The biggest extreme metal festival in the U.S. has just revealed the first group of bands who are booked to perform in Baltimore next year. Barring death, debilitating disease, or some kind of unforeseen rudeness by my fucking day job, I’ll be there again, along with some of my most steadfast NCS comrades and assorted other miscreants and saints, including more than a few of you.
To cut to the chase, here are the names of the first 25 confirmed bands for Maryland Deathfest XVII, set to take place at Rams Head Live and Baltimore Soundstage on May 23-26, 2019:
Bethlehem (Germany)
Blood (Germany) – Exclusive U.S. appearance
Brutality
The Chasm
Cro-Mags
D.R.I.
Frightmare
Full of Hell
Grotesque Organ Defilement (Canada)
Guttural Secrete
Hideous
Immolation
Indian
Mortician
Outre-Tomb (Canada)
Pestilence (Netherlands)
Scour
Skaphe
Squash Bowels (Poland)
Sulaco
Tomb Mold (Canada)
Unanimated (Sweden) – Exclusive U.S. appearance
Vault Dweller
Violator (Brazil) – Exclusive U.S. appearance
Vomitory (Sweden) – Exclusive U.S. appearance
Overall, I’m pleased with this line-up. Among the bands I’ve never seen before, the opportunity to see Bethlehem, Pestilence, Unanimated, and Vomitory ranks high, and there are plenty of other choice selections here as well.
But half the fun about these announcements is the discussion they usually provoke among fans, so by all means, please leave your own reactions in the Comments.
P.S. When my NCS comrade DGR spread this news in our private Facebook group, he used these words: “First fifteen cancellations for MDF 2019 announced alongside ten other bands”.
P.P.S. Early-bird three-day passes went on sale this morning, at this location:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/maryland-deathfest-2019-tickets-47140055174
9 Responses to “MARYLAND DEATHFEST ANNOUNCES FIRST ROUND OF BANDS FOR 2019”
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Looks like the 2019 lineup is looking pretty good, barring the almost inevitable slew of cancellations that seem to plague MDF every year. Hopefully most of the exclusives are still on by the time this rolls around.
Unanimated have a new EP coming out in August and should have a new album out before their MDF appearance. It’d be worth going just to see them not to mention Vomitory, Tomb Mold, The Chasm and a bunch of others.
Tomb Mold and The Chasm are definitely strong attractions as well as those others, and I’m also particularly stoked about Violator, Skaphe, Indian, Squash Bowels, and Hideous.
Blood, Skaphe and especially Bethlehem in the line up is great news. Very curious to see how the rest of it shapes up over the coming months (and which of these bands will announce additional East Coast shows eventually).
Pumped as hell about Blood, The Chasm, Skaphe, Tomb Mold, and Unanimated (who better not fucking drop out this time around).
People are overlooking Outre-Tombe (there’s supposed to be an “E” on the end there), but their full length back in 2015 was actually pretty badass.
Scour is a total negative though. Really wish Phil Anselmo would stay far away from this festival.
I never did catch up to that Outre-Tombe album, but now I’ve got a good reason to make amends. And yeah, although my bud DGR gave that Scour release a positive review, I have very little interest in seeing Anselmo on stage. I should have mentioned The Chasm earlier — that’s another real highlight. And I’m ignorant about Blood’s music, though they seem to have been around for 30 years, but will do some learnin’.
You’ll like Blood. Death/grind band, but they lean more to the death metal side of things so it’s not just constant blasting for an entire album. They just released a new full length last year, “Inferno”, after like a 15 year break and I’d totally recommend it.
That first P.S. cracked me up, my thoughts exactly.
Ha – yeah – the ps is pretty damn funny (and accurate in a sad way). The 2018 edition was particularly plagued by all kinds of fuckery. But Evan and Ryan do an amazing job finding back ups and patching things together. Psyched about Pestilence and Bethlehem, and always enjoy seeing Immolation. Will be plenty more additions (where is the reschedule on Bloodbath?!) – and, as with you, I will be there through hell or high water, Islander!
Wow, there’s some really awesome bands on that list 🙂