Tour Title: Milwaukee Metalfest XIV Read the Metal Judgment Reviews of Milwaukee Metalfest XIII Read the Metal Update Feature Discuss on the Metal Judgment Web Board	Judgment Committee Reviews	Rating
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Pestilence's Review:
It was time again for the Milwaukee Metalfest. Death, Hel and Abyss had made their plans to escape the eternal torment for a weekend of unrestricted bliss. I was to be left behind once again to wallow in my own crapulence. Then it happened, at the last minute it was clear that Abyss would not be able to make the journey (I heard rumors of rehab, but that was to be dispelled later). I had my chance… finally. With demon-like (well, what else would one expect) prowess, I made the reservations on United and departed from our realm. It became quickly apparent that the trolls in the blue suits were actually working for HIM. I was routed and re-routed until it became clear that the Metalfest was not to be my final destination that evening. I headed home and proceeded to get completely smashed with Abyss (thus the dispelled rumor, my friends). We lamented the bands we would miss, but demon alcohol was able to rub that from our minds… for the time being.

It was now what you humans call "Saturday morning", and I was off once again. The blue-suited trolls did their best to prevent the journey, but this time I was able to thwart their efforts. I finally arrived in Milwaukee 24 hours late. I got the reports on the previous evening from Death and Hel while simultaneously entering an altered state in preparation for the festivities. We then headed to the show where I heard even more. I was livid until the keg beer started to fog my mind (Thank you very much Matt and Relapse records – you guys fucking rule!)

Children of Bodom Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

So here's the skinny on what many of you may have seen that I did not. The outright hands-down champion of Friday night was the almighty Opeth. They were touted as tight and heavy belting out several of their lengthy masterpieces. Hearing of the "Demon of the Fall" encore was enough to set my bloodlust high once again. The other heavy-hitters of Friday were, by no mere coincidence, all the other bands I was looking forward to the most. The blazing death-shred of Cephalic Carnage, the obscure and extremely enjoyable juxtapositions of Maudlin of the Well, the blistering intensity of Exhumed and the latest death innovators Origin were all reported to be top-notch and in certain rare form. King Diamond reportedly beefed up his theatrics immensely, even burning himself alive on stage. I hear he did a great job with the metal too.

As I started to calm (alcohol again), we decided to head down to check out my first band of the show. It was the three cuties from Japan, Yellow Machinegun. Not knowing what to expect, I was clearly delighted with the outcome. These ladies play a very original sounding mix of thrash, death and even an almost 70's sounding groove. The singer showered the crowd with her screaming growls, and they were able to keep the intensity up the entire time. I will definitely be investing some time into these ladies. I even had the pleasure of running into them later on and discovered that the very cute drummer was on my plane earlier that day. Next I checked out the Kansas band Crop over on one of the side stages. One of the guitarists had passed me their CD earlier and I followed my due diligence to check them out. They were definitely interesting enough that I will be spinning the CD again and again in the near future, and would recommend checking them out on their self-promoted fuckuitsmine label if it can be found.

Destruction Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

Having sufficiently drowned my sorrows at this point, I was no longer dismayed and fully able to enjoy my time at the Metalfest. In other words, I was too wasted to remember the exact order of the other bands I saw, so here's a little summary on each as chronological as the mind-fog will allow. Deceased were excellent as always, and even put up the metal banner throwing some classic Slayer into the end of their very tight set [ed. note: Deceased covered Hirax, not Slayer]. Thank the Gods they had no curtain to mask their performance this time around and were able to shine through on their own. They had a fitting end as King left the stage proclaiming, "Metal is dirty… stop trying to clean it up". I think this was his way of saying that he would not be having any fries with his Dark Tranquillitys of the world. Next (I think), I checked out Epoch of Unlight. Having only heard one song by these guys on The End Records recent sampler, I was not sure what to expect, but my hopes were high. The sampler track is face-slamming black metal that I would recommend to anyone into that genre. Live they were good, but they did not have any other material quite as hard-hitting as the track I knew. Don't get me wrong, they did an excellent job with the heavy epic pieces, but I was jaded from the start, hoping for the expected intensity throughout. Maybe labels should consider putting the 2nd or 3rd best tracks on the samplers to make sure you always get a fucking awesome surprise later, but that's just my opinion. On to Ravenous (YES! YES!). With the likes of the mighty Lilker and powerful growling Killjoy, this band was not to disappoint. I knew none of the material, but was held in thrall the entire time as they slammed me into a wall. They even gave me a great idea for a new furnishing as they played their final song. You probably couldn't have more fun than hanging out with some lesbo-sirens in a blood fucking bath (thanks guys, I'll have to have you down sometime). Destruction then took me back to the 80's playing the thrash that made them what they are. I couldn't get as excited as some, as this music just doesn't have the layered intensity that I am now accustomed to these days (gonna have to thank Relapse again here), but they did what they do best and the crowd fucking loved them for it. Entombed was up next, and yes like many of you I really used to like this band, but they obviously are not recovering too well from that piece of shit they put out a few years back (ride fast and shoot squirrel-monkeys was it?). Plainly said, they were just boring so I headed out to see Impaled instead (not that this is necessarily chronologically correct, but I already pointed that out right?). They were exactly what I needed playing their insane death-grind and reminding us all of the early days of the almighty Carcass (R.I.P.). Excellent performance gentleman… 'nuff said.

That was all for me at the time and I headed back to the Relapse palace to pass the peace pipe with the likes of Cepahlic and Origin (Steve and Mark—we'll catch you next time, thanx for the mammaries). I had to prepare myself for the Opeth of Saturday night… that's right folks the amazing Children of Bodom! These guys could not have possibly put on a better performance. They played to a full house of sick bastards and didn't miss a note. Afterwards, I was informed that this was the kind of performance I had missed the night before, and yes this news was enough to quell my anger to the last.

I did miss Dying Fetus that night (opposite to C.O.B.), but was not too upset as they live in my home state. I did hear that they were just as awesome as they always manage to be. I also missed Enslaved unfortunately, but that's what happens when you cannot even stand without falling (Abyss obviously has me beat in the category of alcoholic endurance).

Final judgment you ask? 5 crushing skulls for this one… at least the half that I saw. If Jack can pull something of this caliber off next year back in the East my faith will be fully restored. As far as Metalfest XV goes (probably next August), you'd be a Jack Ass to miss it. I now have to return to my own realm and go back to the evil pleasures of my simple unlife (like building my blood fucking bath for one), so this is Pestilence saying fuckuitsmine!

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Death's Review:
Top ten performances:

1. Opeth
2. Children of Bodom
3. Destruction
4. Exhumed
5. Yellow Machinegun
6. King Diamond
7. Hate Eternal
8. Goatwhore
9. Cephalic Carnage
10. God Forbid

Hate Eternal Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

Thumbs up to Jack Koshick for:

1. The great venue. Comfortable; decent concessions; real bathrooms; four DISTINCT staging areas, with little to no sound bleed between them; plenty of room to walk around; OK sound at the Relapse and Nightfall stages. Outdoors would still be cool though.
2. The beer. Not quality, but cheap ($3.75) and omnipresent. The fuel for the Metalfest fire, and other than the metal itself, let's face it: the tie that binds us. Plus, you could walk around anywhere you wanted, beer garden prisons of past Metalfests be damned!!!
3. Having the balls to take on Slayer. Perhaps because of rumored Metalfest attempts to utilize the adjacent arena which is home to the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks by booking a major impact headliner, the Tattoo the Earth Tour (featuring Slayer, Slipknot and Sepultura), was routed to Milwaukee for Saturday, providing relatively direct competition for the metal weekend dollar. Of course, Jack once again gave the finger to the world (or at least to Slayer) by standing his ground, going head-to-head and pulling off an awesome, well-attended Metalfest nonetheless. He even refused to offer discounts to the Nu-Metal fans to come over post-Tattoo (which was scheduled to end at 8 p.m.), because that would be uncool to the true metal warriors who paid full-price.
4. Booking Opeth and C.O.B. Awesome move bringing over these bands. King Diamond and Destruction are cool, but they are touring North America and alone cannot justify the pilgrimage to Milwaukee. It is the unique appearances that cause us to fly to Wisconsin for the last weekend of each July. When taste of the caliber displayed in this year's one-off import selections is behind the process somewhere, you can be sure we'll all keep making the trip for years to come.
5. The reasonable set lengths. Sure, only a few bands get more than a half-hour, and even the King had to condense his set to a mere sixty minutes. But heck, when there's 100+ bands on the bill . . . anyway, the set times felt about right this year. Just enough to keep you "sampling," as is best when you're drinking that much beer and covering that much ground. There's no time to get too bogged down in any one thing.

King Diamond Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

Top Metalfest XIV personalities:

1. Schmier
2. Yellow Machinegun
3. Danny Lilker
4. Jack Koshick
5. King Fowley
6. Ben Falgoust
7. Jasmine St. Claire
8. King Kong Bundy
9. Eric Rutan
10. The homeless kids

Three (unsigned?) bands I never knew before, but saw and liked:

1. The Chasm [ed. note: The Chasm has been signed to Dwell Records]
2. Fall
3. October Thorns (hails to them and the other power metal bands like Jag Panzer who fought for representation and respect).

Major bands I checked out but did not like:

1. Babylon Whores
2. Katatonia
3. Entombed

Bands I checked out and thought were cool:

1. Impaled
2. Bongzilla
3. Deceased
4. Shadows Fall

Maudlin of the Well Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

Bands I missed and wish I saw:

1. Today is the Day
2. Origin
3. Immolation
4. Jag Panzer
5. Ravenous
6. 12 Gauge and Nylons
7. Exuviate
8. Skinless
9. Dying Fetus
10. Pissing Razors

Bands I don't think actually showed up:

1. Malevolent Creation
2. Anal Blast

Major bands that I saw, and in whom I saw merit, but I ultimately did not go crazy for:

1. Enslaved
2. Mayhem
3. Kataklysm

Best metal talk:

1. Hearing stories about what a cool mutherfucker Zakk Wylde actually is
2. Debating the merits of the new Halford and the new Maiden
3. Comparing seat locations for Maiden at MSG 8/5/00
4. Pre-release hype for the new Immolation, Nile and Dying Fetus
5. Preparations for cross-Atlantic journeys to Wacken

All in all, it was a spectacular Metalfest. Short on glitz and media coverage, long on familiar faces, beer and metal. Let's do it again next year, shall we?

 

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Hel's Review:
There was a great deal of excitement surrounding my second sojourn to the land of beer and metal. What else is Milwaukee known for anyway? Having done this once before, I was nearly beside myself for about a week beforehand. But enough about me, let's go on to the metal.

The first band I saw, literally, when I walked into Metal Mecca on Friday was Sarcophagus. At least that's who was scheduled to be on that stage, but I hadn't even had time to figure it all out yet. If that was them, I liked what I heard, but since I had just gotten there I wasn't ready to commit yet and I moved on after one song.

So the first band of the day that I really saw, and had planned to see, was Goat Whore. This All-Star line-up attracted a huge crowd for so early on the first day. The performance was incredibly cool, as expected. A few clean vocals were lost in the maelstrom, but all and all it was great fun.

Opeth Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

After some wandering around and general hanging out, I think I ended back up at the Relapse stage for Bongzilla. The day was still so new, and my attention span so short, I wandered off after a couple of songs. Each time I've seen them, I've thoroughly enjoyed their breed of heavy stoner rock, and this time was no exception.

I ended up missing Today is the Day, and although I have seen them several times before, I was extremely disappointed. The Relapse stage was running ahead of schedule, which is the worst possible way for a stage to be off. Running late fans can compensate for, but EARLY? Not much to be done about that except figure it out and try to remember it.

The Chasm was the next band I made a point of catching. I had neglected to see them at prior festivals and heard such good things about them on those occasions that I needed to see them for myself. I saw a good show that, visually speaking, was unquestionably old-school. They sounded very good, and received a great response from the crowd. I'm definitely glad I went.

I caught a little God Forbid and was glad to see my impressions at the Mass Metalfest still held true. These guys put on a very energetic show and are extremely talented musicians. 'Nuff said.

Hate Eternal blew me away again. Eric's facial expressions as he stretches to make all those fantastic death metal voices are fantastic to see. I was thrilled to be able to see them from a good vantage point, and they were certainly a festival highlight for me.

Another highlight was to be found on the Relapse stage, as Cephalic Carnage represented strong. Their show was as intense as their music and they tore things up like stoners with the munchies. There should be no question left in the minds of any who bore witness to this set - these boys are a force to be reckoned with.

Soldiering on, I went over to see Fall. I was making a point to see these guys as they are from my home state, which I escaped long ago, and I feel a need to support what little metal that may be fostered there. Well, it was a long damn wait - while they apparently tried to resolve a technical problem. They didn't handle it too well in my opinion - the singer should have chatted with the crowd, or at least told us what was going on - people were drifting off by the second. Finally, they got underway and I was glad to hear this level (both quality and heaviness as measures) of underground metal being played in such a backwater place. Keep the faith, guys - and keep playing Metalfest.

Yellow Machinegun Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

Shadows Fall got the next visit. Look, no matter what some people may say, this is a band full of excellent musicians who know how to play their instruments and put on an electrifying set. My biggest complaint was that the singer was in total darkness the entire time - not the band's fault.

I got to the side stage just as Maudilen of the Well was finishing their set. They struck me as a nice little band, although "little" doesn't really describe them well since they seem able to vie with Slipknot for "most people onstage while still in the same band". I got only enough to decide that I wasn't really getting the full effect.

I did stop by to see Babylon Whores and I have to admit I didn't stay long. Frankly, I didn't think they came across as well as they do on their albums, and my Metalfest-induced ADHD was taking over again.

So on to EXHUMED!! So entertaining... This was so much different than the last time I saw them. Oh, yeah, they shredded just the same, but last time there wasn't as much of a show. How do you not love a band when: the guitar player pulls out a chainsaw jumps off the stage and runs around with it; the drummer pulls out a torch and comes to the front of the stage to breathe fire over the audience's heads; the singer pulls out a severed head from a bucket, holds it up, yanks on the neck, and sends blood and goo gushing all over the stage as a grand finale; and, reportedly (I didn't see it myself), vomits on cue.

Mayhem was a bunch of pussies compared to that. Sure, they were present in all their black metal glory, but lacked the gore-theatrics and grindcore fury of Exhumed. Sure, that's not their thing, but comparision is one of the hazards of playing the Metalfest... I only stayed for a few songs (I was having another ADHD fit) but what I mostly saw was old stuff, and that was killer.

Man, King Diamond had a tough act to follow in Exhumed, but an even tougher act to compete against. Being a big King fan, I had to see the beginning of the set, but jumped up when the second House of God song began and dashed over to Opeth.

Opeth was not only a highlight of the 'fest, but the highlight of the entire first day. They are the virtuosos you would think from their albums, but they are able to inject a level of intensity live that you don't get on the albums - if you can believe that! Fantastic, fantastic, set.

Back to King to see the grand finale. His show was elaborate, as promised. He has a female dancer/actress that comes out in a different costume each song and act them out. King was chasing her around stage and such. He came out in a Santa outfit for "No Presents for Christmas" and was obviously arguing over how much time he had left before his encore. He cremates himself in the end, as promised. Fun, but compared to Opeth, I know I wasn't as enthralled as if I saw King on a usual day.

Afterwards, we wandered to Dunkin' Donuts, where we watched, along with members of Hate Eternal, an encounter between an older, drunken, local man, and members of Skinless. It was a truly metal moment.

Saturday arrived, and with it another trip to the airport. Finally we would pick up Pestilence and get the weekend into full swing. My first priority of this day was getting there in time to see Yellow Machinegun.

Yes, we did arrive in time, and damn was I glad. I knew they were an all-girl Japanese death metal band. But knowing the terms and hearing them play are incomparable. These little girls - damn, when I'm bigger than they are, you know they're tiny - whomped the big boys' asses. By far the best band of the afternoon, and definitely a festival highlight.

What a way to kick off the day! After that performance, no one else was able to capture my attention, and I went off and did - a-hem - other things. Later on, I caught little bits of Burnt By The Sun, Origin, Benumb, and Immolation - and had a great time doing it. My Metalfest ADHD was raging again by this point in the day, so I was just enjoying the sensory overload and not spending a lot of time worrying over details, thus I really can't elaborate much more except to say it was all a ton of fun.

I was extremely psyched to see Impaled for the first time, so somewhere in there I made sure to take note of these guys. This was as good as I had hoped. They shook (and packed) the room with their death metal, Carcass worshipping, fury. It's a beautiful thing.

Goatwhore Photo by Cynthia Pelzner

Deceased was the other band I made certain I would see. I think I actually walked off on someone mid-conversation because I realized I was late. Sorry, whoever you were, but it was worth it. They were great, despite King Fowley's objections - I was filled in on the story later, I knew there had to be a good King Fowley story before the weekend was over!

Because of my poor planning, I seem to have missed Entombed, and my distraction after Deceased ensured that I also missed Epoch of Unlight. I did manage to miss a lot of bands, didn't I?

Destruction I did see. Oh, boy, what I saw! It was so cool. They had some funky lighting effects, and I had planted my ass in a seat on the side with a fantastic view. Later, I would end up hanging out with Schmeir and Mike, so I walk away from this Metalfest secure in my knowledge that Destruction kicks ass.

I missed more bands after Destruction. While hanging with the above personalities and others, Ravenous and Mortician went on without me. I couldn't feel too bad about that though, since it was my own damn fault.

Finally it was time for Children of Bodom. Every word you've heard is true. They put on the best set of the entire day. They were absolutely fantastic. Oh - my - God!

Poor Dying Fetus. As much as I love them, I have seen their great show several times before and I had never seen Children of Bodom. There was no other choice. I will make it up to them next time, I promise.

Jag Panzer suffered a similar fate, and both Enslaved and Kataklysm got short shrift because I was still reeling from being struck by the metal that was COB.

It was a glorious metalfest, but there were a few factors that tarnished the glow. First of all, stages should never be allowed to run a full set ahead, as was the case with the Relapse stage Saturday.

Secondly, while the bands were spaced out much better this time than in the past, the conflicts surrounding Opeth's and COB's performances were apalling.

Third, little-known but deserving bands like Exuviate and Garden of Shadows severely received the short end due to their ungodly early start times. This will probably always be the case, but utterly disappointing nonetheless.

Finally, on a personal note, an uncharitable soul swiped my bag late on the final day - containing all my purchases. While this was probably the act of only one un-metal spirited soul, it resulted in me leaving my wonderful weekend of metal completely bummed.

On the bright side, I also met lots of cool metal people. I would particularly like to thank everyone who contributed to my good time. All in all, a very metal 'fest.

 

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