Fred, the drummer from Dismember, told me to meet Matti at the hotel they were staying at to do the interview before they left for Sweden. This was a very big moment for me. I LOVE their first album and the second album is amazing as well. The members of this band have been international superstars in the death metal community for decades, and I was about to sit down with the lead singer. I met Matti in the lobby of the hotel and he led me over to a quiet spot that had a few chairs and a table. While I was setting up the recorder for the interview he offered to get me a coffee. There’s no way I’m gonna turn down a coffee from the lead singer of Dismember, I mean, c’mon.

Matti was so incredibly nice and friendly, he told me a bunch of stories from his past as well as answered all of my questions. We had a great conversation and were laughing throughout the whole interview. It was incredible meeting one of my idols and being able to speak so candidly and connect on so many different levels and topics. Huge shout out to Matti and Fred from Dismember, looking forward to speaking with them again soon and interviewing the rest of the band as well!

Back at the festival, the first band I was able to catch was Necessary Death. They were incredible. Very brutal and grindy but also melodic and intricate. They had some great riffs and were shredding up on stage, the vocals and drums were on point as well. The band was having an absolute blast on stage and the lead singer was amping the crowd and headbanging like crazy. He was also leaning down from the stage and fist-bumping people in the front row. After that, I was able to catch Artifial Brain at the outdoor Market Place stage. They were a much slower kind of thrashy death metal. All of the band members were incredibly talented and it was nice hearing a bit of a different style of DM.

I have a connection with a local record label and distributor, Heavy and Fast Records/Distro, who put me in contact with Matt from Goetia, who was playing on Sunday. I was able to meet up with Matt and Demir from the DC-based band. Both of them were incredibly nice and funny and we were all cracking jokes throughout the interview. Both of them were closer to my age and it was incredible seeing them be on the same bill as some of the biggest names in the death metal scene. I was able to catch some of their set later that evening and they are so incredibly talented. Demir absolutely shredding on guitar like that’s what he was born to do and Matt on vocals with so much passion and emotion. The drummer, who I met briefly, was also killing it in the back.

Later on, I saw Cryptopsy which was super fantastic. The Montreal-based brutal technical death metal band was formed in 1992 and has an impressive 8 full-length studio albums. They had some really heavy blasting with some sweet grooves and riffs. The lead singer and guitarists were headbanging for most of the set, inspiring the huge crowd to do the same. Toward the end of the set, there was a moment where the vocalist held on to this one note for the longest time ever. The set of lungs on that guy is impressive, to say the least. After Cryptopsy, I was able to see Abbath perform at the Market Place stage. The drummer for Abbath was going absolutely crazy! The lead singer was really awesome and the whole band had black and white face paint on. The drums, guitars and vocals of this Norwegian black metal band were all on point!

The final show of the night for me was the piece de resistance, Gorguts. Of all of the bands I’ve listened to prior to coming to Maryland Deahtfest, Gorguts is my favorite. Their debut album is an absolute masterpiece and Luc Lemay (lead singer and mastermind behind Gorguts) is a legend. I pushed my way up to the front and got past the barricade to get to the photo pit. Having Luc Lemay so close to me was surreal, I mean he was like 15 feet from me but still. Their set was incredible, Luc came to the front of the stage and egged on the crowd several times. I was blown away, they played several tracks of the first album which I’d been hoping to see live. After the set, the crowd cleared out and went to another venue in the festival to catch the next show. I loitered around the merch section wishing I had found some more CDs to bring home to play on my radio show, Metal by Moonlight. As I walked around I spotted the shirt I’d been searching for, the Gorguts’ first album “Considered Dead” shirt.

I noticed a sign on the side of a tent that said Gorguts and they had some other merch there as well. As I get closer I realize that Luc Lemay himself is managing the merch and talking with people. My heart skipped a beat. I got in the short line and waited my turn. I was able to stop and chat with him for a short while. I told him about how much I love his music and how incredible his first album is. We cracked a few jokes and he then recommended me one of the two albums he had for sale. I got a T-shirt as well and had him sign everything for me. After I walked away, heart pounding, I realized that I never gave him any of my radio show business cards! So… I got back in line and spoke with him again. We cracked a few more jokes and he seemed very interested in setting up an interview later in the year, he mentioned having a lot of shows and recordings coming up.

This whole festival has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was able to meet and chat with so many different people I’ve looked up to and wished I could speak with. Everything was amazing and I can’t rave enough about how great of a time I had. All of the people at the festival as well were nice and friendly.

Can’t wait to go to MDF again next year.