Fleshgod Apocalypse / Carach Angren/ Abigail Williams @ Metro Gallery 2/11/2016

I went to see Italy's Fleshgod Apocalypse ($22.50) at the Metro Gallery in godforsakenBaltimore.  I saw Ariel, Maery, Dorothy, Scott, Sean D, Jason, Renee, Renae, Zach, Joel, Antonio, Dylan, Danielle, and Daniel G there. The one-two punch of the black metal Carach Angren and then the pummeling symphonic death metal of Fleshgod Apocalypse was a big draw for me. I got my ticket in advance for what would be a pretty packed show.

Fleshgod Apocalypse from Italia!

Kataklysm / Belphegor @ Baltimore Soundstage 11/8/2015

I went to see Canadian Death Metal band Kataklysm with Austrian black metal (finally!) Belphegor ($20). I saw Scott, Daniel G, Renae and due, Sean, Jason, Erin, and Zach, there.

1349 / Origin / Wolvhammer / Yesterday's Saints @ Empire 2/24/2015

I went to see black metal monsters 1349 ($18.50) and more at Empire. They brought an odd tour package- sludgy Wolvhammer and death metal band Origin to go along with their black metal. I saw a number of people there- Ariel, Nathan and Alie, Sean, Jason, Renae and her dude, Tom, Lindsey n Blake, Kim, Kris, and of course Metal Chris.

Crowbar / Unearth/ Black Crown Initiate / Yesterday's Saints @ Empire 12/7/2014

I went to see Black Crown Initiate on their tour w/ Crowbar and Unearth ($18.50). I was on the fence about this show because I like BCI but was kind of meh on the others. I ended up going, as you can tell. There were a decent number of people there- I saw Chris Crazy-Wolf, Kris, Bridget, Dale, Matt R, J. Oliver, Ashleigh~, Dorothy, and Kyler there.

A Sound of Thunder / Benedictum / Leather Leone / Dark Sermon / Metanium / Darker Half @Empire 6/26/2014

I went to see Benedictum and more at Empire ($13), including 2 of my favourite local bands!  There were a number of people I knew there- Renae, Gloomy William, Brian B, DAVE, RUBY, Gori y Omar, Ariel y Ilem, Yave, Mr. Nina, Bobbie, Sean, Henry, Martin, Alex T and Johnny, Sako and Greg, and METAL CHRIS (seemed like a bit of an odd show since he likes the heavier stuff!).

Anvil/ Abigail Williams/ Martyrd @Empire 4/2/4014

I went w/ John last night to see Anvil at Empire ($18). There were a number of friends there- Cascade, Bobbie, Brian B, Ariel y su Mujer, James y su mujer, Gori y Omar, Allie, Nathan w/ a Jay, and Chris Crazy-Wolf.  This is the 2nd time at Empire this week, and a third to be coming..

Amon Amarth/ Enslaved/ Skeletonwitch @ The Fillmore, Silver Spring 1/31/2014

We went to see Amon Amarth headline the Fillmore ($25) and there were a TON of other people we knew there. There would have been even more if another more underground show wasn't on the same night (Morbid Saint). We saw John and Kate, Shabba,  Jaime, Ariel y su Mujer, Jose,  miss Victoria, Ethan, Basil, Matt C, Matt R, Jen n  Bridget n Kris, Marysol y su hombre, my bro and his daughter, Sean, Scott, Larry and HIS brother, Ms Sam, Sarah, Dan P, Nick and Dan, Nicole n Dan (too many dans)! I think that's all.... whew

Morbid Angel / VadimVon/ Yesterday's Saints/ Visceral Disgorge @Baltimore Soundstage 11/9/2013

I went to see Morbid Angel ($25, seemed a bit pricey) up in Baltimore at the Soundstage. I am actually not that familiar with Morbid Angel, but they come highly recommended by several friends. There were a number of people, Ms Lindsey, the AWESOME STEVE HARRIS, Ethan, DanPaytas, Dorothy, Ariel y su mujer, Jaime, Matt R, Sean, Jason, and maybe someone else

Watain / In Solitude/ Tribulation @Baltimore Soundstage 11/3/2013

I won tickets off of bookface to see Watain! Brought ms Lindsey to hang out. This was the last night of the tour, so that's 2 last nights in 2 days. I had not seen Watain headline, and was not sure about the openers. It had been too long since my last black metal show, but I was feeling a bit tired for corpsepaint. oh well. I saw a number of people at this show- Sarah, Lindsey, Jose, Sean, Jason, Dorothy, and maybe another.

Deicide/ Broken Hope/ Disgorge/ Necronomicon/ Krass Judgement @ Empire 10/4/013

Went to see Deicide, after a long day at work. I saw a number of people there- Ariel y su mujer, Jose, Dorothy, Sean, Will, and maybe someone else. I saw Deicide last time, but wasn't too impressed. I think it was their old schoolness that I appreciated but thought that other bands sounded better.

Marduk/ Moonspell / Inquisition/ The Foreshadowing/ Deathwolf @ Empire 2/20/2013

Went to see Marduk/ Moonspell/ Inquisition at Empire ($23) with Milla. Saw Dorothy, Ruby, and probab a couple other people there. There were a lot of people there! About a few hundred people there at the high point, a pretty great turnout. Not to mention the brisk business the merch booths were doing. It was pretty crowded on the floor for Inquisition and Marduk, not so much for Moonspell, but not shabby.

Enslaved/ Pallbearer/ Royal Thunder/ Ancient VVisdom @ Ottobar 1/31/2013

Went to see Enslaved last night at the Ottobar in Baltimore with Milla. We saw Ruby and Sarah S. and Heavy Metal Chris there. This show was pretty packed, I think there were about 350 people (including bands) total. I think the high point was during Pallbearer's set. People seemed to thin out a bit as Enslaved went on. we got there a little after 7.

Skeletonwitch @ Ottobar 9/29/2012

Went to see Skeletonwitch @ the Ottobar in godforsakenBaltimore with John last night. Got the hookup from a local band for tix. We got there a little late so didn't get to hear what they sounded like live, but the dude Sean was pretty cool. Parking lot was pretty full when we got there around 8:30. Saw Ruby there a little before Skeletonwitch came on and the Spanish guys who were at Def Leppard/Scorpions/various black metal shows.

Marduk @ Sonar, 6/02/2012

Milla and I went to see 1349 and Marduk last night at Sonar in Baltimore, MD. I was not terribly familiar with either band, but thought it would be a good show from what I heard about the shows and from youtube. I don't go to many black metal shows either, so I wanted to expand a bit :3 I believe this was the first night of the tour (at least in the continental US, I think they played Puerto Rico the night before).

Got there around 9:20 or so, got the advertized free drink ticket for corpsepaint (there were about 7 people in corpsepaint, including me). Just as we entered the room, Weapon played their last note X___X; OH WELL. We made our way to redeem the free drinks and checked out the merch.

Merch: A bunch of stuff, 1349 had a bunch of CDs, $15@, 3 or 4 shirts (I got one) ($20), a beanie ($15), a DVD, LP. Marduk had a few shirts ($20), their new album, and I think an LP. Withered and Weapon had various shirts, CDs, and LPs.

Crowd: It was pretty packed, Sonar had them on some sort of side stage instead of the big warehouse stage I've seen. About 150 or so people. There was a guy in a polo shirt and plaid bro shorts in the pit X__X; A good number of Spanish/Mexican/Latin fans too. My cousins?

Withered looked like some generic dudes, but had a good atmospheric sound going for them. I couldn't make out anything in the vocals, and their crowd communication was limited to THANK YOU BALTIMORE \m/! I don't know why the bassist was in the middle of the stage, and the 2 guitarists/vocalists were on the sides. Odd. I thought they sounded good, and they set the tone well. The pits, I thought, would only get crazier for 1349 and Marduk!

1349 came on around 11, and the crowd got a bit more lively for them :3 They had a bit of a different sound, more of a galloping or the like to them. Whatever the case, I really enjoyed them. I again could not make out any words, and couldn't remember which songs I had previewed on youtube. I assume they played "Aural Hellfire." Their stage presence was pretty strong. I liked the bassist in his sith robe, and all the corpsepaints.


Marduk came on about 12:15 and we left around 1, so there were def more songs played. The crowd got really rowdy for them, and the pits got intense- almost all the way back to the merch tables. I was nearly caught in a mosh, and later discovered that my shirt had ripped. Ripped in that there was a chunk missing of it from the back Perhaps to be converted to a back patch? At one point some chap who was an uberfan was headbanging and generally enjoying the show and trying to get us a bit more pumped. Fun times \m/ I regret not knowing a single lyric X__X; Marduk, sonically, sounded a lot clearer than the other bands on the bill. I noticed a few songs where the BASS was clearly heard. I thought that was a bit different.

CorpsePaint
Withered
1349
Marduk


Horribly incomplete setlist (please let me know if you were there and know more detail)

Marduk

• on darkened wings
• Nowhere, No-One, Nothing
• The Black Tormentor of Satan
• Serpent Ceremony
• Still Fucking Dead (Here's No Peace)
• Souls for Belial
• ? (left around this time)
• materialized in stone
• baptism by fire
• azrael
• womb of perishableness
• the sun has failed
• panzer division marduk
• with satan and victorious weapons  

Behemoth @ Ram's Head Live - 5/5/2012

Behemoth and Watain (and some other bands too but we got there after they got off stage) came to Ram's Head Live in Baltimore. I would have liked to hear the retro Devil's Blood, but it was fine- better not to rush rush.

We were putting on corpsepaint, which was fun. However, I noticed that NO ONE else was sporting any paint. Which, after see Turisas where a good number of people had facepaint. The actual bands were the only ones with paint besides us LOLZ.  I opted for a variation on Immortal (with some Zartan looking eye makeup), Milla went for a Behemoth look, and Kate  had some crazy stuff.

After we finished applying corpsepaint, we went to the venue, got patted down, and entered. Watain's roadies brought in a bunch of candles/candlesticks/etc. and we knew they would start soon. A pretty good crowd for Behemoth- the floor was pretty crowded. Balcony was not open tho. Chicken suit guy was there too. Some people around us remarked that he should have something more metal than a chicken suit.

Watain came on (I was not very familiar with any of their songs, apart from a bunch of yubtub listens in the background) to some mood setting strings. They were pretty energetic and definitely entertaining, but ultimately unintelligible. The crowd seemed pretty pumped for them. The bass player in particular was very animated and GRIM.The vocalist seemed to have some sort of what looked like a dead bird strapped to the back of his vest. Not sure tho.

Behemoth came on a bit after- to a very enthusiastic crowd. Their sound was like as it should be- Heavy Metal Thunder \m/ Nergal vox were, as expected, a bit muddy- but the power of everything together made that perfectly fine. The lights were pretty well done- except for the strobe lights (see below). The band was pretty tight and no one screwed anything  up as far as I could tell

Crowd was a bit rowdy at times, until the wheelchair guy entered the pit. He was also hoisted up at a couple points. Wow. I did not like the combination of a wheelchair that can run people over, a couple shorter people in the pit, and strobe lights blinding me combination. I did not get run over, so that was good. There were a couple parts that I thought would be played live, but they were piped in. Odd. Behemoth only played about an hour. That was a bit disappointing, but I think Nergal's  still not feeling fully 100%, so that makes sense.



Note:  Pretty much all songs I got from selist reports from other places- I had no idea any of Watain's songs names, but why would they play anything different?

Watain

1. Malfeitor
2. Reaping Death
3. The Serpent's Chalice
4. Total Funeral
5. Waters of Ain

Behemoth

1. Ov Fire and the Void
2. Demigod
3. Moonspell Rites
4. Conquer All
5. The Thousand Plagues I Witness
6. Alas, the Lord is Upon Me
7. The Seed ov I
8. Decade of Therion
9. At the Left Hand ov God
10. Slaves Shall Serve
11. Chant for Eschaton 2000
    ---
12. 23 (The Youth Manifesto)
13. Lucifer

Black Dahlia Murder @ Ram's Head Live - 4/17/2012

Milla and I went to see The Black Dahlia Murder (and met John and Kate) at Ram's Head Live. The crowd was pretty good, but not so many people as to have the balcony opened, apparently.  John and Kate said the opening band was pretty good. I didn't look into them.

We left late and got there right as Skeletonwitch was starting. We missed a couple songs. They sounded a bit clearer this time, I thought, as I was actually able to make out what the vocalist was saying (well in between songs anyways). They were still a little muddy, but overall better than last time. I thought it was funny that the vocalist had a spike bracer on one arm, and one of the guitarists had a spike bracer on his *other* arm. Like they could not afford another set of bracers :3

Nile, whom I was rather interested in hearing/seeing, but curious as to how the extremely heavy sound they have (and somewhat slower pace as well) would translate from album to live. They were VERY heavy (good), and the guitar work was pretty sweet. However, during a couple songs, the slower paced ones, it made me feel sluggish or sleepy :/  I think I'd see them again. Would need to prepare myself for a longer, headlining set. The vocals were a bit muffled, but the drums that sounded like thunder and guitar were rather clear and damngood. Their more Egyptian sounding songs were the highlights of their sets. You really don't hear stuff like that. The crowd was more into Nile than Skeletonwitch.

Finally, The Black Dahlia Murder came on and people were rather responsive to their brand of madman metal. (metalcore? extreme black metal w/ something else? I dunno what one calls it) Their vocals were a mess sometimes and I thought their guitars needed to be turned up a bit more (so we could hear the dual leads), but the double bass blasts were perfect. Overall, thy were very tight and def seemed worthy of being the headliner. Could have used a bit more theatrics maybe.

The crowd was way rowdy by the time BDM came on, so that was a bit of a hassle- a few people were a bit lousy with their pit etiquette and having some sort of grudes/vendettas going on. I do NOT need that drama... One guy kept on trying to knock down this one rather strong fellow. He fell down/got knocked down about 12 or so times. A bigger guy in a Steelers Jersey was very annoying too, because with a guy that big there is nothing I can do but go along with the flow. He got taken down more than a few times. I saw him with ice at one point. He seemed to be an instigator.

 Got a bit bumped around, as we were on the edge of the pit (like always it seems). An elbow to the stomach, almost fell over twice (but I grabbed onto the perpetrator and righted myself).  I enjoyed their songs, but I think I was expecting a bit cleaner sound from them for some reason.

Merch was mostly meh. BDM had a shirt with an ape on it, but it was a bit too sporty for me. Skeletonwitch had a simple shirt w/ logo...that was 10 bucks. SO I was first in line at the merch booth and snagged that shirt and a couple photos with the vocalist. Sweet. Saw that guy Scott at this show too. Didn't talk with him.  


(I assume setlist of BDM is accurate, cause I only recalled a few songs by name)

Setlists

Skeletonwitch

Erased and Forgotten
Submit to the Suffering  (we got in as this one was playing)
Reduced to the Failure of Prayer
The Horrifying Force (The Desire to Kill)
Beyond the Permafrost
Of Ash and Torment
Crushed Beyond Dust
Shredding Sacred Flesh
Within My Blood

Nile

Kafir!
Sacrifice Unto Sebek
Hittite Dung Incantation
Ithyphallic
Sarcophagus
Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld
Lashed to the Slave Stick
Black Seeds of Vengeance

The Black Dahlia Murder

A Shrine to Madness
Moonlight Equilibrium
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
A Vulgar Picture
Malenchantments of the Necrosphere
Conspiring With the Damned
Necropolis
Den of the Picquerist
Carbonized in Cruciform
Everything Went Black
Miasma
On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood
I Will Return
Blood in the Ink
Deathmask Divine
Funeral Thirst