When I ended yesterday’s installment of my poorly organized reflections on Maryland Deathfest XIII, I had made it through the last performance of the festival at Edison Lot, the killer show by Amorphis. I will soon be moving backward in time to fill in a few gaps from my impromptu posts about the earlier days of the festival, but first a few words and photos about what happened after Amorphis said goodnight.
My friends and I shambled out of the Edison Lot along with hundreds of other people and found cabs that would take us to Ram’s Head (which was not difficult). Yes, we could have walked, but after three-and-a-half long days and nights of standing on hard surfaces, my feet had swollen up like rotten fruit — plus, every minute lost was one less minute of music to hear on the final night of MDF. When we arrived at Ram’s Head, that photo up there shows you what greeted my eyes.
IMPETUOUS RITUAL
I did not realize that Impetuous Ritual played in loincloths. Why did no one warn me? Listening to their recordings, I just assumed they would be garbed in hoods, along the lines of Portal (especially since two of the Impetuous Ritual savages also play in Portal).
Impetuous Ritual were interesting to watch, obviously, and the music was a damaging jackhammer assault of blackened death metal that left my head ringing and preoccupied with worries about spinal compression fractures.
KNELT ROTE
Impetuous Ritual was just the beginning of a solid three hours of cataclysmic pulverization that began at 10:45 pm — after 10 hours of metal at Edison Lot. In retrospect, I was glad I hadn’t arrived at the parking lot until mid-afternoon; otherwise, I’d have had no chance of surviving the night.
Of the bands I saw at Ram’s Head, I had thought that Adversarial and Impetuous Ritual would be left sharing the crown for black/death abomination this year, following in Diocletian’s footsteps from the year before. But that prize goes to the band who played next, Knelt Rote from Portland, Oregon.
I had caught part of their set when they played in Seattle a few weeks ago and was very impressed, but seeing them on the big Ram’s Head stage with that powerful PA system at their disposal was even more eye-opening. Their set was a blitzkrieg attack, absolutely crushing in its power and riveting in its energy. For me, one of the best surprises of MDF, and only the second time at Ram’s Head this year when I made a bee-line to the merch table as fast as I could to throw money at a band who had just finished playing.
PORTAL
Portal was the last band to play at this year’s edition of MDF. They began at almost 1 a.m., Â when I’m sure everyone in the crowd was either exhausted or wasted or most likely both. And I think the audio-visual display that then ensued left almost everyone stunned — or driven from the venue by an instinct for self-preservation.
The music was bludgeoning, scary, and a reminder that Portal’s concoctions are as intricate as they are atmospherically otherworldly. The experience was made even more disturbing by David Hall’s skittering video accompaniment running on a big projection screen behind and above the band. Very few images in the video were distinct, or lasted for more than seconds before changing. I suppose the effect was as much subliminal as it was conscious, but the effect was as horrifying as the music.
I watched from the left side of the balcony facing the stage, standing with our old friend SurgicalBrute. Before the set ended, I got an appeal from the Seattle friends who made the trip with me — they were among those being driven to leave for the sake of self-preservation. I relented, and therefore missed the very end of the show, when the venue tried to bring the set to a close by turning off the PA and turning on the house lights. Portal kept playing — as you can see in the video of the entire set that I’m embedding below the following photos.
As I wrote earlier today when I included this video in a different post, Portal’s refusal to stop seemed fitting. I suspect most of the fans who came to MDF this year didn’t want the festival to end either.
16 Responses to “MDF BLOG BREAK (PART 5)”
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That Portal set was something else…it was both extremely awesome and incredibly exhausting.
..and Im extremely bummed I missed the Knelt Rote set after you told me how good it was
I just can’t get enough of that Portal performance, time to watch it again! 🙂
You are a glutton for punishment!
Really got to see Portal sometime. Not sure when that’s gonna happen, given the existence of oceans and continental divides, but it’ll happen, mark my words.
That closing night was the best concert I have ever experienced… Which is saying something special at this point.
Thantifaxath blew my mind, and every band after just seemed to top the band that played before. I did want to catch that Amorphis set, but we decided to leave Neurosis on stage to catch a center spot on the balcony of Rams Head (Where the sound was at its best in my opinion). Absolutely no regrets for that.
Too bad it sounds like you missed Prosanctus Inferi as well. I thought they did a great set. I will admit, though, that it was slightly off putting to listen to that style of music with midday sun shining down on you…
Looking through these posts, I’m pretty sure we were standing next to each other numerous times this weekend. I was the dude with the big beard wearing a black Texas Rangers hat.
Portal were badass, even with the PA being cut off. One hell of an atmosphere.
Surprised you didn’t write about Inter Arma. Hopefully you didn’t miss their set, as it may have been the best of the festival.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed lived up to all of the hype, despite Jay just scratching his balls on the stage the whole time.
Seeing both Triptykon and Bloodbath was a dream come true. Only sad that Triptykon didn’t play Altar of Deceit.
Primitive Man were also a band I was super excited for. They did not disappoint. Kept running into all of them throughout the weekend, especially Ethan. Such a happy guy that weekend. Metal is catharsis indeed.
This was my first time going to MDF, and I’m already making arrangements for next year!
I’m positive I did see you, so I think you’re right we were in the same vicinity. And I did miss Inter Arma’s set, but in part because I caught them in Seattle on their tour with Yautja just a few weeks before MDF. I was also amazed by the Agoraphobic Nosebleed set — and do intend to write about it. I also learned from someone who I think knows what he’s taking about that there’s a sympathetic reason why Jay did so little on stage.
I must have been standing right next to you. We have almost the exact same pictures of Portal! Ha great write up!
Genuinely shocked none of you noticed the headless guy in your midst.
So many people had spurting neck stumps that it was easy to get lost in the shuffle.
Thats what happens when you see Portal play live…just wall to wall neck stumps
…and not to toot my own horn too much, but “wall to wall neck stumps” should be the new sub-header
Well, you know, I really can’t disagree with that.
I will be excited to read your ANb write up, especially if Jay’s situation receives some clarification.
Maybe next year we can actually meet up for an overpriced beer instead of just standing next to each other!
Definitely. I’ve been delayed finishing up my MDF write-ups but hope to get that done tomorrow.
To close the fest I went to see DRI. Not a band I had listened to for ages, but the people I was with were pretty stoked. And man, was this ever a good show! These guys still sound better than ever and the crowd was half the show in itself (even the singer noticed and said the crowd was very energetic for a 4th day). There was a huge pit and continuous stage diving for the whole hour and half. The show was scheduled for 1h only so I thought I’d catch the end of Portal, but DRI kept on playing (did 2 time 3 songs encores) until well over the allotted time.