Maryland Deathfest 2009

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Maryland Deathfest 2009

Written by Scott Cameron

Saturday, 30 May 2009 20:52

MARYLAND DEATHFEST MAY 22-24, 2009
BALTIMORE, MD. @ THE SONAR:

Day 1.

After departing Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on the “red-eye”, we arrived to the Baltimore Airport around 8:20am on Thursday May 21st. We took the Super Shuttle to the hotel “Tremont Plaza Hotel” and we were lucky, because check in time was at 4:00pm. We tossed our luggage in our room and went out to explore a little bit of Baltimore. We had a challenging time finding the Edgar Allen Poe house and exhibit. We found the Westminster Cemetery where Poe has a tombstone and other relatives are buried. When we finally located the Poe house, it turned out to be fucking closed for some odd reason!! Back to the hotel after a stop for some liquor and beer. Then we headed to Little Italy to this awesome Italian restaurant and we had a literal feast of kick ass food. The Crab Cakes were killer. We made it back to our hotel room and had a drink and got ready to head down to the Sonar for the Pre Party with Ghoul!

We had gone down to the Sonar earlier to get our tickets for the pre party. So we get down there and the partying commences. Watching Pigsty from Czech Republic was cool. Great band. Good riffs and energy. They had this thrash, grindcore vibe. During Pigsty, I was made aware that Bolt Thrower were standing next to us watching as well. And we had our picture with Karl Willets (Cheers Mate). What a great bunch of lads. Karl advised us to get to the venue EARLY in order to get prime and very limited Bolt Thrower Merch!! Though it’s a little foggy, there might have been another band that I watched, but they were forgettable. I was drinking pretty heavily and meeting new friends. Also our friend Jose Luis of Sol Negro showed up (he roomed with us). The beers were 2.50 (PRB tall boy) to 6.00 for a Heineken tall boy in a can. Time for Ghoul to take the stage. And they did not disappoint. They came out to a crowd of at least 300 people, wearing their traditional redneck flannel shirts and pillow cases over their heads with one eye cut out and soaked in fake blood. Sound was pretty good. I have seen Ghoul previously, but I think they were better at MDF. Great crowd response and there was plenty of moshing and crowd surfing. Ghoul played a nice long set of about an hour and went through the classics from “We Came For The Dead” and “Maniaxe” mainly. They did get me to headbang for a couple of minutes. But because of the overnight flight the night before from Seattle, I had severe jetlag. I slept for 3 hours tops on the plane. So we hung out for a little bit after the pre party music was over. We stumbled back to the hotel for a night cap and pretty much passed out before 2 am. Day one tomorrow and we were all pretty tired.

Set lists:

Pigsty-
1. Deviant In Your Bath
2. Pigs Are Back
3. Fly's Last Minute
4. Hyperspeed
5. Demon Alcohol
6. Time Has Come...
7. Pig Football
8. Thief
9. Malmignata
10. Reborn
11. Sewing Machine

Ghoul
1.Intro
2.Numbskull
3.Bury the Hatchet
4.Splatterthrash
5.Mutant Mutilator
6.Roadkill
7.Maniaxe
8.Rise Killbot, Rise
9.Graveyard Mosh
10.Gutbucket Blues
11. Kids in America

Day One- May 22, 2009

Ok, getting up at around 10:45am. So I was the last up I think. But it felt damn good to get 9 hours of sleep. We got a beer in us and then headed back to the Westminster/Poe cemetery so Luis could see it. And then we headed to the Poe museum/house and they were open! Some "deathfesters" were just finishing their trip through and we paid our dues and got a little history on Poe, his life, his death and the house. I will never forget the elderly lady working the house “There was grave robbing” and “There were premature burials”. I was like “Cool”!!!!!!! She talked about how the more wealthy folk would have bells and flags on their graves that went down into their coffins so if they woke up they could alert their family. The Poe House was cool but so very small because they were so poor. We looked at the documents on the wall, the paintings and sketchings of some of his work. The bedroom upstairs was roped off but we could go to the top of these hellishly bizarre and small steps to have a looksee. My friends bought some Poe shit at the end (shirts, buttons, etc) and then we headed out into the scorching Baltimore sun. On the way back we walked down Lexington avenue and ran into the Lexington Square. This huge food court place with some shops but mostly food. We had these extra prime crab cakes that tasted seriously delicious. Then it was back to the hotel to chill and drink and get ready for the evening of metal. We had a lot of band members from prominent MDF bands staying at our hotel, so we had heard Marduk had canceled before we even went down to the venue. Bummer, but no surprise really. A Visa issue. My comrades went back to the liquor store for a ½ gallon of 10 dollar cheap Baltimore vodka and a case of beer while I showered. So we partied for a few and then headed down to the Sonar at around 3:10pm (it was a 8 minute walk from the hotel). We had to stand in this long assed line. Watching people come out of the venue with Bolt Thrower merch in their hot little hands and I started to get a bit nervous. You see, Bolt Thrower only sell their shirts and shit at shows. And they do not tour anymore. But play a show here, or a show there. We got in and marched right to the Bolt Thrower merch booth. There were only 2 people in front of us buying shit. We were lucky and between the three of us, probably spent 175 bucks on Bolt Thrower merch. One sided shirts were 10, Two sided ones were 12 and quality Bolt Thrower MDF zip hoodies were only 30 dollars. My only regret was not getting a baseball cap, they were just 10 bucks! We took our armloads of BT merch back to the hotel for safe keeping. People were gawking at us that were in line and I could here “Fuckkk, I hope they still have shit for sale”, and I said “Good Luck”

We went back down to the venue and headed towards the outdoor stage and Cephalic Carnage were playing. Which was weird because they were scheduled to play last inside that evening. Maybe because Marduk canceled and so they got offered to play the open air stage? The outside stage was really fucking cool. And at most times had great sound. I think I went inside and caught a couple more Pigsty songs, they played Friday as well. And I am unsure if I saw or heard Cattle Decapitation. It’s foggy. But next were the mighty Mayhem from Norway. Finally with Attila on vocals. I was witnessing history. And it felt like I was dreaming during their set. Attila wore some sort of ceremonial red and gold robe and wrap around black shades, his hair shaved short. They played a great set. My only beef were the new guitar players. Who are these dudes and why could we not hear the guitars? It made for a strange sounding show for sure. But intense none the less! Just to hear “Deathcrush” “From The Dark Past” and “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” made me very happy. And I was very pleased with “A Time to Die” from Grand Declaration of War. It sucked they only played for just about one hour. We were hoping for a longer set due to Marduk not playing. But they ended and walked off the stage. I then mingled around, talking with various people, drinking and waiting for a band that I was very excited to see live. Reunited Dutch death doom metal band Asphyx!!!! This would be the first time ever that Asphyx have played the states. So anticipation was pretty high. No let downs here. They came out to a warm welcome and got the crowd going. I could not believe I was witnessing the reformed Asphyx play Maryland Deathfest. I had chills on more than one song. When they played “The Rack” I went crazy. The set was all too brief. I think they played 11 or 12 songs. I only remember 10 (up to The Rack). Very pumped they played a new song and in just two weeks we will hear a brand new Asphyx album. Fuck yes!! Posers beware!!!!!! Martin Van Drunen rules. His vocals are still so vintage and sound so killer. What an excellent climax to the first day of MDF!! We partied a little more and mingled and then went back and partied some more at the hotel until like 3 or so in the morning. And I think we ordered 2 pizzas at like 2:15 am. We planned to go to the aquarium on Saturday. I said “planned”

Set Lists:

Mayhem-
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
My Death
Deathcrush
Front the Dark Past
A Time To Die
Silvester Anfang
Illuminate Elimiate
Freezing Moon
Pagan Fears
Buried By Time and Dust
Deconsencrate

Asphyx
1. Vermin
2. M.S. Bismarck
3. The Sickened Dwell
4. Eisenbahnmörser
5. The Krusher
6. Abomination Echoes
7. Diabolical Existence
8. Asphyx (Forgotten War)
9. Wasteland of Terror
10. The Rack

Day Two- May 23rd, 2009

Up again way too early at 10, we broke into the bloody marys about 15 minutes after we woke up. But we just hung around lazy and drank a few drinks, and met Martin Van Drunen and Karl Willets out in front of the hotel having a smoke. I mentioned to Martin how I was really looking forward to seeing Hail of Bullets that night and how I thought Asphyx fucking killed the night before! And he said “Thanks a lot man”. I gave him a swig of my bloody mary and he was like “Wow, that is really good” and he took another swig. And he mentioned something about "vitamins". Oh yeah, a bloody mary is full of vitamins bro! We said our goodbyes and decided that it was getting too late to go to the Aquarium, plus it was Memorial day weekend and the place was probably Mayhem (no pun intended). So, we decided to go to this Science museum that was 1.2 miles away. Off we go, walking again in the humid hot sun. In Black clothing. Thank satan for Gold Bond. My saviour. The museum was really cool. Lots of mostly modern art and some killer Alex Grey pieces. I have always been a fan of Alex Grey. Check him out at http://www.alexgrey.com After about 1 hour in the museum we walked back to the hotel, but walking along the Inner Harbor/Marina area. Which was cool, we could see the tall buildings and the Hard Rock Café as we walked. We saw a mother duck who was shading/sitting on 9 hatchlings and we took some pictures. By the time we got back to the main street I was Dehydrated (insert Pestilence song here)!!! We stopped at 7-11, thank hell for 7-11. I bought a ice cold sugar free red bull tall boy and a huge bottle of water. Back to the hotel to get ready for another evening of metal. We showered then started pounding Kamikazee’s and beer. I took a flask of Smirnoff’s Sour Apple Vodka with me and we headed down to the Sonar. We wanted to make sure we were there at 4:45 to see Hail of Bullets! Well they were a few minutes behind because they did not play until around 4:50. Okay. I had not heard them before, just heard some you tube. I cannot stress how refreshing this band is. The metal scene nowadays has become very stagnant. To have a band like Hail of Bullets emerge is really a metalheads dream come true. Featuring members of Pestilence, Asphyx, Gorefest and Thanatos, Hail of Bullets play straight forward old school death metal. They sounded great live and a pretty good pit was going for almost all of their too short of a set. But they did play Nachthexen and Berlin, two of my personal favorite tracks (now that I have the cd). Berlin is so fucking haunting. Martins vocals and the somber guitar solos and simply fucking awesome. This was Hail of Bullets first time in the USA (as with Asphyx, Martin’s other band) and they were welcomed with headbanging and fist pumping and moshing. Great band. Great performance. HEAVY CALIBERS OF METAL EXPLODE at MDF!!!!!!! Come back again to the states soon guys. Thank you!!!

After Hail of Bullets, I went and grabbed a tall beer and on my way back out to the main outdoor area, I stumbled across a small merch booth that had MDF shirts as well as Hail of Bullet shirts. So I bought one of each. I was looking for Luis who had a backpack that I could put the shirts in, but did not find him for like 2 hours. Up next, Brutal Truth. What a great band. It was years since I had seen them play last. I saw them early 90s and then again about 9 years ago. It was really hot when Brutal Truth were on stage. They were on fire. Playing a lot of shit from the old days and so they played over 20 songs probably. I got some great pictures because it was quite easy to get up close during Brutal Truth’s set. The singer is crazy. He would bash the microphone to his forehead and it would make a loud knocking sound from his skull. Pretty Brutal. I was sipping my flask of vodka during their set and could feel the buzz hitting me. There were plenty of freshly burning herbs all around me as well. It was great to see Danny (Lilker) again! Brutal Truth were staying at our hotel and I ran into him in the lobby, the elevator and outside a few times and got to catch up with him. I had not seen him in 5 years or so.
Immolation were next up. I decided that I would watch Immo from a distance. I have seen them many many times before and always enjoy this band. They did not seem to play very long though. Maybe 45 or 50 minutes? And the sound was not so hot either. Maybe because I was not up front? I do not know. More beer, then comes Atheist. Totally stoked to see this band. My first time seeing them. I wormed my way up closer. They hit the stage and tore shit up. This band are amazing live. They play twice as fast than on record. I was dropping my jaw left and right over the bass masturbation that they put forth at MDF 09!! I liked the fact that a diverse metal band like Atheist were put on the bill this year. The fest kept getting better and better. I banged my head to the material from “Pieces of Time” as that is most familiar to me. Very nice set and great sound from Atheist at MDF!! Really amazing band. After Atheist , I went inside where Pig Destroyer were playing. Holy Shit!! These guys were crushing. Man, I had never heard them before. The place was packed and there was a full circle pit. Too bad I only got to see a few songs. This was my dark horse of Maryland Deathfest 09. I want to hear more of this Pig Destroyer band. Went back outside and I hung with friends and watched as Napalm Death set up their shit. I love Napalm. I have see them at least 10 times. Always put on a good show and at MDF 09 it was no exception. Barney and the boys ripped it up at MDF. As it started to get dark during their set and I watched a brutal pit erupt during “Suffer The Children”. Fuck yes. Pretty bummed they only played less than a dozen tracks. But they did “Scum” and “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”, and “You Suffer” so that was cool. Ok, time to grab another cold beer and secure my spot for the almighty british grind gods fucking BOLT THROWER!!! My very first time seeing them live and so I almost pissed my pants when the opening chords of “At First Light” came a blaring through the PA. I tried to get closer, found some little bar on the right hand side and grabbed another beer and then went a little closer and had the perfect view of Bolt Thrower. There was no one blocking my view!!! I headbanged pretty much their entire set. When they whipped into Warmaster, there was not one person who was standing still. Bolt Thrower were tight, electric and have not lost their spark in their almost 24 years of existence. How lucky I was to see them play their only show in the US in over 15 years. Jo Bench fucking rules. Only Jo Bench fucking grind bangs as she plays like that!! It’s something that everyone needs to see for themselves. Bolt Thrower are just a fun band to watch. The crowd of course ate them up. They played a really great mix of tunes and had a good sound the entire time. Karl’s vocals sound just as they did 20 years ago!!! I started to get drunk by the time Bolt Thrower ended. It was sad that they had to go. Because personally, I could have watched them play for 3 hours and not even gone for a wee. Cheers to all of Bolt Thrower. It was nice to meet you and we hope you had a great time at the Festival!!! Thank you!!!

After more mingling and drinking I started feeling the alcohol and sleep depro. My feet were so sore. During Bolt Thrower, it felt like someone had cut the soles of my feet off with a bone saw. We made it back to the hotel in one piece, had a night cap and crashed out.

Set Lists:

Hail of Bullets-
1. General Winter
2. Red Wolves of Stalin
3. Advancing Once More
4. Nachthexen
5. Crucial Offensive
6. Stalingrad
7. Berlin
8. Ordered Eastward

Brutal Truth-
Sugardaddy
Turmoil
Daydreamer
On the Hunt
Fist in Mouth
Get a Therapist, Spare the World
War is Good
Evolution Through Revolution
Powder Burn
Attack Dog
Branded
Detached
Global Good Guy
Humpty Finance
Itch
Afterworld
Lifer
Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs
Grind Fidelity
Birth of Ignorance
Stench of Profit
Dementia
Blind Leading the Blind
Pass Some Down
Godplayer
Turn Face
Choice of a New Generation
Walking Corpse
Collateral Damage
Dead Smart
Ill Neglect

Immolation-
Once Ordained
Into Everlasting Fire
I Feel Nothing
World Agony
Father, You’re Not a Father
Den of Theives
Unholy Cult
Swarm of Terror
Passion Kill

Atheist-
Unquestionable Presence
On They Slay
Mineral
Air
Unholy War
Retribution
Mother Man
Pieces of Time

Napalm Death-
Nazi Punks Fuck Off
Scum
Life and Limb
It’s a Mans World
When All is Said and Done
You Suffer
Suffer The Children
The Kill
Siege of Power
On The Brink of Extinction

Bolt Thrower-
At First Light
World Eater
Cenotaph
War
Remembrance
Mercenary
Entrenched
Shreds of Sanity
Warmaster
IVth Crusade
No Guts, No Glory
In Battle There Is No Law
When Cannons Fade
.For Victory
Killchain
Powder Burns

Day 3: May 24th, 2009

Well I woke up with a pretty nasty hangover. But this was not a problem, because we still had ½ of the ½ gallon of Vodka left. So I had to pound a bloody mary or two to get moving but I did not do much on Sunday in the afternoon. I really wanted to see the doom metal band Lair of the Minotaur, but had to relax and take it somewhat easy. All that drinking catches up on you and we had plenty of more booze to finish up on Sunday before we had to leave for the airport at noon on Memorial Day Monday. So the first band that I wanted to see was Absu at 5:45. I decided to go to the sauna at the hotel. There was no one there. The small sauna said Made in Finland on the outside of it. I turned it on because it was not on. It was a dry sauna. I had to stay in there for 20 minutes before it got to 160 degrees and out came about a ½ gallon of booze from my pores. When I went out of the sauna and into a cold shower it was invigorating to say the least. When I got back to the room, I was rejuvenated and ready to start drinking before we headed down for the last night of debauchery!!!!!!!!!!!

We had heard earlier in the day from others that Pestilence had canceled their performance at MDF 09, due to the other members (besides Tony Choy) came to the Baltimore airport from Holland and they were denied entrance to the US and had to fly back to Holland. So all kinds of rumors were flying on Sunday. First was that Bolt Thrower were going to play again in place of Pestilence. Then I heard Autopsy were there and were going to maybe play. We got down to the Sonar and on the list taped to the door it said 10:00- Surprise!!! Well, we knew it was Bolt Thrower. Because they could not hide the truth from us die hards. So I had the rest of my Smirnoff’s Sour Apple Vodka in my flask for the last night. I grabbed a beer and headed to the outside stage for Absu! The funny thing is that I went to Milwaukee Metalfest 1997. I saw Absu. And I just remembered it when I was writing this review!! Talk about blocking something so killer out of my memory!! To see them at the Eagles venue in Milwaukee was most killer indeed. At any rate, I was able to worm my way very close to the stage and it was hotter than fucking hell outside. Absu were farting around and making sure everything was perfect. It seemed to be taking forever and then the intro music began and they tore into “Involution to Thorns/Decent into Acheron” from their new and most killer self titled album. I went fucking crazy! Yeah it was fucking hot and yes I was wasted but godamn did Absu put on one hell of a performance!! New blood in this band was the best thing that has ever happened in their entire career. New Bass player and co vocalist “Ezezu” fits into Absu as a “Missing Link”. His vocal ability really compliments Proscriptor’s. They were tight as hell, had no mishaps at all. It was just so fucking hot during Absu’s set. Being up front the whole time and headbanging with my already sore neck but I just kept on truckin’. They whipped into Tara material and I was in blackened death heaven. One of my highlights were Absu from Texas. Fucking kvlt and fucking hateful. Thank you for being so great and being so cool!!! And whomever is reading this review…Buy the new album or die.
Had to sit on the curb after Absu. At one day shy of 47 years of age, I felt like my legs were overcooked pasta noodles. Some girl was carried out of the place and it looked like she was dead. The sounds of sirens started to wail…I walked around and caught up with friends before Abscess. They went on and were fucking pretty good! I do not believe that I have had the pleasure of seeing these guys before but I am a huge fan of Autopsy. I watched over half of the set from Abscess and then had to go eat something. I had never eaten at the vendors at the fest the whole time, but I was hungry because I did not eat anything since breakfast. So I decided to grab one of them greasy assed philly cheese steak’s. After being in line for 35 fucking minutes, I finally got my fucking cheese steak. I also bought a 20 oz sprite from the vendor. I drank about a ½ of the sprite and then I poured the entire flask of vodka into the sprite bottle.

Totally amped for Aura Noir from Norway!! On the outdoor stage. I was fortunate to see the Aura Noir/Audiopain show at Elm Street in Norway in 2002. Apollyon, Blasphemer and Aggressor! That was a great fucking gig. Audiopain were excellent and I got to see them again when I went to Norway in 2004. Anyway, this was Aura Noir’s first time ever in the states, so I was pretty excited! They slayed of course. Loud as fuck and excellent sound from the sound board. Blasphemer was there which was a pleasant surprise!! I have no idea who was playing drums for Aura Noir. It’s a Maryland Deathfest mystery. I have my forces in Norway getting right on that. Anyway, Aura Noir destroyed and played old shit. “Conqueror”, “Black Thrash Attack” as well as some new shit off their killer album “Hades Rise” like “Unleash the Demons” and “South American Death”! It looked like the fans really liked Aura Noir!! Glad to hear and see that because they fucking rule and I have been a fan for 10 years now!!! Hails to Blasphemer and Apollyon!!!

So, it was time for Destroyer 666. I had my 20 oz bottle of sprite with the apple vodka in it. It was time to drink. Ok, I have fucking seen D666 3 times previously and was pretty stoked to see them at MDF. They did not let one metal soul down. They tore through a vicious set of old classics and even graced us with a new tune that kicked serious ass. I guzzled my sprite/vodka mix with a little help from Ms. Bekah. We headbanged and screamed and yelled. When D666 went into Genesis to Genocide I went crazy, as did everyone else. The crowd were singing and chanting the chorus “Cause You know they’d have us in Chains! Chains” with fists pumped high!! D666 were loud and proud and dirty and fucking way killer. In fact, it was probably my favorite set by them ever. So, they had to end it with Australian and Anti-Christ of course. Sea of headbanging, and singing going on. I stayed until the final note from Destroyer 666 because I fucking love those guys! But I could hear a familiar sound coming from inside the Sonar…. I went in and it was fucking BOLT THROWER! I freaked out and just plowed down anyone in my way. And secured a spot on Jo’s side… And it was sweat and blood for one hour as Bolt Thrower changed up the set list from the previous day’s show and made it fresh. Karl mentioned between songs “This is like being on Tour”. I do not think there was one person there who would have complained that we got two sets from fucking Bolt Thrower!!!! Fuck was it hot inside that place and was it fucking packed in like Sardines. When they were finished I poured myself out of the Sonar and found my friends whom were equally soaked in sweat. Deathfest was almost over. I did not know how much more my body could take. I somewhat cooled off but had to make my way in to secure my spot for the finale of Maryland Deathfest. Fucking Sigh from Japan!!! The first time seeing them and I was really looking forward to it. I was surprised to find it easy to just walk right up front and find my friends there. After some intro music out came Sigh and they blew everyone away. They opened with “Introitus/Kyrie” and then after that it was “Hail, Horror, Hail”. I really liked the addition to the real life doctor Dr. Mikki Cannibal. She brings the right amount of insanity and weirdness into Sigh. I wish they could have played for 3 hours. But it was only about one hour and I got to also hear “Deal With the Devil” and “Bring Back the Dead”. It was getting late and towards the end of their set and they brought out Danny Lilker on bass for a brutal version of Venom’s "Countess Bathory”! The closer for the evening was also a Venom cover “Black Metal” but it was like so fucking fast and brutal. You cannot imagine how awesome it was really. It was just plain sick as fuck. What a closer to the deathfest!! We did not stay around too long after Sigh. We went back to the hotel and drank until 5 am. Got up at 10 am and took a shuttle to the airport and left sunny Baltimore at 2:29pm on Monday the 25th. I had to work the next day, my birthday. I was so fucking spent. I really should have taken that day off to recuperate and shit. But anyway, Maryland Deathfest ruled. I have been to 7 Wackens, 3 Dynamos and 2 Infernos and 2 Party Sans and this was right up with the best. Easily it was the best festival I have ever been to in the USA and I have been to over a ½ dozen. I will be back for MDF 10. Who is going to go with me?

Thanks to Chris, Jose Luis, Asa, Jolon, Bekah, Paul and Absu, D666 guy, Danny and Brutal Truth/Venomous Concept, Blashemper and Aura Noir, Atheist, Karl and Bolt Thrower, Martin and Asphyx/Hail of Bullets, Dino and Ross from Ghoul, Rob/Immolation, all the police and security and workers at Maryland Deathfest, and also the 73 year old little Italian broad that served me my 45 dollar dinner….

See you next time

Scott aka Booze/Blizz
May 30th, 2009

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