Maryland Deathfest 2026 - Day 3 (Friday, 5/22)
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And then...then rain.
It'd started drizzling some on my walk back to the hotel the night before, but by the time I woke up the following morning it'd evolved into a full on thunderstorm that would persist all weekend. As if the chilly temperatures weren't bad enough on their own, coupling that with a constant downpour of frigid rain and volatile wind gusts made for a pretty miserable weekend. But yet we carry on.
The weather ruled out any outdoor exploration around the town (at least on foot), so I napped and watched TV until braving the elements and trudging down to the venue compound closer to showtime. I always travel with some cheap ponchos as a "just in case", but apparently these were no match for the weather gods of Baltimore. Having the functional equivalent of being swaddled in a very loose and uncooperative sheet of plastic wrap, I binned it and paid $10 to a vendor on the street for a sturdier and more functional poncho. And it was purple, and purple is the best color.
Friday was unofficially "Black Metal" day, hosting a slate of all things blackened death, thrash, and experimental. Witch Vomit and Necrofier were first at bat; I can get down with both of those bands in small doses (a little bit goes a long way), but I appreciated the energy they were putting out to those of us who showed up early.
I had some time to kill before God Dethroned's set, so I ducked into Nevermore Hall to check out Swedish mystery band, Lömsk. Draped in matching masks and uniforms that wouldn't have looked out of place on the original Death Star, Lömsk won the award for best unexpected surprise of the weekend. Having never heard them before, I was immediately impressed by 1) how packed the venue was for any band this early in the day, and 2) their delivery of precision black metal melancholy, particularly given the physical weight of their getups. If you're at all interested in bands like Uada or Mgla, you'd be well advised to check them out.
God Dethroned was up next on the Main Stage, and I was excited to finally check these Dutch Masters off of my concert list. In the mid/late 90's, melodic black metal had become incredibly popular. While bands like Emperor, Satyricon, and Dimmu Borgir were leading the procession, bands like God Dethroned, Rotting Christ and Old Man's Child followed in their wake. The Grand Grimoire was a big record for me when it came out in '97, and the band maintained a pretty respectable catalog in the years that followed (despite several breakups and makeups). Henri's current lineup of the band didn't disappoint, and the dude's enthusiasm was contagious, grinning like a Cheshire cat for the duration of the set. He and the band were just as happy to be here as us waterlogged fans in the crowd were to see them. Despite some sound issues, the God Dethroned tore through a setlist that touched almost every album and left the crowd wanting more.
Pan-Amerikan Native Front was another band I was excited to see. Black metal has tended to be a pretty malleable medium for the expression of different cultural identities, so why not Native First People? Ripping through a set of Bathory-esque thrashy tunes, the band's showmanship was worth the experience.
Rotting Christ followed on the Main Stage, performing a special "old school" set leaning on their first three albums. I've never been a huge RC fan, but Non Serviam and Triarchy of the Lost Lovers are classics records, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed their set. The rain was picking up at this point, so I found myself weaving through the crowd to find different vantage points of coverage. The band sounded great, and if nothing else it reminded me to give their catalog some more attention.
To Violently Vomit was probably the one band of the day that I was most excited to see. A sort of tribute act to Disgorged (one of the most sickening brutal US death metal bands on the planet) and comprised of various alumni, the band had Baltimore Soundstage absolutely shaking with circle pits and stage divers. Albums like She Lay Gutted and Cranial Impalement are guilty pleasures, and I was absolutely giddy to hear some of those tunes live again one more time.
MDF would be only the second ever US performance of the recently reunited Old Man's Child, and the crowd was ready to give Galder his flowers. It's interesting though how time away can impact a band's status. In the 90's, OMC wasn't huge by any means, but albums like The Pagan Prosperity and Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion were generally well received. The band was in mothballs for 20+ years while mainman Galder was playing guitar with Dimmu Borgir, but upon announcing his resurrection of OMC and a handful of live appearances, the fan response was HUGE. I don't know how much of that was younger fans discovering Old Man's Child in the years that have passed and having a genuine appreciation for the tunes, or the novelty of yet another niche black metal band from back in the day finally hitting the festival circuit. Either way, the band sounded great, the fans loved it, and Galder looked happier than any man adorned in corpse paint should.
By the time Old Man's Child left the stage, I was cold, soaking wet, and miserable. As much as I wanted to power through and see Orannsi Pazuzu after midnight, I knew that wasn't going to happen (thankfully I'd seen them before). I begrudgingly made the decision to slog back to the hotel for a warm meal and a scalding hot shower.
