Mdf 2015

[BlutAusNerd]

I also happened to wander to the merch are at some point around this time, only to notice Ross Dolan of Immolation wandering around. I stopped by to say hi, he's a really nice guy and the frontman of one of my favorite bands, so I had a hard time resisting. Bob snapped this photo of our discussion, which involved how excited he was to see Razor and how surprised he was about the decent turnout at the last show that they played in Salt Lake. He didn't end up being the only musician that we met at the fest though, one of my friends from Gravehill was there, we just so happened to meet the drummer from The Chasm when his friend commented on one of us wearing one of his shirts, the vocalist of Morpheus Descends turned out to be pretty cool, and Steve Von Till of Neurosis was roaming around as well. Alex Marquez of Solstice also remembered me by name and continued to be the bad ass that I remembered, but no photos were taken of any of those meetings.

[BlutAusNerd]

Anyway, to get back to the music, Bulldozer was up next. The continued the first wave fervor, even blowing up with a more energetic and inspired performance than Vulcano. The played songs from all over their discography, and sounded totally on fire. The vocalist was a pretty funny guy, cracking jokes about the porn star that joined parliament in Italy that one of their songs was based on in his best English. Another top notch performance from another legendary band that I never thought I would get to see, but that's what this fest is all about. Even the bands that I have seen before seem to step up their game, very few bands have ever disappointed at MDF in the 2 years that I have been.

[BlutAusNerd]

This is a shot that should give you some scope as to the size of the fest, and the location for the main event. The Edison Lot is, oddly enough, just a parking lot that they fence off, fill with merch vendors and port-o-potties, and then set up a couple of stages under the freeway overpass. Despite how it sounds, it's a pretty accomplished affair, with good organization, excellent sound (for the most part), and lots to check out. To the left is the merch and food area, to the right of the stage is a shaded seating area under the overpass, and the other stage is behind me.

[BlutAusNerd]

Next up was Triptykon, and they were every bit as devastating as I remember Celtic Frost being from the time that I had seen them. The crowd went fucking nuts for the old tracks, with crowd surfers and pits everywhere for Circle of the Tyrants and Procreation of the Wicked. They even busted out the Hellhammer classic Messiah, making 3 killer first wave black metal performances in a row. The Triptykon songs also sounded crushing, as was expected.

[BlutAusNerd]

I only got close for part of Triptykon's set in order to be right up front for Solstice on the other stage. Their sound check drowned out some of Triptykon, but it was well worth it once Solstice started playing. This was one of the rowdiest crowds of the weekend, all raging along with Solstice's devastating death/thrash assault. Their set list remained largely the same as last time, but a couple of members of Demolition Hammer happened to be there and were brought on stage when they played their cover of .44 Calibre Brain Surgery. They were insanely tight, with their sharp transitions being nailed perfectly by all members and their collective energy and intensity through the roof. Not only was this an even better performance than when I saw them last, this was also one of the best performances of the fest, definitely my pick for the best on Saturday. I was too busy getting crowd surfers dropped on me and banging my head to take a photo though, so I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

[BlutAusNerd]

Next up was Arcturus, who sounded and looked every bit as zany as I had anticipated. I was a bit disappointing that their set list seemed to favor the Sideshow Symphonies album, my least favorite of theirs, but I suppose it was to be expected with Vortex at the helm, but they did break out a couple from Aspera Hiems Simfonia and The Sham Mirrors, in addition to a pretty good sounding new track. This was a satisfying set and I'm happy to have caught them, but they were definitely overshadowed by superior performances that day.

[BlutAusNerd]

Closing out the Edison was Razor, and they definitely deserved this spot. Sounding every bit as sharp and lethal as their name implies, they unleashed all kinds of havoc on the stage. Their songs all follow largely the same patterns and are made up of largely the same riff and vocal structures, but in their case, it really doesn't matter because they do it so well and with so much savagery. Only barely missing the top mark for me due to Solstice's insane performance, this was still all-star tier stuff, from one of the bands that I had most anticipated to deliver the goods. Deliver they did, hopefully this coming out of retirement will bring on some new material. If the fury behind it will be anything like what was unleashed on that stage, it will be a rager.

[BlutAusNerd]

The first band that we caught at the Ram's Head on Saturday, due to missing Adversarial who was playing in Razor's time slot, was Demoncy. As a big fan of Joined in Darkness and Faustian Dawn/Sylvan Realms of Frost, I had high hopes for Demoncy. Well, they disappointed in nearly every regard. The drummer got lost a number of times, and the other band members were visibly frustrated by this, causing a pretty shaky and uninspired performance. Also, we couldn't stop noticing how their vocalist looked like a black metal Buffalo Bill in his "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me hard" outfit. This wouldn't have been a detractors if his vocals had sounded decent, but they were pretty weak, matching the rest of the band. Absolutely the worst band that I caught at the fest.

[BlutAusNerd]

Closing out Saturday at Ram's Head was Tsjuder, which we all felt to be an odd decision. I mean, I like the band, but we all thought that they might not be right for the closing role. We were dead wrong. They stepped out and laid waste from start to finish with an amazing level of power and energy to their playing. The drummer was especially noteworthy, sitting upright with a self-assured bravado that his playing deserved, he was an animal. He looked pretty silly, like a black metal Krusty the Clown with that haircut, but he was impressive to say the least, supercharging their performance while getting the crowd going. The second half of their set was the best part, slowly gravitating more toward mid-paced, Celtic Frost influenced grooves interspersed between their blasting onslaught for some great headbanging moments. A totally unexpected victory for these guys, I'm thrilled that they delivered as well as they did, and I'll now have to track down their other albums having heard how consistent their quality seems to be based on this set.

[FatherAlabaster]

If you say so. I'd be happy to hear their other stuff, but I never liked Desert Northern Hell, totally didn't get the hype. The sound alone on that album was terrible.

[FatherAlabaster]

BTW, awesome write-up and great pics, this thread makes me wish I'd been there! Although the whole thing sounds pretty draining.

[~Mere~]

Because of the person, or the music? (Nunyabidness!) There's a chance I could make it next year. We'll just have to see. Time, money, childcare, etc. Would love to see some great bands and meet some of you folks.

Ha! He's alright I guess. I haven't checked out the whole lineup but was told that Slayer and King Diamond are headlining. I'm sure most of the bands are ones I don't care to see. I would def like to see King Diamond though.

[BlutAusNerd]

BTW' date=' awesome write-up and great pics, this thread makes me wish I'd been there! Although the whole thing sounds pretty draining.[/quote'] There's no question that it is exhausting, but there's so much awesome stuff right around every corner that while you may feel fatigued, you never really feel tired or ready to give up.

[Natassja]

Yeh makes me wish i'd been there too! Thankyou for the detail and pics.

[BlutAusNerd]

Sunday: For me, Sunday started with Goatsnake, though I would have liked to see Masacre. We decided that an opening salvo of beers in the parking lot was more important, and I still feel like it was the right call. Sunday turned out to be the hottest and least cloudy day of the fest, which tested my limits as I'm not big on heat. In any case, Goatsnake sounded awesome, that huge Greg Anderson guitar tone could be heard perfectly throughout the festival grounds. They locked into a solid groove early on and kept it rolling throughout, with the vocalist busting out some harmonica licks and hitting his tambourine so hard that he snapped it in half. The new song from their forthcoming album sounded pretty good, I didn't even know that they had one in the works, but I will have to check it out. I was starving, so I hit the food area about halfway through their set and grabbed "the fat fuck" from the barbecue stand, which was an open face kielbasa sandwich covered in pulled pork, cheese, and pickled peppers. It was delicious, and I polished the monster off, but it sat like a rock in my stomach and I had a thought time dealing with it for the next few hours. Lesson learned I suppose.

[BlutAusNerd]

Next up was Primordial, one of the bands that I was most excited to see, but a band that would suffer some unfortunate sound issues. Only one guitar was audible for most of the time, and the drums were a bit too loud, so while the band looked and felt on, but not being able to hear that other guitar was frustrating. I was also baking and suffering the wrath of the fat fuck at this point, so I retired to the shade on the side of the stage for much of their set. Alan still rang through from over there though, and he sounded amazing as always. Oh well, you can't win them all I guess, I just wish that Gods to the Godless and Empire Falls would have came through better.

[BlutAusNerd]

Winter was up next, and would prove to be the other disappointment of the day. They didn't have sound issues to contend with, and actually sounded really fucking good, that suffocating heaviness from their recorded work wrapped around you live just like it does when you crank the album. The problem was that they didn't seem to be all that involved with the performance, and seemed to just go through the motions. Between this and the heat, I abandoned their set part way through to make one final sweep of the merch area, which I feel was more fruitful then watching them trudge aimlessly through the rest of their set. My friends that had seen them previously had indicated that they had performed largely the same way last time, but I would certainly be willing to give them another chance it I saw them again.

[BlutAusNerd]

Next up was Anaal Nathrakh, who I had not planned on seeing because I was going to catch them prior to the fest, but that show got cancelled. I was still feeling miserable, so I camped out next to the stage again for their set, trying to get that fucking sandwich to settle. Couldn't hear them to well, but I got back to the other stage in plenty of time to get a good spot for Skepticism, making my way past a drunk dude that didn't want to stop talking to me. I'm glad that I did, because being up close for the spectacle that was Skepticism was one of the absolute highlights of the fest for me. They sounded every bit as massive and moody as I had hoped, with even a very somber presentation and aesthetic on stage with the tuxedos and slow, deliberate motions. Matti is also the best growler that I have ever heard, holy shit did that guy have a huge low tone, and he sustained his notes without losing power while conveying all of the sorrow the music could ever need. What a beast. Their set was not without its flaws, as the guitar player got lost early on, and BADLY fucked up a lead for an extended period of time, but when they reconnected, they sounded so incredible that nobody seemed to care. It was a big deal, no professional band should have had that happen, but I enjoyed every other second of their set more than nearly any other band I've encountered. The master class for emotive doom metal, if not for technicality.

[BlutAusNerd]

Next up was the second round of Finnish devastation, the mighty Demilich. Wow. I cannot say enough about how much this band slayed everything in their path for this set. They were without question the tightest band of the even that I had the chance to see, harnessing all of that murky convoluted weirdness through some excellent stage production that sounded much clearer than on their album, but still every single bit as twisted and vile. Antti's vocals are unreal, and he didn't miss a beat during those backward riffs and bizarre trill transitions, but neither did the rest of the band either. He even cracked some hilarious jokes, which all came together to produce one of the greatest live performances I have ever seen by any band EVER. Don't walk, RUN if you ever get the chance to catch this band. I have seen a lot of bands, but these guys upstaged nearly every one of them in every way, and were absolutely and unquestionably the best band of MDF 2015.

[BlutAusNerd]

Hopefully now I can finally finish this up. Hot on the heels of Demilich's mind blowing performance was Neurosis, a band that I have been wanting to see live for some time after hearing many great things about their live sound. While they didn't topple Demilich from the top spot, they certainly did not disappoint. They didn't pander to the MDF crowd and just lay down a heavy set, they did what they do best and used their crescendo and decrescendo style and lulled you into safety before bludgeoning you with their raw power. The set list was varied, including the surprise inclusion of the first Neurosis song that I ever heard, A Sun That Never Sets, which was a highlight for me. The energy and precision were tangible throughout every moment, and the introspection that their sound delivers is magnificent. I would very much love the opportunity to catch them again, they're definitely a class act in every way, and welcome addition to the many powerhouse performances of Sunday.

[BlutAusNerd]

Headlining the Edison festivities for Sunday was another of the biggest draws for me, Amorphis playing Tales From the Thousand Lakes from front to back. Though they had a couple of minor sound issues at the beginning (as did so many on this stage), they really gave the performance of the lifetime, doing justice to that legendary album and their storied career as one of the best and most unique bands in metal. Tomi's vocals sounded massive, not so much on his cleans for some reason, but his deep growls were beyond impressive, even better than Koivusaari on said album. It was the perfect balance of heaviness, grace, and beautiful melodies. They then caught everyone by surprise when the album tracks were done by launching into Vulgar Necrolatry, as blast beats and brutality were not something that I expected to hear from them with how many years it has been since the band has used them. It had heads banging and pits raging, but the absolute highlight for me was On Rich and Poor. One of my favorite songs from the band delivered in expert form, following up what had already been done immediately preceding, made them an easy top 5 pick for me for the entire fest. Just marvelous through and through.

[BlutAusNerd]

Nobody was super familiar with Knelt Rote, I had purchased one of their albums once, but the disc that arrived was from another band. We decided to break for drinks, but make it to Ram's Head for Portal. A more fitting closer for this year could not be found, as Portal's patented brand of murky, brutal weirdness was exactly the way to end the night. It can be difficult to decipher through the noise of their recordings just how much is going on in their music, but they're certainly all extremely accomplished musicians doing some wild shit. I had a friend who once described their guitar player's fingers as spiders spastically jumping around the fretboard, and after seeing them, I could not think of a more apt description for how they played. It was the most bizarre and satisfying kind of chaos, with equally abstract visual accompaniment projected above the stage. This is a band that must be experienced live, and they proved to be a force to be reckoned with in that setting. I'll be listening even more closely to their albums now, but I don't think that they can even compare to witnessing and experiencing the whole volume of their sound up close and personal. Likely my pick for 2nd or 3rd best of the fest, catch them live by any means necessary for one of the most gut-wrenching and unique live experiences you could ever have.

[BlutAusNerd]

It was another amazing year overall, I highly recommend that anyone who has these should go at least once, like a metal Mecca pilgrimage. Here is the group photo for this year. From left to right, myself, Scott, Rob, Brian and baby Val, and Bob.

[RelentlessOblivion]

Well since I've pretty much decided I'm moving to the US MDF will likely become an annual pilgrimage. 2017 is the earliest I can see myself going because I have a lot to sort out if I'm going to make this move happen.