Festival season is approaching...

New England Metal Fest is back for it's 12th year.  I've been going to this quite a few years in a row now, so you know this one I won't miss.  Not all the bands playing have been announced, but so far we got:

Friday, April 23: Mastodon, Between The Buried And Me, Baroness, Cro Mags, Earth Crisis, Death Threat, Death Before Dishonor, COA, American Me, Thick As Blood, Forfeit, XTheWarX, Grave Maker, Rose Funeral, Conducting From The Grave and Howl. Doors open at 3 p.m.

Saturday, April 24: Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, Job For A Cowboy, Whitechapel, Eluveite, 1349, Impending Doom, Lecherous, Nocturne, Tony Danza, Chelsea Grin, Abacabb, Arsonists Get All The Girls, Malfice, Swashbuckle, Cattle Decapitation, Acaro, Holy Grail, Disembodied, Skeletonwitch, Cruel Hand, Reign Supreme, The Mongoloids, XTyrantX, Foundation, Soul Control, Alpha & Omega, Burning Empires, Mother Of Mercy, Gaza, Across The Sun and Monsters. Doors open at 12 noon.

Mastodon are touring with Between the Buried and Me, and Baroness so that first day isn't that great if you are going to that tour anyway. I'm pretty psyched for Saturday, though!  I highlighted the bands that are worth checking out, since most people are idiot who need my guidance.

Then in the end of May we have The Maryland Death Fest.  I really have no idea how I never went to this.  It's completely up my alley.

Friday, May 28th: Gorguts, Possessed, D.R.I., Watain, Coffins, Nazxul, Trap Them, Gride, Birds Of Prey, Malignancy, Jesus Crost, Stormcrow, Defeatist, Putrescence,

Saturday, May 29th: Autopsy, Sodom, Asphyx, Blood Duster, Incantation, Wolfbrigade, Melechesh, Haemorrage, Portal, Impaled, Sadistic Intent, Deceased, The Chasm, Verbal Abuse, Fang, Obliteration, Ingrowing, Total Fucking Destruction, Fuck The Facts, Salaco, Jucifer, Howl, The Communion

Sunday, May 30th: Obituary, Entombed, Pentagram, EYEHATEGOD, Pestilence, Malevolent Creation, Converge, Necrophobic, Naglfar, Sinister, Capitalist Casualities, Captain Cleanoff, Gorod, Rompeprop, Gridlink, Magrudergrind, Circle Of Dead Children, Massgrave, 16, Tombs, Rottenness, Surroundings, Honkey Kong.

Sunday alone is a reason to go!

Festival Update

Happy July.  Lots of metal coming up this month.  If you have say, $7,000 to blow, then I would suggest checking out these metal festivals in July:

Metal Camp: July 3-7 in Tomlin, Slovenia.  Mostly heavier metal bands.  Highlights: Satyricon, Testament, Sodom, Amon Amarth, and even Dragonforce.

Midnattsrocken: July 9-11 in Lakselv, Norway.  Classic rock and metal festival with international stars Deep Purple, and Twisted Sister and Norway's own Jorn.

Rocklahoma: July 9-12 in Pryor, Oklahoma.  Three days in the dry heat of Oklahoma with sweaty 80s metal heads.  Anything with hairspray in the 80s.  Think: Ratt & Warrant.  Somehow Anthrax is playing and they don't really fit well amongst Keel and Nelson.

Obscene Extreme Festival: July 16-18 in Czech Republic.  Grindcore festival at its most basic, let by the grandfathers of grind themselves, Napalm Death.

Unholy Fest: July 23-27 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.  BLACK METAL.  Mayhem just pulled off this tour.  I dont know whats going on with those guys but their US dates got all fucked up and they are canceling dates left and right.  ANYWHO, this festival still looks badass because both Gorgoroth (Infernus just won the legal rights to use this name) and God Seed (King and Gaahl's new band name now that they lost 'Gorgoroth') are playing!  

Wacken Open Air: July 30th-Aug 2nd right outside of Hamburg.  Probably the largest metal festival each year, and this time its the 20th anniversary.  Its got everything.  Massive bands like Anthrax and Motorhead, and foreign bands you'd never get to see stateside like  Axel Rudi Pell and Kampfar.