Posted in Whathaveyou on January 8th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
So here’s what I know: The Knights of Doom isn’t quite a reboot for Maryland Doom Fest, which was held for the last time in 2025, and it’s not quite not. To wit, it’s being headed by that decade-plus-running festival’s founder JB Matson, being held at Cafe 611 in Frederick, Maryland, and seeming to pack as much music into its span as possible. A key difference is in the length of that span itself. This inaugural edition of the fest, to be held in June when otherwise MDDF might’ve taken place, will be two days as opposed to MDDF‘s four, and this first lineup announcement with seven bands is the first of four to come in the next two weeks.
You can do the math on that yourself. Four times seven is 28 bands, which if you break it evenly means 14 per day. I don’t know that each announce will have the same amount, and I don’t know what the total number will be, but clearly one thing The Knights of Doom will have in common with Maryland Doom Fest is the continued ethic of putting on as many acts as it can. And from Curse the Son to Crop, Hovel and Faith in Jane, there are names even in this first batch of reveals that will be familiar to the former denizens of MDDF, while Professor Emeritus, Bleak Shore and End of Age (formerly Black Cowgirl) are new to the fold.
A mix of familiar and not, then, and that should work well as the reveals play out over the next couple weeks. I guess staggering that is another form of departure from MDDF methodology, where Matson‘s prior fest would drop all the names at once each Halloween and let small changes shake out over the ensuing months, but it still looks like it’s going to be a family reunion for that crowd, who are great, and a way to welcome new folks without an overwhelming, 60-bands-in-four-days onslaught. Scaling back in some ways and trying some new things. When Maryland Doom Fest announced it was done, it was clear something needed to take its place. This looks like the readiest candidate.
From social media:
WE ARE PLEASED TO SHARE THE FIRST OF 4 SEPARATE BAND DUMPS SHOWCASING THE ROSTERS OF KNIGHTS OF DOOM!!!
The Knights of Doom ’26
Curse the Son Professor Emeritus Hovel End of Age Faith in Jane Crop Bleak Shore
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I’m not sure if this is everybody playing next year’s Legalize Lex, or just Legalize, at Al’s Bar in Lexington, Kentucky. This year had 17, and this is 14 bands, so if they’ve pared it down a bit, fair enough, but it’s also next April, so if they’re allowing for a couple others to get on board or for plans to chance, also fair enough. Note that Hashtronaut, Crop, Swamp Hawk, Shi and Veilcaste played this year’s Legalize, and a couple repeats year to year, friends and associated acts, is part of building a festival culture as well.
One assumes Spotlights will headline, and Hashtronaut and Crop would seem to have moved up the bill as well. Crystal Spiders will surely be awesome, and Fairie Ring and Doomsday Profit and Insomniac and well basically I’m just listing names at this point because I think the bands are cool and somehow you’re just supposed to get that reading. Come on, man. You were at that Insomniac gig in Brooklyn, right? Talking to myself and Gavin Zollo because I don’t think Ron actually reads. Ha. I don’t think anybody reads.
I digress. Driving untold hours to stand around a place to see bands? Sounds right up my alley. Not even joking:
Legalize Lex 2026
Hello everyone, we had a couple of errors on the initial release post and we want to make sure we represent all our bands the best we can, so we’re reposting this bad boi! We definitely appreciated all of your likes and comments the first time around, your support means the world to us. If you feel so inclined, please share this post so we can keep spreading the word! Year 3 is gonna be a banger! Excited to see you all!
Lineup: Spotlights Hashtronaut Crop Crystal Spiders Swamp Hawk Faerie Ring Uga Buga Insomniac Doomsday Profit Veilcaste Dead Vibes Ensemble Shi Acromancer Blonde Cauldron
Posted in Reviews on October 7th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It hasn’t exactly been graceful so far, this Quarterly Review, but it’s gotten to where it’s needed to go across a tumultuous first two days, and I’ll take that as a positive sign of things to come. We’re in the thick of it now, with day three, and it’s a good day to dig in, so I won’t delay further except to say I hope you find something in here that you enjoy.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Vinnum Sabbathi, Intersatelital
Mexico City instrumentalists Vinnum Sabbathi have been plenty busy in the five years since their 2020 split with Comacozer (review here), whether it was collaborating with Rezn, touring multiple times in Europe, putting out a live record, etc., but the three-song Intersatelital EP is a welcome standalone studio return for the band just the same. Issued to coincide with their Summer ’25 Euro run, the 19-minute outing basks in 20th Century-era space exploration, with Spanish-language samples recounting the launch of early communications satellites for a kind of positive-future manifestation as the intro “Centro de Control Especial” flows into “Sistema de Satelites Morelos” and the 11-minute finale “Rodolfo Neri Vela,” which is both heavy enough to pay off the entire procession of the release and intense enough to convey escape velocity. The short version: Vinnum Sabbathi deliver again.
Past the medically-noisy intro “Flatline,” Crop‘s S.S.R.I. — the Lexington, Kentucky, sludgers’ second LP, named for the class of antidepressants — builds a massive wall of harsh-shout-topped sludge metal with “Formaldehyde,” big tones and big riffs resulting in big impact. Nothing to complain about, and I’m not complaining, but neither is that all they have to offer. A midsection break with vocals that if you come back in a decade will probably be clean hints at complexity in the composition, and sure enough, even the lumbering largesse of “Godamn” or the closer “Break” give hints of melody somewhere (the latter also some double-kick), and by the time they get to “10-56,” they’ve established their context enough that the dynamic will be apparent for those willing to hear it. That makes “Alone” less of a surprise with a more progressive reachout in its second half, followed by the echoing guitar interlude “Breath,” after which “Break” buries itself and everything else in lurching distortion and takes just a quick breather before the last and most vicious onslaught. They sound like they’re on a path of growth, but to be sure they’re also flattening everything on that same path.
Bloodsports are no more beholden to the post-grunge melancholy of “Rosary” than the outright crush of “Rot” just before or the willfully choppy succession of “Trio 1” and “Trio 2” that open its respective sides or the penultimate strum and cello of “A River Runs Through,” and their first album, Anything Can Be a Hammer envisions an intimate volatility. “Come, Dog” and the daringly straight-ahead “Calvin” find the Brooklynite four-piece (maybe sometimes a trio?) casting their lot with individual perspective almost as a side-effect of the personal expression the nine component tracks seem to convey, but also rock, and while at full-bore, the six-minute closing title-track is a forceful push revealing a prog-hardcore metal (Converge, Oathbreaker) influence somewhere in the band that provides a roiling payoff. It gets chaotic and they let it, so bonus points for all that noise. A lot will depend on whether or not they tour, but there’s a take developing in Bloodsports‘ sound that isn’t like much else out there. If they can hit it hard and tour, the potential is there to be realized.
Swedish heavy progressive psychedelic rockers Eyes of the Oak follow 2024’s sophomore LP, Neolithic Flint Dagger (review here), with the three-tracker Tripping Through Neon Skies, which pairs two originals in “Temple of Hallucinations” (5:08) and “Hitchhiking From the Mescaline Moon” (11:49), the latter drifting into a cosmically declarative crescendo that calls to mind Samsara Blues Experiment in its sweep, with a duly spaced-out take on AC/DC‘s “Hell’s Bells” that admirably balances loyalty to the original (why else would you cover it?) with the band’s will to make it their own in melody and reach. “Hitchhiking From the Mescaline Moon” is more of a voyage, of course, but “Temple of Hallucinations” casts itself out in vivid colors with a proggy hook and swells of vocal melody that add a light, not-unwelcome touch of the grandiose. It’s a big sound, and a big universe, and with these songs, Eyes of the Oak continue to carve out their place in it.
So here’s my story. Not knowing much about Virginia’s Pygmy Lush beyond their being well recommended and sharing members with Pageninetynine, I showed up to their set at this year’s Roadburn Festival, and found their punk-rooted, sometimes-loud Americana engaging enough that I knew I wanted to check out their first album in 14 years, Totem. Year goes on, blah blah, summer, blah blah everything is terrible, and I finally get around to the album and Totem blindsides with a post-hardcore swing and angularity, somewhat thinky-thinky-smart-dude in pieces like “Algorithmic Mercy (Prayers Printed Directly Into a Shredder),” and unhinged in the general impression in that way that sounds like it’s about to trip over itself the whole time but never actually does. Kind of a surprise, but it’s done well and I ain’t mad about it. I’m sure there’s a narrative to the whole thing that’s been rephrased however many times over by critics more erudite than I could or would ever be, or maybe the band is just dynamic (gasp!). They quiet down for “Nonsensical Whisper” at the end, too, so it’s not all shove, even if that does define the record in large part.
The second album from Berlin’s Sheev, Ate’s Alchemist, purports a theme of dark emotions and their ethereal origins, and I’m not entirely sure how that translates into the odd-timed chuggery that bookends “Elephant Trunk,” but the progressive metal/rockers make a showcase of scope across the eight cuts/49 minutes of the album, veering into and out of various microgenres, whether it’s the doomly overtone of “Cul de Sac” or the imagine-thrash-but-soaring of “Martef” after the intro “The Alchemist.” Clearly a band who’ve worked on their sound, who believe in what they do, and who have paid attention in class when it comes to fostering a unified feel across disparate sounds. There’s nowhere the album goes that finds Sheev out of place, and while the level of engagement for a given listener will depend on their ability to meet the band where they’re at, the arguments for doing so are myriad. There are about eight of them, actually. Funny how that’s the same number of songs included, right? Stick around for the mathy wash at the end of “Sabress.”
I mean, you might think you’re ready for what’s coming on Lähdön Aika‘s fourth full-length, Mustalle Maalle, but you’re probably wrong about that. Just because they’ve been a band for over 20 years doesn’t mean the atmospheric post-sludge extremists can’t still bash your skull with the throatripper-topped jabs of “Et enää mitään” or the speedy crusher “Paina pääsi alas” later on, the rawness of the vocals only one example of the levels on which the Finnish outfit make their sound an assault. As they make their way toward the 10-minute capper “Ihmishaketta,” “Teuraaksi Kastettu” delves into a post-metal that makes Amenra sound like Oasis and the lumber of “Viilto” becomes a downward march only after it’s already lowered the whole quarry onto your person. Physical oppression through music, is what I’m talking about. A grim world awaits you if you think you can handle it, but again, these guys are experienced. They know what they’re doing as they bask in the wanton slaughter of “Ikeestä.” It’s not an accident. There’s method to it. That makes the album feel even more dangerous.
Some of the early vibes on “Beam” or “Stonewall Angel” on Fuzz Thrower‘s self-titled debut — on CD thanks to Off the Record Label imprint, PowerWax Records — remind of Sungrazer‘s mellow heavy psych circa 15 years ago, and certainly the drifty interlude “Waves” backs that up, but Netherlands-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tjeerd de Jong (also of Phantom Druid) grunges out in the march of “Nowhere,” gets more Sabbath-doomed for “Drooler” and the penultimate “Pictures of the Moon,” hints toward goth metal in “Ocean in the Sky,” and rounds out the nodder riffing of “Soon We Roam” with a sampled poetry reading, so no, things are not so easily accounted for in a single comparison point. So much the better. Across the album’s 29 minutes, de Jong presents a strong sense of trying out ideas — the way the vocals rest on top of “The End is Open,” for example — that might bring progression to subsequent releases, but there’s already depth to spare in the songwriting of this first outing. If/when he buys a keyboard, watch out.
It’s a secondary element, but don’t discount the synth work of drummer Daniel Figueroa on Moths‘ Septem EP, and if you’d like an example of why, check out “Pride.” The seven-track/26-minute offering takes each of its titles from the alleged seven deadly sins, with a full prog-metal brunt behind vocalist Mariel Viruet‘s noteworthy, growl-inclusive range as a singer. Guitarists Omar González (rhythm) and Jonathan Miranda (lead), bassist Weslie Negrón and Figueroa vary tempo and aggression to suit a given mood, and the keys are a bigger part of that than they might at first seem. Don’t tell the guitarists. The affect is definitely metal in pieces like “Gluttony” and “Greed,” while “Lust” lets the bass lead the groove, and “Wrath” — as good a place to end as any — pushes deeper into poised extremity with a blasting finish, the overarching density calling for nothing so much as repeat listens.
Pairing aggro, low-throat growl sludge with jammier takes, psychedelia, proggy riffing and a resolution in Iommic swing, the 28-minute “Subherbia” from Greenhead‘s debut album of the same name encapsulates on its own the kind of range one might expect (hope) for from a newcomer band, but the Washington D.C. trio don’t end there. Side B brings “Indigo,” “All Seeing Eye,” “Nature’s Pyramid” and “Purple God,” riding the blurred line between modern stoner largesse and classic doom riffing cohesively, letting “Nature’s Pyramid” punk up its chorus a bit as a precursor to the gang shouts of “Purple God.” I don’t know what genre you call it and I don’t care. I’m just happy to hear a new band mashing styles together to see what sticks and coming out it with a first LP that practically smacks you in the face with its ambition. What comes of it or doesn’t, whatever. I’ll take Subherbia as-is, thanks, and hope I’m lucky enough to see them do it live at some point.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 29th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Crop‘s second album, S.S.R.I. — named for the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor class of anti-depressive medications; paxil, prozac, laxapro, etc. — will be out Aug. 22, and to mark the occasion of the announcement, the Lexington, Kentucky, sludge rockers have posted the longest track from the record as the first single. At seven minutes, “Alone” presents a vicious mood marked by a semi-melodic rasp from vocalist Marc Phillips, not unlike the gutted-out approach of Hollow Leg‘s Scott Angelacos, able to conjure a sense of harshness while still holding a line of accessibility that bands like Weedeater or Bongzilla don’t have.
“Alone” streams at the bottom of this post. Crop are set to appear in June at the final Maryland Doom Fest. More info on that here.
The following came down the PR wire:
CROP Announces New Album S.S.R.I Out August 22 via Third House Communications, First Single “Alone” Out Now
Lexington, KY’s heaviest export, CROP, has announced the release of their highly anticipated sophomore album S.S.R.I, due out August 22, 2025 via Third House Communications. Alongside the announcement, the band has dropped the album’s first single, “Alone”—a soul-crushing breakup song that cuts deeper than heartbreak and settles into the kind of emotional void that never really closes.
“Alone” is a brutal meditation on what it means to lose someone twice—once in the relationship, and again in the realization that their presence offered no real solace.
Backed by thunderous guitars, unrelenting drums, and vocals that walk the line between raw power and quiet devastation, “Alone” captures the emotional core of S.S.R.I—an album steeped in grief, clarity, and the jagged edge of survival. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jason Groves, S.S.R.I builds on the massive sound CROP introduced with their self-titled 2021 debut, and dives even further into the chaos of identity, loss, and mental disintegration.
The seven-track record features emotionally heavy tracks like “Formaldehyde,” “10-56,” and “Break,” and pairs crushing riffs with deeply introspective lyrics, reflecting the band’s evolution from local underground staple to national force.
Known for their blistering live shows and rising reputation in the doom and heavy grunge scenes, CROP has performed at Maryland Doom Fest, RPM Fest, and shared stages with WEEDEATER, CONAN, REZN, BONGZILLA and more. With S.S.R.I, the band delivers not just an album, but a fully immersive psychological and sonic experience.
Formed in 2020 in Lexington, KY, CROP is a four-piece heavy band steeped in the grit of 90s grunge and sharpened by the weight of modern doom. Their debut album CROP (2021) introduced audiences to their brutal honesty and raw sonic identity. With their follow-up S.S.R.I (2025, Third House Communications), the band has expanded both emotionally and sonically, delivering a record that is as vulnerable as it is heavy.
CROP is: Marc Phillips – Vocals Zach Hunter – Guitar Braun Dabney – Bass Andrew Beauvier – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 21st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
So here’s a moment where I’m just going to be honest with you. I’m pretty sure this lineup has been announced for a bit. If you’ve been to Legalize Lex and you accordingly keep up with the Lexington, Kentucky-based two-dayer set for April 18-19 on social media, maybe you’ve seen that the likes of Horseburner, Lo-Pan, Temple of the Fuzz Witch and Hashtronaut are making the trip. Fine. So maybe it’s not ‘breaking news,’ as much as anything in the heavy underground short of Bobby Liebling memes could hope to be. I haven’t posted the lineup here yet, so even if it’s not new to you, it’s new to me. Thanks for indulging my late-to-the-party ass once again.
Crop are the affiliated act here, and they seem to be setting up the fest as a regional nexus, pulling bands from all cardinal directions to solidify what’s turned out to be a pretty banger bill. Reminds me of an old Emissions lineup, and not just because Rebreather are there, but also in some of the stoner-sludge later down the poster. The day-split is out — you can see the Saturday is more packed than the Friday, as it should be, but the first night is by no means lacking — and the lineups are rad. I won’t be there to see it, but if you get to go, I’d expect it to be a party as much as a festival. Certainly that’s the vibe I’m getting from the poster.
The day-split came down the PR wire as follows:
LEGALIZE Announces Full Lineup and Set Times for its 2nd Annual Festival in Lexington KY!
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
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
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Look at the blue text below and you know what you’re gonna see? Yes, a whole lot of skull emojis. Like a lot. But it happens that each individual one corresponds to a demonstration of the labor of love and community that is the Maryland Doom Festival. From Abel Blood through Zekiah, Maryland Doom Fest 2024 celebrates its 10th anniversary edition with its standard sans-bullshit glut of heavy. Once more the Frederick-based event looks your square in the eye, drops for absolutely immersive days on you and asks if you’re up for it. Well, are ya?
I’m not sure what my summer travel plans are yet — this and Freak Valley have overlapped the last couple years for me — but it’s been since 2019 that I was last down there and oh I’d be so eager to show up and have the three or four people who recognize me (and thus make it feel like an absolute family experience; love love love everywhere you go down there) quietly think to themselves I’ve gotten older and fatter en route to obliterating myself with volume for about 96 hours straight. Fuck. King. A.
Oh, and I hear Thunderbird Divine have new stuff in the works and it’s amazing. So that’s a thing too.
Social media had it like this:
We are super stoked to share with you the Maryland Doom Fest 2024 rosters, schedules, and lineups!!!
#4daysofdoom
THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024
✝️Thursday June 20
Cafe 611-
💀 Thunderhorse 1115-1230 💀 The Magpie 1010-1055 💀 Born of Plagues 905-950 💀 Stone Nomads 800-845 💀 Pyre Fyre 700-740 💀 Dirt Eater 600-640
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Spellbook 920-1000 💀 Strange Highways 820-900 💀 Bailjack 720-800 💀 Stone Brew 620-700 💀 Abel Blood 520-600
💀 Ten Ton Slug 915-1000 💀 Thousand Vision Mist 815-855 💀 Crowhunter 715-755 💀 Asthma Castle 615-655 💀 Bonded by Darkness 515-555
✝️Saturday June 22
Cafe 611-
💀 WHORES. 1150-115 💀 AGE/S 1040-1130 💀 Bloodshot 935-1020 💀 O ZORN! 830-915 💀 Double Planet 730-810 💀 Sun Years 630-710 💀 When the Deadbolt Breaks 530-610
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Black Water Rising 915-1000 💀 Switchblade Jesus 815-855 💀 Wyndrider 715-755 💀 Indus Valley Kings 615-655 💀 Vermillion Whiskey 515-555 💀 Doctor Smoke 415-455
✝️Sunday June 23
Cafe 611-
💀 Cirith Ungol 1200-110 💀 Mythosphere 1055-1140 💀 Conclave 955-1035 💀 Compression 855-935 💀 Sons of Arrakis 755-835 💀 Curse the Son 655-735 💀 Kulvera 555-635 💀 Old Blood 500-535 💀 Cloud Machine 405-440
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Thunderbird Divine 920-1000 💀 Black Manta 820-900 💀 High Noon Kahuna 720-800 💀 Unity Reggae 620-700 💀 King Bastard 520-600 💀 Zekiah 420-500
52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!! #4daysofdoom
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
With headlining performances slated from a soon-to-retire Cirith Ungol, noise crushers Whores., mostly-local melodic heavy proggers Mythosphere, Switchblade Jesus, Conclave, Ten Ton Slug (from Ireland; I got to see them one time; way burly; they’ll do well in Frederick), and plenty of other returning acts and newcomers alike, the lineup for Maryland Doom Fest 2024 could hardly be more appropriate a celebration of the annual Chesapeake gathering’s 10th anniversary. Based in Frederick, the four-day ultra-consuming sensory assault of volume will once again take place at Cafe 611 and Olde Mother Brewing, and if you’ve never been, I’ll tell you outright there’s nothing quite like it.
I mean that. Maryland Doom Fest goes harder than the average festival. A day might start at 1PM and not end until 2AM. And now more than ever, as the fest has grown with the two venues running alongside each other, the bill is packed. I think this year was 50 bands? Well, they’ve got 52 for 2024, and while next June is a while out, there’s a tradition to uphold of Halloween announcements, and festival honcho JB Matson (Bloodshot, War Injun, Outside Truth, etc.) pays tribute to his regulars — Shadow Witch, Bailjack, Thunderbird Divine, Thousand Vision Mist (congratulations to Danny Kenyon of Thousand Vision Mist on recently kicking cancer’s ass), among others here — while also giving showcase to outfits like Pyre Fyre, O Zorn! (whose very moniker heralds weirdness), WyndRider and more.
Congrats to Matson and all at Maryland Doom Fest on their 10th anniversary. To do something of this scope once is a lot. To do it across 10 years, well, aside from being fucking crazy, it’s also deeply admirable.
The aforementioned announcement — brief as ever; the poster lands heavy enough to cover any lack of verbiage — follows, courtesy of socials. Ticket link is there too:
WE ARE EXTREMELY PLEASED TO PRESENT TO YOU, THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024 LINEUP!!!!! THIS WILL BE OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!! (#128128#)(#129304#)(#128128#)
52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!! #4daysofdoom
