***FRIDAY***

Chicago was pretty well represented this weekend, starting off with death-doomers AVERNUS. Hilariously true to genre, they were able to squeeze in only 3 tracks for their whole setlist. Still releasing new music after all these years, so that's pretty cool.

ROTTING CHRIST played up on the main stage, and I personally don't get the love for these guys. I appreciate that they are foreign and it's a big deal to nab bands like that will the added complexity of travel and costs and visas and all that shit. Good for them, good for their fans, but I don't get it.

PENTAGRAM have apparently hit a whole new level of mainstream with their frontman becoming a meme recently. They sounded great and had a very solid crowd on the middle stage (probably the best to play at, all things considered). I was pumped to a catch 60% of their set, and they sounded really good.

SUICIDE SILENCE had a large gathering up next on the main stage, but I thought they sounded like shit. The kiddies were out in numbers for them and didn't seem to care. I honestly don't recall anything memorable about this set. Sometimes less is more when you're in this kind of environment, but everybody just wants to be soooo brootal.

I stuck around in the same room to catch Scott Ian, Danny Lilker, and Jamey Jasta doing a tribute S.O.D. set, which was really fucking awesome, and hilarious given the difference in political attitudes nowadays and how sensitive everybody is, not to mention that there's literally a war going on between Israel and Hamas, so having them break into Fuck The Middle East was especially delightful. They literally had a 13 y/o red headed kid playing drums. Not sure he's Jamey's kid or what, but that dude ripped it up!

Timing got a little wonky after this (waiting on girls to use the bathroom doesn't help, fml) but I then caught the last half of the PARADISE LOST set. The sound on that middle stage really is the best when it's dialed in, and they sounded so full and crisp. Wish I could've seen the rest, but what I did see was super good. What polite and polished vampires they are.

CHIMAIRA played second to last on the main stage, and were quite insane. However, I thought they were kind of plagued in the same way that Suicide Silence was. Again, the kiddies didn't seem to care. But even being familiar with their music a bit, it was all a garbled mess. A girl I was with was apparently able to make more sense of it and had a good time watching them.

My one and only trip to the small bar stage today was for LEFT TO DIE, a Death tribute focused on the early-era material featuring Rick Rozz, Terry Butler, and Matt Harvey. It was almost perfect, except that the retards working the sound board had Rick's guitars almost entirely inaudible when it came time for him to play his leads. That said, 10 songs from Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy with a shit ton of stage diving and moshing was an A+ time.

I'll update more when I sort through my phone..

***SUNDAY***

EXHORDER

MORBID SAINT

HARMS WAY

TOXIC HOLOCAUST

DECEASED

TROUBLE

SCOUR

ARCH ENEMY

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5727108&forum_id=2).#48943108)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5727108&forum_id=2).#48943131)

Did S.O.D. play "speak english or die"?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5727108&forum_id=2).#48943399)

I'm not sure how exactly it happened, but I can see that kind of clip/pic getting traction. Better than Billy Corgan on a ride at Disney i guess.

S.O.D. did play Speak English or Die. Crazy to think that shit is 40 years old.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5727108&forum_id=2).#48943590)

REVOCATION played super early, which made no sense to me, unless it was a scheduling thing that they asked for. These dudes are top notch tech/death/thrash and churn out albums like nobody's business. I've never seen them put on a bad show.

MACABRE is a MMF mainstay, and they played every year thus far now that it's back. They also played a different stage every year, and this year they were up in the ballroom, fairly early. I got to talk to their drummer again a little bit on Friday. Dude is absolutely gakked back there on the kit. I don't even know how to describe his style. For an afternoon slot, they had a really good turn out. No way they would have fit in the bar and would've jammed the middle room. Thankfully the singer dialed back the storytelling this year and didn't get cut off. They sounded pretty good and the crowd liked all the antics (Dahmer, Bundy, Ed Gein, Richard Ramirez, Zodiac, and Albert Fish made appearances).

NECROT are a more recent death metal band that I was really looking forward to seeing. I had some of their stuff show up in playlists and suggestions and really dug it. Amazingly, they're only the a 3-piece and have a massive sound. I would describe them as a modern vintage. They lucked out with the middle room sound and a good time slot. People really came out for them, which made me feel like I was late to the party hearing about them.

OPPRESSOR were a death metal band from Chicago and according to their singer, Jamey asked him last year to bring the band back for 2025, and 3 original members returned to make it happen. Apparently only their 2nd show since 1998. They sounded tight as hell, so they must all be keeping sharp with other projects. Some chick was playing bass and wasn't even born when they last played, ungh. Awesome to check them out. Shit like this is the extra wow factor that makes MMF coming back a real gift. I also didn't realize until I was doing some background reading that a bunch of the dudes from the original lineup back in the day teamed up with a guy from gore-metal band Broken Hope and formed the nu-metal band SOiL which had a moderate amount of success. That effectively put the nail in the Oppressor coffin.

DEMOLITION HAMMER were possibly the number one band I was looking forward to seeing, and they absolutely ripped up the ballroom. Something about their sound and feel is so ridiculously brutal, but also fun at the same time. Maybe it's their NY upbringing. They also let us know that they have new music on the way and played something from the upcoming album, so that's amazing. Anything to keep these bands out on the road touring and propping up shows is fine by me.

EVILDEAD is another band I was really looking forward to seeing. I couldn't believe it when they were announced. I don't know how these guys are all still upright and looking mostly really good after all this time (TRT?). They definitely remind me of Cryptic Slaughter and D.R.I., so it was awesome that they played the bar. Good vibes and a shit ton of moshing, crowd surfing and stage dives. They suffered a little from thin sound because I think the production B-Team was working that room on that day. People didn't see to mind. Annihilation of Civilization is a underrated classic album.

DEATH ANGEL were a late addition to the festival, if I recall. I think Destruction had to back out (for the second time) and DA got the call. They always bring a lot of energy, but I was shocked that they only got 30 mins, which was a bummer to say the least. They sounded great, but I wish we would've gotten more from them. With such a big catalog, it's a shame we didn't have more time to span their career. Their singer came out and did a guest vocal appearance with Exodus.

EXODUS got booked and announced when Zetro was still their singer, and then they gave him the boot and brought back Rob Dukes, who I personally like a lot. He did the vocals for their re-record of Bonded by Blood and it sounds amazing, which is almost 100% of the time never true and always pisses everyone off. But that album really needed it. His first stint in the band started off rocky from what I remember, but people grew to like him. It seems that folks are happy to see him back and like the new shot in the arm he's giving the live shows. They tore it up like always, and as much as I think Gary Holt is kind of a fag, the combo of him and Lee Altus on twin lead guitars is pretty fucking amazing. Those guys shread their asses off. Amazing set, wild pit. Good friendly violent fun!

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY was a bit of an odd billing given the rest of the lineup, but people seemed to turn out in big numbers. They were loud as fuck and debuted a song for the first time live to open the show, Lord Humungus. I could've gone for a couple changes, but I'm glad they didn't fuck around and got right down to business. Closed the show in pretty great fashion with some dueling guitar tradeoffs and probably 3 of their strongest tracks. Not bad all in all. I'm not sure how I've gone all this time never seeing them live.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5727108&forum_id=2).#48944067)