Two days, part-outdoors, everybody vaxxed, the Shadow Woods Metal Fest continues to push aesthetic forward while doing so in plague-safe fashion. Shadow Woods Metal Fest V brings campers, cabin-renters and whoever else can find a place to stay together in celebration of anti-genre noisemaking of the sort that might put Borracho and Panopticon on the bill together because screw it life is short and see everything you can while you can. Two days here, really a day and a half, and this might be the last time the fest is held. 200 acres out in the woods. Who could argue? Ever?

Righteous in purpose and execution, fest organizer Mary Spiro sent the following down the PR wire:

Panopticon to headline Shadow Woods Metal Fest V

The fifth edition of Shadow Woods Metal Fest (also sometimes simply SWMF or Shadow Woods Music Fest, since it’s not all metal music) will happen Aug 27-29, 2021 in White Hall, Maryland. Bands announced so far include Panopticon, Destroyer of Light, Borracho, Neolithic, Voarm, Witchcryer, Traitor, Altar and the Bull, and Queen Wolf with about 10 more acts to be confirmed.

Tickets may be found on Eventbrite: https://shadowwoods2021.eventbrite.com

Performance times will be Friday between 6 pm and 11 pm and Saturday between noon and 11 pm. There are no bands on Sunday. Although not officially announced, it is has been rumored that ticket sales will be cut off August 13 and no ticket will be sold at the gate. So, plan ahead.

The fest will take place at its traditional location, Camp Hidden Valley, a wooded, 200-acre property about 45 minutes north of Baltimore that hosts everything from weddings to children’s summer camps. There will be two covered stages – one outdoors and one inside the venue’s large, well-ventilated dining hall. This is the layout used during the 2018 fest – the last time the fest was held. Attendees may drive from home, camp, or stay in nearby hotels or private rentals. Most cabin options are already sold out.

Organizers are taking COVID-19 precautions seriously. There will be emergency medical techs and rapid COVID testing available throughout the weekend. They have issued this statement to attendees:

Masking, hand washing, and physical distancing protocols will be in effect during the fest. At this time, we are asking that every participant be fully vaccinated two weeks prior (by August 13) and show your vaccination card upon entry. We are working with an organization to have rapid COVID testing available onsite for a low fee at entry. If anyone tests positive for COVID or has any indicative symptoms such as a fever, coughing, chills, extreme fatigue, etc., we ask that you STAY HOME or leave the fest immediately, even if it is last minute. Everyone will be required to sign the typical camp liability waiver that we have used every year, but it will also include additional language related to COVID. We will be following all the federal and local recommended protocols and guidelines for COVID safety. All this is subject to change based on the current situation with the pandemic

Event organizer M. A. Spiro said that this really will be the last time she will do the fest, although she has admittedly said that before. “This last year without live music has been brutal on everyone and economically devastating,” she said. “I hope people come out for it. The bands need it. The fans need it. The production people need it. But one thing I learned after this last year is that I personally do not have to be the one to do these events any more. It’s a ton of work, a lot of risk financially and emotionally, and I am just not interested in carrying that mantle forward any longer. I would love it if someone created a new camping music fest nearby that I could go to and enjoy. But Shadow Woods as people have come to know it will be laid to rest after 2021. I might continue to do smaller shows in brick-and-mortar venues, but that remains to be seen since we really are not there yet with those locations.”

https://www.facebook.com/events/962682497420440
https://facebook.com/shadowwoodsmetalfest/
https://www.instagram.com/shadow.woods.metal.fest/

Panopticon, …And Again into the Light (2021)

I don’t have any idea what Shadow Woods IV — the name trimmed down from the original Shadow Woods Metal Fest for reasons that will become clear as you continue to read — would possibly have to gain from any kind of endorsement on my part, official or not, but let me say anyway that if you can’t respect this idea, the fact that they’ve done it four years running, and the obvious blood-borne passion that goes into making each edition an event unlike anything else in the US when it comes to the mix of bands, the locale, the vibe and the very concept from which it’s working, you can basically fuck off. I may not be into every band on this list — it’s a really, really long list — but there are plenty here who would justify a trip to Harpers Ferry in September, and yeah, all this is is something special year after year.

The lineup this time around is completely over the top, as you can see first in the grim-grim-grim poster below, then in the running order for each for Shadow Woods IV‘s three nights, and then, finally, in alphabetical order, because they are thorough and that’s only one more reason to hold Shadow Woods in such high regard.

Behold:

Shadow Woods Productions LLC presents the fourth edition of Shadow Woods Metal Fest, now simply referred to as Shadow Woods IV.

http://www.shadowwoodsmetalfest.com/

What: Shadow Woods IV is a multi-day open air music and camping event in that includes bands from many subgenres of metal, rock, folk, experimental and noise. The fest will host more than 40 bands on two alternating stages with no overlapping sets so attendees can enjoy every set. There will also be delicious food, craft beer, a vendor marketplace with art, jewelry, home decor, music, and rock and metal merchandise.

Where: Our new fest venue is the Harpers Ferry Adventure Center (HFAC) located at 37410 Adventure Center Lane in Purcellville, VA 20132, situated in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains at the confluence of the Shenandoah and the Potomac rivers. HFAC features zip lines, ropes courses, tubing, white water rafting, cabins, campsites and an onsite craft brewery. It is located just a little more than a hour from Washington DC and Baltimore, MD near the intersection of the Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia state lines. Festival attendees receive a discount of HFAC activities as well as on the cost of campground and cabin rental with the Shadow Woods group rate.

https://harpersferryadventurecenter.com/

When: Sept 20-22, 2018. Thursday night features primarily acoustic, folk and ritual noise from 6 p.m. until 11 pm. Friday and Saturday showcases rock and metal bands from noon until 11 pm each day.

How: Tickets are on sale now. A full weekend event pass is $130. Day passes for Thursday are $30; Friday and Saturday passes are $60 each. (Important note: Tent camping and cabin are not included in the tickets. Reservations must be made directly through the HFAC and you must request the Shadow Woods group rate. The venue is requesting that attendees hold off on reserving sites for the time being until a system can be put in place for managing this.)

Why: “It was pretty clear from the positive feedback I received after the 2017 fest that festival goers did not want to see Shadow Woods end, even though our property in Maryland had been sold,” said Mary Spiro, fest founder. So without a venue or a confirmed lineup, I started quietly raising the funds to do a new fest via the contributions of past attendees. In January 2018, I was able to find an fantastic site to host the fest that was even better than what we had before. The lineup came together very quickly and I am extremely proud and excited to present these past favorites and new discoveries.”

Here is lineup by day in roughly the reverse order of playing (so headliner at the top) subject to change of course. Then the lineup is in ABC order at the bottom. Brian Sheehan has done the poster.

At this time in terms of Vendors, you can say expect to see some of the ones seen last year plus many new ones.

Don’t have any food vendors or specific sponsors named yet. Beer is the Harpers Ferry Brewing Company which is part of the venue.

Thursday
Xasthur – doomgrass, folk rock (Los Angeles, CA)
On The Water – strange folk (Philadelphia)
Goblin Hovel – metal folk (NY/PA)
Skulsyr – occult noise (Doylestown, PA)
Jerome Deppe and Miss Elizabeth’s All-Girl Band – folk ballads of the damned (Baltimore, MD)
Bound For The Ground – the devil’s blues supergroup with members of Grave Gnosis, The Owls Are Not What They Seem, and Cultic (GA/FL/PA)
Earendel – acoustic folk duo (Baltimore)

Friday
Tombs – post metal (NYC)
Rozamov – psyche-tinged grueling doom (Boston)
Heavy Temple – Hard Fuzz, Psych and Doom (Philadelphia)
Barishi – Gritty Progressive Metal (Brattleboro, VT)
Aether Realm – Viking folk metal (Greenville, NC)
Destroyer of Light – doom and roll (Austin, TX)
Electropathic – doom hard rock with members from several foundational Maryland doom groups (Wheaton, MD)
Husbandry – Fugazi meets Aaliyah (NYC)
God Root – ritualistic sludge (Philadelphia)
Dysfigure – modern heavy metal (Martinsburg, WV)
Windfaerer – extreme aural entity (New Jersey)
Witch Hazel – occult rock and roll/doom (York, PA)
Forest of Legend – doom/stoner/sludge (Virginia Beach, VA)
Hepatagua – sludge/doom/thrash (Boston)
Flummox – nongenre specific doomy metal (Murfreesboro, TN)
Ferus Din – black metal and flutes (Buffalo, NY)
Haze Mage – stoner metal (Baltimore)
Malphas – progressive blackened melodeath (Philadelphia)

Saturday
Uada – black metal (Portland, OR)
Cloak – black and roll (Atlanta, GA)
Panzerfaust – black metal (Toronto, ON)
Voarm – black metal (Richmond, VA)
Imperial Triumphant – black metal (NYC)
Athame – black metal (MD/WV)
Hubris – black metal (Buffalo, NY)
Enthauptung – atmospheric black metal (Rochester, NY)
A Sound of Thunder – traditional/NWOBHM heavy metal (DC/VA)
Bound By The Grave – death metal (Baltimore)
Destroying Angel – dark folk rock (Philadelphia)
All Hell – black and roll (Asheville, NC)
Black Mass – death thrash (Boston)
Hexxus – sludge metal (Birmingham, AL)
Replicant – death metal (NJ)
Tyrannis – death metal (Radford, VA)
Sluagh – progressive metal (Martinsburg, WV)
Sickdeer – death metal (DC)

Alphabetical
Aether Realm
All Hell
A Sound of Thunder
Athame
Barishi
Black Mass
Bound By The Grave
Bound For The Ground
Cloak
Jerome Deppe and Miss Elizabeth’s All-Girl Band
Destroyer of Light
Destroying Angel
Dysfigure
Earendel
Electropathic
Enthauptung
Ferus Din
Flummox
Forest of Legend
Goblin Hovel
God Root
Haze Mage
Heavy Temple
Hepatagua
Hexxus
Hubris
Husbandry
Imperial Triumphant
Malphas
On The Water
Panzerfaust
Replicant
Rozamov
Sickdeer
Skulsyr
Sluagh
Tombs
Tyrannis
Uada
Voarm
Windfaerer
Witch Hazel
Xasthur

http://www.shadowwoodsmetalfest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/shadowwoodsmetalfest/
https://twitter.com/ShadowWoodsMF
https://harpersferryadventurecenter.com/

Shadow Woods Metal Fest 2018 playlist