Once More Unto the Breach - A Return to Maryland Deathfest
My first trip to Maryland Deathfest was back in 2014 for the 12th edition of the festival. I’d recently been bitten by the travel bug the year prior when I made a pilgrimage to Chicago to see Bolt Thrower on what would end up being their final US tour. From that moment forward, I made the decision to never let geography get in the way of seeing a band I really wanted to see. And with that first trip to Magic City, I saw bands I’d dreamt of seeing live since I was a kid – Candlemass, a reunited Dark Angel, a reunited At the Gates, Cancer, My Dying Bride, and many, many others.
I’ve been back to Baltimore plenty of times since then, and over the years have made it a point to hit as many other festivals as my travel points would allow. And I’ve had the good fortune to see some amazing performances along the way. Danzig performing ‘Lucifuge’ and ‘How the Gods Kill’ in their entirety (separate occasions). Solitude Aeturnus’ first reunion show after a 13 year hiatus. One of Ozzy’s last US performances when he was still in reasonably good health. Watching Slayer perform in front of a New Orleans festival crowd who were patiently waiting to see Outkast close the night, while circle pits erupted throughout the crowd like a swarm of mini hurricanes on the national weather service radar.
But Deathfest has always been special. Baltimore has always been special.
The last time I hit Deathfest was 2022. It was the first edition of the festival post-COVID and the lineup read like something that 16-year old me would’ve scribbled in my notebook – Carcass, Obituary, Suffocation, Atheist, Cavalera Conspiracy, Deicide, Hypocrisy…it was Gwen Stefani level bananas. I also told myself that given how incredible the lineup was that year that it’d be my last one. It also didn’t hurt that the event organizers had announced that they were going to take a break after that year’s edition, but I recognized that for me personally, that was going to be the high note to end on.
But after some distance and some time away, I really missed the experience of Deathfest. The vibe, the community, the food, the vendor village, and stumbling onto bands that I didn’t know anything about beforehand but walked away being a die hard fan. It was fun.
As the roster for the 2026 edition of the festival started to come together, a little voice in the back of my head started to whisper “there are a lot of bands that you really dig on that list”. That whisper gradually got louder and louder, and before I knew it I’d booked my travel and made arrangements to see all 4-days of the festival proper, and for the first time I’d get in a day early for the Wednesday night pre-party. For those not great at math, that’s 5 solid days of extreme music, overpriced festival food, hotel beds, and the camaraderie of several thousand kindred spirits. As a 50-year-old grandparent with professional obligations and a busy family life, this kind of adventure weighed a little differently than it had in past years, but I desperately wanted one more trip to Baltimore. I NEEDED one more trip to Baltimore. And what a ride it was.
So here begins my recap of 5 days at America’s premier extreme heavy metal festival. Once More Unto the Breach.
