After a quick breakfast at the hotel and going over merch purchased from the previous day, we made our way out to the main venue, The Edison Lot. The Edison Lot is the center of Maryland Deathfest for the second year in a row and I do not see this changing any time soon. The lot is located underneath the freeway in a parking lot of what appeared to be a storage unit facility. On opposite ends of the lot were both stages that alternate back and forth between one stage sound checking and the other stage having a band performing. Right next to both stages were conveniently placed stations to purchase beer, water, and other beverages. On the opposite side of the stages were food vendors, merch vendors, and a corner dedicated to Port-A-Potties. The food vendors, which were arguably on the expensive side, did offer great variety. The best food vendor was a toss-up between the taco stand and the BBQ truck. The taco stand had superb pork tacos with a slew of dressings on it (one of which was “pure evil”). A friend of mine got the goat tacos and those were reportedly amazing as well. The BBQ truck served a slew of different BBQ favorites, but I went with the pulled pork sandwich. On a table next to the truck were a small selection of different sauces. My favorite was the spiciest selection, “Fuck” Sauce. I feel the sauce earned this name for a multitude of reasons, all having to do with people saying “Fuck” after consuming this hellish sauce. As for the merch vendors, I felt as if I had died and gone to metal heaven. Literally an alley of tents was before me. Each tent contained various shirts, patches, hats, scarves, pins, vinyl, and so on and so forth. In fact, there was even a vendor that was selling, um, “glassware”. After raiding the alley and filling my messenger bag with merch, it was time to really turn my attention to some of the bands that were playing.
Aura Noir, by Hillarie Jason Photography
At this point, I had just enough time to get a great spot for Vallenfyre who were just coming off of the Decibel Magazine tour. Turnout for them was great which I was happy to see. Right after them, my group all ventured over to the Baltimore Soundstage to catch F.I.D. (Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation). The Japanese grindcore band ripped apart the Soundstage and had quite the turnout for mid-day. Right after this, I opted to return to Edison for the remained of the evening. Aura Noir, Suffocation, and Obituary all put on great sets with great pops from all in attendance. However, as good as these bands were, everyone at the Edison Lot was waiting for Bloodbath to make their US début. The Swedish super group delivered an amazing set ranging across their whole discography. Obviously the encore set opener, ‘Eaten’, got the biggest pop of the night. The walk back to the hotel felt almost victorious knowing I had just seen the only US appearance Bloodbath has ever made. After a quick switch of rooms at the hotel due to the lock mechanism in the door breaking, it was off to bed to rest up for another crazy day!
Lock Up, by Hillarie Jason PhotographyNapalm Death, by Hillarie Jason Photography Suffocation, by Hillarie Jason Photography Bloodbath, by Hillarie Jason Photography
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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN
PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON PHOTOGRAPHY