Maryland Deathfest

Maryland Deathfest, the self-proclaimed biggest American metal party of the year, is quickly creeping up! With tickets having been rapidly selling since the fest's lineup announcements last year, it is nearly impossible now to get tickets to any of the big events through the fest's official website. Tickets to the Thursday Sonar show (Bolt Thrower) and Friday's Soundstage show (Infest) are current in incredibly high demand.

Thursday has an extremely impressive line-up, featuring the almighty Bolt Thrower, who hardly comes to the United States as it is! Funeral doom gods Evoken are also set to play on Thursday - I'm personally especially excited to see them. Other notable acts are Japanese black-thrashers Abigail and U.S. doom lords Pallbearer. Friday features grindcore gods Repulsion, Benediction, and several other insane acts. Saturday and Sunday are also filled with incredible bands well worth seeing, such as Canada's war metal maniacs Revenge and U.K.'s Cruciamentum.

This is most definitely not an event to miss. Previous attendants of Maryland Deathfest will tell you how awesome the food is, how crazy the shows are, and how insane the record selection is. Prepare to bring hundreds of dollars for records alone!

As for the details on the fest, as many of you may already know, it begins Thursday, May 23rd, and ends Sunday, May 26th. This is a perfect start date for college students, such as myself, who have been slaving over schoolwork all year just to get their fix of summer metal fun!

The Infest reunion is going to be absolutely insane. I'll see you dudes in the mosh. I hope you all have your tickets!

Here is the link to the running order of all the shows: http://www.marylanddeathfest.com/runningorder.html

-Possessed

Cookie Monster of Death

Many people refer to the vocal style used in death metal as “Cookie Monster vocals.” As a metalhead, I don’t usually use this term, but I am aware of the similarities between the voices of death-metal-ers like Chris Barnes (Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under) and the ravenous blue Muppet.

Although I haven’t watched “Sesame Street” in many years, I do remember Cookie Monster…and I believe there may be other links between Cookie Monster and Death Metal music.

Both Cookie Monster and death metal bands are obsessed with particular subjects. But instead of incessantly blathering about cookies, death metal bands tend to stick to their lyrical guns (knives, ice picks, etc.) and write sinister and disturbing music about destruction, mutilation, and of course, death.

This got me to thinking: are cookies evil? Maybe not, but, I know firsthand that they can definitely be used for evil.

When I was a kid, every winter my mom would buy those assorted butter cookies that come in a big blue tin. I always thought it wasn’t much of an assortment because four out of the five varieties tasted exactly the same (though they did come in different shapes).

The only cookies in the tin that I could tolerate were the chocolate chip ones; they were better than the taste-alike ones, but were poor representatives of the chocolate chip cookie ilk. My sister, on the other hand, liked the cookies, and chocolate chip were her favorite, too – they were always the first to go. Just like when we got Neapolitan ice cream: the chocolate portion always disappeared first.

Anyway, one early winter afternoon, I came home to find the first cookie tin of the season sitting on our kitchen table and I had an idea. I grabbed the tin and ran up to my room, emptied its contents onto my bed, and waited for my sister to get home. When she arrived, I snuck back downstairs with the empty tin under my shirt. I caught a glimpse of my sister reclining on the living room couch as I ran into the kitchen.

I placed the cookie tin on the stove and turned the burner on high. After about a minute I figured that the tin was hot enough and I removed it from the flame with potholders and put it on the kitchen table where I had first found it.

I strolled into living room with a satisfied smile on my face and informed my sister that there was a tin of cookies in the kitchen. She immediately headed for them, as I knew she would. Seconds later, I heard a scream and the sound of a hot aluminum hitting dirty linoleum.

Why did I do it? Well, because I was a kid and it seemed hilarious at the time. But…were there any underlying factors at play? Did I do it because my mind had been corrupted by years of listening to death metal?

Nah. I think the real reason is something that crazy blue Muppet knows all too well…those butter cookies are evil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWac5UT80no&feature=related

Cynic-Traced In Air: A review which should be traced in air

Cynic has been around for many, many years. Fifteen years to be exact, and they have not lost a single ounce of musicianship with their aging. They are still as technical as their early nineties counterparts, Death and Atheist, yet they somehow found a way to break out of that death metal mold and become something quite unique. Their second cd, Traced In Air, has turned alot of heads due to its departure from Focus in terms of brutality. Yet what they have dropped in brutality, they more than make up for with melodic and amazingly brilliant song-writing. The songs have so many layers to them, that you cannot wish to comprehend them with only one listen. With this release, Cynic have shown the world what it truly means to be a progressive metal band. All the songs on the album pick you up off your feet and carry you where you can be lost in the music, only to thrown into a tornado of organized chaos which leaves you breathless just set you back down on your feet a few moments later. This sensation may sound displeasing, but it will have you wanting to go back and listen to it over and over again. It is a short cd, which is very agonizing due to nature of the songs which just leave you wanting more. Cynic is truly a one-of-a-kind band and you should definitely pick this cd up just so it will never leave your iPod, cd player, or whatever music player you use. It is that brilliant of an album, and I hope they don't wait another fifteen years to release another cd.

Cd Score:
[rating:5/5]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fhVLykF3nU

-Noobhammer