SHADOW WOODS METAL FEST: AN UPDATE

 

Way back in April of this year I discovered the Shadow Woods Metal Festival, an open-air and camping festival then being planned for the Mountain Lake Summer Camp in Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. Apart from the attractive setting, what really spiked my interest was the phenomenal line-up of bands who were scheduled to appear. I’m writing now to provide a few updates — the dates are the same, the line-up is even more impressive, but the venue has been changed. It’s still something I would damned sure attend if I weren’t on the other side of the continent.

Now the festival will take place — on September 25-27, 2015 — in White Hall, Maryland, about 30 minutes north of Baltimore. The exact street address will be provided to ticket purchasers. Camping and workshops on topics such as runes, guitar maintenance, and yoga will still be offered without additional charge, and artists and record labels will also have merch areas alongside several onsite food stands.

There aren’t a lot of tickets left. The festival will only sell 350 tickets, three-quarters of those are gone, and there will be no sales at the gate. This is a 21-and-over show, and it’s BYOB. To get advance tickets online, go here:

www.shadowwoodsmetalfest.com

Now, let me remind you about the line-up, which has evolved since I first wrote about it.

The performances will take place on two alternating stages over two days and will include appearances by 36 bands, with performances from the likes of Midnight, Falls of Rauros, Occultation, Velnias, Wormreich, Iron Man, The Flight of Sleipnir, Dweller in the Valley, Dreadlords, Immortal Bird, Hivelords, Dendritic Arbor, Black Table, Fin, and Stone Breath. Here’s the full line-up in alphabetical order — it includes lots of bands we’ve praised here at NCS:

Anicon (New York, NY)
–black metal
https://anicon.bandcamp.com/

Ashagal (New Hope, PA)
–Ritual folk
https://ashagal.bandcamp.com

Black Table (NJ/NY)
–Experimental metal
https://blacktable.bandcamp.com/releases

Bridesmaid (Columbus, OH)
–Instrumental Doom-Sludge
https://bridesmaid.bandcamp.com/album/breakfast-at-riffanys

Cladonia Rangiferina (MD, VA)
— ritual black metal, doom, acid rock
https://reindeermoss.bandcamp.com

Dendritic Arbor (Pittsburgh, PA)
–metal; Grimoire Records
https://dendriticarbors.bandcamp.com

Destroying Angel (Philadelphia, PA)-
–Folk music for exorcisms
https://destroyingangel.bandcamp.com/

Dreadlords (Philadelphia, PA)
–Ritual black metal blues; Not Just Religious Music
https://dreadlords.bandcamp.com/

Dweller in the Valley (Frederick, MD)
–Black, death, doom; Grimoire Records
https://dwellerinthevalley.bandcamp.com/

Existentium (Baltimore, MD)
–melodic technical death metal
https://existentium.bandcamp.com/album/decadent-desecration

Falls of Rauros (Portland, ME)
–folk/atmospheric black metal; Bindrune Recordings
https://fallsofrauros.bandcamp.com/

Fin (Chicago, IL)
–black metal; Behold Barbarity
https://www.facebook.com/pages/FIN/287496941295269

Heavy Temple (Philadelphia, PA)
–psychedelic doom; Vàn Records
https://heavytemple.bandcamp.com/

Hercyn (Jersey City, NJ)
–atmospheric black metal/post-rock
https://hercyn.bandcamp.com

Hivelords (Philadephia, PA)
— experimental psychedelic black doom; Anthropic Records
https://hivelords.bandcamp.com/

Immortal Bird (Chicago, IL)
–black/death metal; Broken Limbs, Manatee Rampage
https://immortalbird.bandcamp.com/

Iron Man (MD)
–doom metal/heavy rock; Rise Above Records
https://shadowkingdomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-passage

Midnight (Cleveland, Ohio)
–Black heavy metal; Hells Headbangers Records
https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/satanic-royalty

Occultation (New York, NY)
–doom metal; Profound Lore Records
https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/silence-in-the-ancestral-house

Oneirogen (New York, NY)
— dark, doom, drone; Denovali, Shinkoyo
https://oneirogenvoid.bandcamp.com/

Psalm Zero (New York, NY)
–experimental black doom; Profound Lore Records
https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-drain

Sangharsha (New York, NY)
–blackened hardcore; Alerta Antifascista Records
https://bayou1.bandcamp.com

Sentience (Woodland Park, NJ)
–death metal
https://sentiencedeathmetal.bandcamp.com/

Slagstorm (Hagerstown, MD)
–prehistoric doom thrash
https://inhumanyouth.bandcamp.com/track/slagstorm-live-05-02-15

Snakefeast (Baltimore, MD)
–jazz metal sludge; Grimoire Records
https://snakefeast.bandcamp.com/

Stone Breath (Red Lion, PA)
–experimental folk; Hand/Eye Records
https://stonebreath.bandcamp.com/music

The Day of the Beast (Virginia Beach, VA)
–blackened death metal
https://thedayofthebeast.bandcamp.com/album/the-day-of-the-beast

The Expanding Man (Baltimore, MD)
–solo improvisational electronic soundscapes
https://heroshorestransmissionpresents.bandcamp.com/track/interpretation-of-dreams

The Flight of Sleipnir (Denver, CO)
–black metal; Napalm Records
https://theflightofsleipnir.bandcamp.com

The Osedax (Leesburg, Va)
–black doom; Dullest Records
https://theosedax.bandcamp.com

The Owls Are Not What They Seem (York, PA)
–experimental ritual soundscapes; Eleventh Key
https://bleakvastness.bandcamp.com/

Unsacred (Richmond, VA)
–savage black metal; Forcefield
http://forcefieldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/false-light

Velnias (Denver, CO)
–blackened folk/doom metal; Eisenwald
https://velnias.bandcamp.com

Wormreich (Huntsville, AL & Nashville, TN)
–black metal; Moribund Records
https://wormreich.bandcamp.com

Wrath of Typhon (York, PA)
–heavy metal; Eleventh KEY
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wrath-of-Typhon/115541315141633

ZUD (Portland, ME)
–bluesy outlaw black metal
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZUD/572368749452852