As per Halloween tradition, the venerable Maryland Doom Fest has posted its as-of-now-complete lineup for next year’s edition, and MDDF 2025 looks like a rager. Set to unfold its massive billing across June 19-22 in the riffy epicenter of Frederick, Maryland, the fest will highlight newcomers and established acts alike, as veteran outfits like The Skull and Apostle of Solitude, Hollow Leg, Curse the Son, and others make returning appearances and new incarnations like Legions of Doom, Ages and High Noon Kahuna feature familiar players in new contexts. Always cool to see bands like Thunderbird Divine and Spiral Grave doing the thing, and I’ll admit that my eyebrows went up when I saw Virginia’s Lord would be playing, as I’d yet to encounter word of a reunion from that most chaotic of sludge metal outfits. Sonolith and Demons My Friends and Sons of Arrakis and plenty of others will be traveling for it — Ogre! — so I would expect some tours to be forthcoming, and Sun Years, whose Nov. tour begins — wait for it — tomorrow, will feature.

It’s a family reunion you probably already have on your calendar, so don’t let me keep you from perusing the poster and getting stoked on what you find. From Crystal Spiders to B&O Railroad, there’s both a lot here and a lot here to like, and always more waiting to be discovered by those bold enough to show up to Cafe 611 early in the day. Check it out:

MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2025 – June 19-22, Frederick, MD

WE JOURNEY FROM THE HEAVY UNDERGROUND AND STAGES ACROSS THE WORLD TO ASSEMBLE IN FREDERICK, MARYLAND, FOR A JOYOUS CELEBRATION OF DOOM, GROOVE, AND THE ALMIGHTY RIFF.

JOIN US.

After such a magnificent 10th anniversary celebration of #4daysofdoom in 2024, which involved reorganizing and coordinating two stages in one venue (Cafe 611), we are beyond stoked to share The Maryland Doom Fest 2025 roster and marvelous promotional artwork.

The art design was created by one of our Maryland natives in the local music scene—Ben Proudman, the Frederick, MD-based master artist at Key City Tattoo (IG: @tattoosbyprdmn). Ben is also the drummer for the powerful bands Thonian Horde and Foehammer. Our very own Bill Kole (IG: @BillyDiablo) handled the color design and layouts again this year. He majestically brought this piece to life!

Explore the heavy musical talent of these bands and performers and be prepared for the nonstop riffage party in June! Talent beyond words!!! We can’t wait for our doom community to congregate next summer!!!

Time slots, ticket sales, stage rosters, sponsors, and vendors will be presented by year’s end. — 💀DooM💀

THE SKULL + PSYCHOTIC REACTION + APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE + LEGIONS OF DOOM + COMPRESSION + CRYSTAL SPIDERS + HIGH NOON KAHUNA + RED BEARD WALL + WITCHPIT + STRANGE HIGHWAYS + AGES + SUNYEARS + HOLLOW LEG

FUTURE PROJEKTOR + ALL YOUR SINS + SONOLITH + SPIRAL GRAVE + LORD + SABBATH WARLOCK + GALLOWGLAS + SONS OF ARRAKIS + CROP + HOVEL + OGRE + DREADSTAR + THUNDERBIRD DIVINE + WYNDRIDER + SUN MANTRA + KULVERA + STYGIAN CROWN + CURSE THE SON + BENTHIC REALM + HOLY ROLLER

BLOODSHOT + DUST PROPHET + VANISHING KIDS + BLOOD AND EARTH + FIGHT THE FOLD + DAYTRIPPER + B&O RAILROAD + BAILJACK + COKUS + NEW DAWNS FADE + COMA HOLE + FLORIST + ABEL BLOOD + SEASICK GLADIATOR + ENTIERRO + HEX ENGINE + DEMONS MY FRIENDS + ABOMINOG + VRSA + HIGH HORSE CALVARY

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

Maybe I’m missing something — it’s certainly possible — but if you’re Metal Blade, the label that issued Pentagram‘s 2011 comeback LP, Last Rites (review here), wouldn’t you try really, really hard to keep that band on your roster? Don’t get me wrong, there’s obviously a ton of stuff that could’ve gone on behind the scenes on this one, but after the success of the Bobby Liebling documentary, Last Days Here (review here), they’ve never been bigger. And they’ve done a bunch of legwork on top of that. They’re headlining Psycho California! Who wouldn’t want to put out that record?

And speaking as someone who quite literally saw them 20 times last year, the band are firing on all cylinders. True, they’ve just traded out drummer Sean Saley — if you’re worried about him, don’t be; he’s already joined The Skull to replace Jeff “Oly” Olson — but “Minnesota” Pete Campbell is a proven entity, having played with guitarist Victor Griffin in Place of Skulls and In~Graved. It’s downright curious, is all I’m saying. With the momentum that Pentagram have going into their next album, I’d think Metal Blade would be the ones putting it out.

Their loss is Peaceville‘s gain, I suppose. Pentagram‘s new album is slated to release this summer, and they’ll have a 2DVD out on March 31 (through Peaceville) called All Your Sins that documents live shows over a 30-year span.

PR wire info follows:

PENTAGRAM RE-SIGNS WITH PEACEVILLE RECORDS; NEW ALBUM DUE OUT THIS SUMMER

DVD collection “All Your Sins” out March 31 in North America

Peaceville Records is proud to announce the re-signing of U.S. metal legend, Pentagram, for its forthcoming studio album, set to be released summer 2015. The highly influential American heavy metal/doom act, fronted by the mysterious Bobby Liebling, formed in the early 1970s, though its debut album – now known as Relentless – didn’t see a release until 1985. Through four decades of adversity and triumph, Pentagram has become a legendary international act and has firmly stamped its name in the heavy metal history books.

Pentagram recently completed pre-production with Swedish producer, Mattias Nilsson, at studios in Baltimore, Md., D.C. and Va., with additional vocal and guitar production in Knoxville, Tenn. with Travis Wyrick. Wyrick is a Grammy Award-winning producer who produced the band’s previous album, Last Rites.

The band comments on the signing:

“Pentagram is happy to return to the label that helped relaunch interest in our debut album and introduce us to a new metal audience in the 1990s. Peaceville Records has been an ally to us throughout the past 20 years. We are happy to have them by our side once again as we record our fourth album under their banner. Never properly recorded songs written by Bobby in the 70s will be heard on the album as fresh as they were when they were written over 40 years ago. Brand new numbers by the core of Griffin, Turley and Liebling that were written this fall will appear along the old songs, and will produce an album that encompasses the true spirit of Pentagram. Doom is often mistaken as exclusively slow music. If you listen to our classic ‘doom’ album ‘Relentless,’ many of those doomed classics are quite fast. One of the magics of doom metal is to have a faster song seem much slower because of the sheer heaviness of the number. That’s what we are going for. The band will sound like they are as much from the street as they are from the Sabbath, because, well, we are.”

It has also been announced that Sean Saley has decided to step down from the drum throne. “Minnesota” Pete Campbell will step in to complete recording and touring duties throughout 2015. Campbell is best known for his drumming with Victor Griffin’s In-Graved, Place of Skulls and stoners Sixty Watt Shaman.

Preceding the still-to-be-titled opus is an extensive DVD release, All Your Sins, due out March 31 in North America. This first-ever official Pentagram video collection recovers, repairs and resurrects the earliest known footage of this doomed metal pioneer and more. Featuring two DVDs packed with priceless archive footage, as well as recent shows, All Your Sins – Video Vault unearths the rumored lost visual evidence pent up in the Ram Family vault for decades. This definitive collection contains over seven hours of footage from nine venues and numerous historical shows, including a charged performance at the legendary CBGB’s club in 1985 – a mass of classic renditions from the band’s catalogue finally gathered together for a live journey spanning over 30 years.

Disc 1:
1.1 Death Row Live at the Silver Fox – 1983 [01:29)
1.2 CBGBs – 1985 [00:28]
1.3 The Seagull Inn – 1985 [00:22]
1.4 The Hung Jury Pub – 1987 [00:39]
1.5 9:30 Club – 1993 [00:41]

Disc 2:
2.1 The Paragon – 1993 [01:02]
2.2 The End – 2010 [01:09]
2.3 John Dee, Oslo – 2012 [01:11]
2.4 The DNA Lounge – 2014 [00:06]

Although always a cult act with a strong and dedicated worldwide fan base, Pentagram has enjoyed a recent surge in interest due in part to the fly-on-the-wall 2011 documentary, Last Days Here, following the life, trials and tribulations of Bobby Liebling. The film gained international recognition, travelling the worldwide film festival circuit where it won several awards including “Best Music Documentary” at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.

http://www.PentagramOfficial.com
https://www.facebook.com/pentagramusa

Pentagram, Live at the DNA Lounge, San Francisco, CA, 2014