12:30 - to end of night - Portal

OUTDOOR STAGE 1
2:50 - 3:25 - Total Fucking Destruction
4:10 - 4:55 - Sadistic Intent
5;55 - 6:40 - Melechesh
7:40 - 8:30 - Repulsion
9:40 - 10:40 - Autopsy

OUTDOOR STAGE 2
2:15 - 2:45 - Fang
3:25 - 4:10 - The Chasm
5:10 - 5:55 - Incantation
6:40 - 7:35 - Asphyx
8:35 - 9:35 - Sodom

Sunday, May 30, 2010
MAIN ROOM STAGE
11:45 - 12:00 - Honkey Kong
12:15 - 12:45 - Rottenness
1:00 - 1:25 - Surroundings
1:40 - 2:10 -Massgrave
2:25 - 3:00 - Rompeprop
3:35 - 4:05 - Crucifist
4:40 - 5:10 - Gridlink
6:20 - 6:50 - Black Breath
8:00 - 8:30 - Captain Cleanoff
10:00 - 10:25 - Magrudergrind
10:40 - 11:10 - Capitalist Casualties
11:25 - 12:05 - From Ashes Rise
12:20 - to end of night - Converge

OUTDOOR STAGE 1
3:00 - 3:35 - Gorod
4:20- 5:05 - Necrophobic
6:00 - 6:45 - Pestilence
7:35 - 8:30 - Pentagram
9:40 - 10:40 - Obituary

OUTDOOR STAGE 2
2:00 - 2:30 - Krallice
3:35 - 4:20 - Sinister
5:10 - 6:00 - Eyehategod
6:55 - 7:30 - N2002
8:35 - 9:35 - Entombed
NEXT 1 2 3
Click on any photo in
this report to enlarge.
1 2 3
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Birdflesh
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General Surgery
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Nazxul
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Watain