Maryland Doom Fest 2021 is set for Halloween Weekend, Oct. 28-31, in Frederick, Maryland. Some of the acts on the newly announced bill are carryovers from the first-delayed-then-canceled 2020 edition — among them Sasquatch, Worshipper, and so on — but it’s worth noting that among those and others, the likes of The Age of Truth will have a new record out by this Fall, and pre-pandemic, Boozewa didn’t even exist. So yes, things have changed.

For further proof of the festival’s stylistic branching out — and with this many bands, they’d just have have to — you’ll note the departure in the poster art from the fest-standard purple toward a greater range of color. The music they’re pushing is likewise broader in palette, and to think of seeing the likes of Howling Giant and Revvnant alongside Arduini/Balich, Omen Stones, and Place of Skulls is an encouraging thought indeed. This even was much-missed last year.

Expect a time-table sooner than later, as organizer JB Matson doesn’t screw around when it comes to that kind of thing. The lineup announcement — short and sweet, as ever — is further proof of same.

I don’t know what the world’s gonna look like come Halloween, but I know damn well this is one reason I’m glad I got that vaccine.

[UPDATE 04/30: Black Road and Vessel of Light can’t make it. Lo-Pan and When the Deadbolt Breaks have been added. If there are any further changes, I’ll probably just make a new post.]

To wit:

Here is the Md Doom Fest 2021 roster folks!!!
Halloween weekend – Oct 28-31, 2021
WE CANNOT WAIT TO DOOM WITH YOU!!

Lineup:

Poobah, Sasquatch, Place of Skulls, Lo-Pan, Lost Breed, Cavern, Horseburner, Spiral Grave, The Age of Truth, Mangog, Wrath of Typhon, Helgamite, Almost Honest, Indus Valley Kings, VRSA, Monster God, Et Mors, Astral Void, Worshipper, Boozewa, Admiral Browning, Omen Stones, Formula 400, Molasses Barge, Arduini/Balich, Dirt Eater, Dyerwolf, Ol’ Time Moonshine, Shadow Witch, Revvnant, Bloodshot, Ritual Earth, Gardens of Nocturne, Conclave, Crow Hunter, Bailjack, Warmask, Akris, Alms, Thunderbird Divine, Strange Highways, Howling Giant, Yatra, Jaketehhawk, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Grave Huffer, Dust Prophet, Plague Wielder, Weed Coughin, Morganthus, Tines

www.marylanddoomfest.com
#4daysofdoom

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
https://www.instagram.com/marylanddoomfest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

In the immortal words of one Peter Steele: Happy Halloween, baby. Those playing along at home know that today means one thing to the realms of doom, and it’s that it’s time for Maryland Doom Fest to unveil next year’s lineup. Maryland Doom Fest 2020 has some significant shoes to fill in following up this year’s, which of course was held in June in Frederick, Maryland, and they’ve lined up a full four-dayer onslaught to make a go of it.

Headlining sets from Cirith Ungol, Blood Ceremony, Speedealer and Mondo Generator, with direct killage from The Skull, Victor Griffin‘s Death Row Assembly (this will be incredible, especially there), Witch Mountain and Sorcerer, the fest is pretty much blowing its own prior reach out of the water. I’ll especially look forward to Arduini/Balich and hope that this performance accompanies a new album, but return appearances from The Age of Truth, Bailjack, Earthride (yes!), Shadow Witch, Spiral Grave, Knoxxville and Helgamite will be awesome as well, and I’ve no doubt the likes of Vessel of Light, Galactic Cross (with Dave Sherman of Earthride), Yatra, Black Lung, Plainride, Cavern, Molasses Barge, Admiral Browning, Black Road, Poobah, Omen Stones and Crystal Spiders will be made to feel welcome into the MDDF family vibe, at least those who aren’t already a part of it. I guess particularly in the case of Admiral Browning, it’s more like family reunion.

Keeping with the festival’s no-dragged-out-staggered-announcements spirit, I’ll be up front about this: it’s gonna be a good ‘un. You should do whatever you need to do to make it happen.

Check it:

MARYLAND DOOM FEST Announces 2020 Lineup: June 18-21 – Feat. CIRITH UNGOL, BLOOD CEREMONY, MONDO GENERATOR, SPEEDEALER + MORE! EarlyBird Sales Start Dec. 17!

The Maryland Doom Fest celebrates its 6th anniversary next June and today brings you its confirmed roster of over 50 of today’s heaviest bands to hit its stages in 2020.

Maryland Doom Fest brings both U.S. and international artists from all over the map into Frederick, MD for a full four days of mayhem, featuring the legendary Cirith Ungol and Blood Ceremony, to Speedealer and Mondo Generator set to headline the four nights of top shelf doom metal and heavy underground sounds! This year includes more than fifty bands to cover every dark and dank corner of metal subgenres across every inch of the stage from start to finish each night.

A few words from JB Matson, founder and organizer of The Maryland Doom Fest:

“I simply could not be more excited about the fifty-plus band roster for the Maryland Doom Fest’s 6th annual show in 2020!! This will be a splendid #4daysofdoom!!!”

We invite all to become part of the family at the Maryland Doom Fest 2020 weekend events! Please support the Doom and Heavy Music scene and come share in this epic event with us. We will see you at #4daysofdoom!!

THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2020

CIRITH UNGOL + BLOOD CEREMONY + SPEEDEALER + MONDO GENERATOR

THE SKULL + SORCERER + DEATH ROW ASSEMBLY + WITCH MOUNTAIN

Ol’ Time Moonshine + Arduini/Balich + Dirt Eater + Switchblade Jesus
Doperider + Condenados + Cultic + Yatra + Bailjack + Poobah
Earthride + Black Lung + Jake The Hawk + Black Road + Warmask
Admiral Browning + Sourpuss + Molasses Barge + Thunderbird Divine
Dust Prophet + Wolftooth + Vessel Of Light + Wrath Of Typhon + Spiral Grave
Plainride + Mangog + Cavern + Galactic Cross + Shadow Witch + Burgan
Akris + Plague Wielder + The Age Of Truth + Knoxxville + The Astral Void
Serpents Of Secrecy + Omen Stones + Crystal Spiders + Helgamite
VRSA + Conclave + Et Mors + Strange Highways + Alms + Dyerwulf

June 18th – 21st, 2020 + Frederick, MD

www.marylanddoomfest.com

Early Bird Discount tickets are available from December 17th through 31st.

Standard ticket sales start January 2020.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/827407774319811/

https://www.facebook.com/events/827407774319811/
https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
https://www.instagram.com/marylanddoomfest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Cirith Ungol, “I’m Alive” live at Up the Hammers Festival 2017

Thief Presents continues to throw down a gauntlet with its festivals. It seemed fair after so thoroughly upping the game earlier this year with Psycho CA that big things would be in store for that fest’s autumnal counterpart, the Day of the Shred, but when you come out of the gate like it’s no big deal and be like, “Oh hey Captain Beyond is playing our fest year whatever,” you’re officially killing it. You’ve got John Garcia, Yawning Man and Ides of Gemini together, which makes me wonder if Zun won’t make an appearance, and Spirit Caravan, Elder and Crowbar, along with a righteous ton of others, up to and including Portugal’s Black Bombaim. It gets a hearty and heartfelt fucking a.

Details from the PR wire:

Day of the Shred Festival to Light Up Southern California November 1

Dia de los Muertos-themed Concert Event to Feature Performances from Captain Beyond, Spirit Caravan, Crowbar, John Garcia, Mondo Generator, Torche and More

This fall, The Day of the Shred Festival returns to Southern California, presenting a diverse lineup of heavy music acts. Billed as an experience “to gather the living and remember the dead”, The Day of the Shred will take place on November 1 (Dia de los Muertos) in Santa Ana, CA. Celebrating monolithic riffs, skateboarding and the souls of the departed, the second annual festival will be an all day, all ages event. Presented by Thief – also the creators of the annual Psycho California Festival — The Day of the Shred will feature headliners Captain Beyond, Spirit Caravan, Crowbar, Torche, John Garcia (of Kyuss fame), Elder, Saviours, Mondo Generator and more.

Tickets for the 2015 Day of the Shred Festival are on sale now at this location. Early bird general admission tickets are $59 (+ tax) and a limited VIP ticket package (which includes express entry, a signed festival screen print, access to the artist lounge, complimentary microbrew and snacks, a limited edition record bag and an exclusive Thief X Obey concert shirt) is also available.
What: Day of the Shred Fest 2015
Where: The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA
Time: 2PM – 2AM
Tickets: Eventbrite.com/e/day-of-the-shred-2015-tickets-17017683349

The just-announced lineup for The Day of the Shred 2015 is as follows:

CAPTAIN BEYOND
SPIRIT CARAVAN
CROWBAR
JOHN GARCIA
MONDO GENERATOR
TORCHE
ELDER
SAVIOURS
OXBOW
FULL OF HELL
THE BODY
YAWNING MAN
KOWLOON WALLED CITY
BLACK BOMBAIM
FIGHT AMP
THOU
NIGHT DEMON
IDES OF GEMINI
MOS GENERATOR
GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST
WHITE MANNA
POOBAH
COMMUNION
BLACKWITCH PUDDING
DUEL
Stay tuned in to The Day of the Shred Fest via the Facebook event page and follow THE DAY OF THE SHRED on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/dayoftheshred
https://twitter.com/thiefpresents
https://instagram.com/thiefpresents/
www.DayoftheShred.com

Weedeater, “Gimme Back My Bullets” Live at Day of the Shred 2014

Congratulations to Ripple Music on their one-year anniversary. The label is home to the likes of Mighty High, Poobah and Stone Axe, and in celebration of their solar revolution (hopefully the first of many), they’ve made an exclusive digital compilation available for free download from their Bandcamp page. That’s cool enough, but the compilation also features new music from Iron Claw and Grifter, who’ll both have new albums out before the end of the year.

Here’s the news from the label, followed by the audio stream of the comp:

Now, as Ripple Music moves into its second year, founders John Rancik and Todd Severin want to celebrate the enthusiasm of their music lovers with some anniversary specials. As a thank you to their fans and supporters who’ve allowed Ripple to strike out and bring independent music to the world, Ripple is releasing it’s first ever free digital compilation album.

Featuring every band that has made the first year of Ripple Music such a success, Ripple‘s anniversary album kicks off with Stone Axe, before heading down the Ripple highway of Poobah, JPT Scare Band, Fen, and more. And as a special bonus, The anniversary album features the world’s first sneak peeks at two new Ripple releases; Grifter‘s self-titled debut album, and the eagerly anticipated A Different Game, from underground legends, Scotland’s Iron Claw. But the free compilation album may be available for only a limited time, so get over there quickly to get yours!

But wait, there’s more. Over at the Ripple Store, everything is still 15% off until July 4, and every waverider who places an order will get their name placed into a drawing for a very special, last-one-of-a-kind surprise test pressing!

If you missed Ripple Music‘s reissue of Poobah‘s Let Me In, it was definitely one of the highlights of the year as far as that kind of thing goes. Killer ’70s heavy rock topped off with the virtuoso guitar of Jim Gustafson. Hard to beat.

The band just released a live CD of their set from the concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland from 2004, and Gustafson sent out the following email about it, which I post here in case anyone wants to get a copy from the Poobah website:

Hello, this is Jim Gustafson of Poobah. I have recently released a very rare collectible live CD, from the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Poobah concert in 2004. This CD is 68 minutes of blazing guitar work. In addition to the 12 songs recorded live, there is also a bonus track of the newly recorded song, “Smokin’ with a Bottle of Rum.”

Poobah has signed a record deal with Ripple Music, in southern California, so there are many new projects that are headed your way. The recent re-release of Let Me In on double vinyl records with 12 bonus tracks, along with a beautifully done CD package, has been reviewed by several magazines, garnering the highest rated reviews , including Goldmine’s raves of Let Me In as the reissue of the year!

This live set burns with furious and wild guitar. Featuring, the classic Poobah songs, and recent new originals full of powerful psych-out sounds.

Long relegated to giving the occasional discerning collector a very expensive boner, Poobah’s 1972 lost wonder Let Me In sees new life in a reissue by Ripple Music and a remastering job by none other than Stone Axe’s T. Dallas Reed. Boasting the original six-track, 31-minute LP and an additional 12 bonus cuts (just to point out the math: there’s literally twice as much bonus material as album tracks), Ripple’s version of Let Me In is a 75-minute monster, and while it’s true some of the bonus cuts are just the band screwing around — I’m looking at you, “Aww, Not Now” — there’s also a slew of killer non-album songs, live rehearsals and alternate versions, so if you’ve ever wanted to hear Poobah, this is probably the best way out there to go about it. Certainly the most bang for your buck.

The material the Youngstown, Ohio, trio of guitarist/vocalist Jim Gustafson, bassist/vocalist Phil Jones and drummer Glenn Wiseman (Nick Gligor and Steve Schwelling also show up for drums on the bonus tracks) brought to the Let Me In album itself is top notch American ‘70s heavy rock. Distinguished by Gustafson’s blazing leads and the occasional psychedelic freakout, tracks like “Bowleen” and opener “Mr. Destroyer” may sound completely of their day, but if you’re hunting down a band like Poobah, that’s exactly what you want. Special mention should be made of the obvious attention to detail and love Reed put into his remastering job, bringing Jones’ bass up for the playful runs on the closing title track (closing out the original album, not the full disc here) makes that song even more of a highlight, and it seems that each song on the record has something special that stands it out, among its tracklist compatriots, yes, but also among the early ‘70s heavy scene, which lacked neither quantity of bands or quality of output. Even the softer, more progressive “Enjoy What You Have” and the ultra-bluesy “Live to Work” — the latter especially — hold their ground against any band to whom you’d have them compared, and the more you hear Let Me In, the more that will ring true.

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Does it seem a little strange to pre-order an album that came out in 1972? Yes. Nevertheless, that’s the situation with Poobah‘s classic of underground ’70s heavy rock, Let Me In. Ripple Music, which has overseen the remastering and reissuing of the album, is now taking pre-orders in advance of the October 12 release date.

The PR wire has the details:

With the original 1972 LP fetching upwards of $300 a piece at various auction sites, Poobah and Ripple Music decided it was time to “re-unleash” the album that started the madness. The fuzzed-out, psychedelic, proto-metal masterpiece Let Me In is set to hit the streets on October 12th, 2010 and will be available in CD, digital and deluxe double gatefold 12″ vinyl versions. Fully remastered by T. Dallas Reed (Stone Axe/Mos Generator) the songs have a fresh vitality while never losing the ‘70s edge that made them so endearing in the first place.

The original six tracks will be accompanied by a ton of previously unreleased tracks and never before seen photographs; Let Me In will undoubtedly satisfy the most rabid of Poobah fan! The CD edition includes twelve bonus cuts and an 8-page booklet that features live shots and of the band at some of their most candid moments, while the double LP edition includes 10 bonus tracks and is pressed on two-toned black and white vinyl. Now accepting pre-orders at Ripple Music!