Presenting what you haven't heard but should.
The fifth studio album for Baltimore's Misery Index, The Killing Gods, pushes the band into new melodic territory while remaining true to their death metal/grindcore roots. The group also recently performed twice during Maryland Deathfest XII, once at the Ottobar pre-fest show and their main performance at the Edison Lot stage on Sunday. Among one …
Continue reading "The Killing Gods reveals more comtemplative Misery Index"
Saturday was the big death, thrash and grind day at Maryland Deathfest. What did we think of it? What crazy stuff happened to us? You will have to listen here to the podcast to find out. This time we spend more time talking about the fest and a little less time talking about poop or …
Continue reading "Podcast: Maryland Deathfest recap #2 from Saturday"
Baltimore’s Putrisect brings together elements of old school death metal, hardcore and crust. They open the stage tonight, May 23, at Rams Head at Maryland Deathfest. I have only seen Putrisect on smaller stages, so it will be exciting to see them on the big Rams Head stage, I am sure they will blow everyone …
Continue reading "Putrisect bringing old school metal back to Baltimore"
The Polish death metal band Hate reported on their Facebook page today that their bassist, Sławek (Sławomir) "Mortifer" Archangielskij, has died suddenly in his sleep following a show in Stuttgart. The group has canceled the remainder of their tour dates.Sławek (Sławomir) "Mortifer" ArchangielskijHere is the exact statement from Hate:SŁAWEK „MORTIFER” ARCHANGIELSKIJ IS DEAD At night 5th/6th April near a …
Continue reading "HATE bassist dies unexpectedly in his sleep after Stuttgart show"
Weapon What do you get when you cross the anti-religious themes of true black metal with the death metal aesthetics of Bolt Thrower and tinge it with the cultural undertones of Bangladesh? You get Weapon. (And yes, the name is trademarked; legally there can be only one.)The first time I heard Canada’s blackened death metal …
Continue reading "REVIEW: Embers and Revelations, plus Weapon’s Monarch speaks"
Misery Index, Baltimore's death/grindcore heroes, have been bludgeoning eardrums with their own homegrown brutality since 2001. And while I don't imagine they will be slowing down any time soon, they also have earned the right to pick and choose when, where and with whom they to play.Next month, Misery Index heads out on tour with Cannibal …
Continue reading "Misery Index choosing quality over quantity"
AlhazredIf you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you may recognize the name Alhazred, as in Abdul Alhazred, the "Mad Arab" from the Cthulhu stories. Alhazred is also the name of a fairly new Baltimore area technical death metal group.The first time I encountered Alhazred was at the December 7, 2011 Obscura show at Sonar. …
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When you think of the pioneering death metal band Autopsy, what comes to mind? Sheer brutality? Crushing riffs? Chris Reifert's frightening ability to sing AND blast beats so fast that no metronome could keep up? That their mosh pit will dismember you? Their performance at this year's Maryland Deathfest was phenomenal. What else do I …
Continue reading "Autopsy comic set to drop in time for Halloween"
Today was a beautiful sunny day, a great day for black metal. Tonight I will see Marduk, 1349, Withered and Weapon at Sonar at the first stop on their Serpent Sermon World tour.Weapon, from Edmonton, Alberta was visiting Black Mess Records in Baltimore, Md., so I thought I would stop in and find out a …
Continue reading "INTERVIEW Weapon delivers chakra bending black metal"
Think about all the bands you like to listen to. Now imagine bringing a few dozen of those groups together to perform for you and a few (thousand) of your friends. That, in a sense, is exactly what Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting created when they created the Maryland Deathfest in 2003. Over the last …
Continue reading "INTERVIEW: Maryland Deathfest organizer Evan Harting"