MILWAUKEE METALFEST 2024

In spite of some obvious negatives, I think it’s safe to say most metalheads were happy to see the return of Milwaukee Metalfest in 2023. In the Midwest, this was an annual rite of passage for more than 15 years until a greedy promoter and poor choices put an end to it. The torch was passed from said promoter to Jamey Jasta of HATEBREED fame and the cold embers were rekindled with a new spark.

2023’s edition was all about announcing the return and re-establishing the brand. Would 2024 see a bigger and better show or would things start to decline again? Well, after the third weekend in May, I think we have our answer and the news is good. In 2023, almost every band was from the U.S. and the style was  modern groove metal or deathcore with some legacy bands tossed in. For 2024, Jamey went out and got plenty of bands from Europe to play the fest this time around. Not only that, but there was a great variation in styles, with power metal bands like BLIND GUARDIAN, ETERNAL CHAMPION and HAMMERFALL getting some prominent slots and classic death and thrash metal like OVERKILL, TESTAMENT, INCANTATION and DEICIDE getting a look in. Toss in some of the more modern bands like SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL and PALEFACE SWISS to keep the core kids coming. Overall, this version of the fest was much more expansive and interesting than its predecessor.

Circumstances conspired against the Doctor being able to do more than just Friday this year, but in my opinion, this was the best day of the Fest, a fantastic combo of power metal, thrash and death metal with a sprinkling of evil blackness around the edges. My Wormwood compadre Theron Moore, who you will be hearing from shortly, came all the way from Albuquerque, NM to sample both Friday and Saturday. Sadly, Sunday got passed up once more. I considered this the weakest day of the Fest, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t bands of interest playing like ATHEIST, EXHUMED and SKELETAL REMAINS. One band I deeply regretted missing on Sunday was our hometown heroes BEYOND THRESHOLD, who have been haunting these parts for more than 20 years! I’m sure they had a great gig...with all the adversity they have overcome, they deserved it!

Oh, the indignities of age! The Good Doctor has not yet found a magic elixir to return the blush of youth to these aging bones so I must acknowledge my limitations. No mosh pits or death walls for me. And the schedule was a real nightmare to navigate! It is not humanly possible to see complete sets from every band. Downstairs, the “medium” Century Media stage and the “small” Martyrstore stage are conveniently close to each other, but the huge Eagles Ballroom...reserved for the major bands...was up about three flights of stairs, which was a real chore for this veteran mad scientist. I had to sacrifice some bands due to location and scheduling, such as SYMPHONY X and VISIGOTH. That’s the breaks of having a fest with over 70 bands on it.

I got to The Rave in plenty of time and positioned myself in the massive line waiting to get in It was just about perfect outside, which made things easier for all, and it actually gave me a pretty warm glow to see a line of headbangers stretching for close to four blocks waiting to get in. Already it was obvious there was going to be more people than last year. And as long as the line was, things moved very quickly once the doors were opened. We all had about a half hour to get used to the layout of the joint before the bands started to play. Much time was spent pondering the giant schedule board posted in the main hall and it took a while to figure out which stage was which. But it was all good in the end.

The small bar stage, known as the Dunable Guitars/Martyrstore stage was the scene of many of the best gigs on Friday. Things kicked off with the ENGINEERED SOCIETY PROJECT, who I believe also played last year. This was an energetic trad metal/power metal type band reminiscent of the faster and heavier QUEENSRYCHE material, with a bit of a funky kick to it. Lots of enthusiasm from the early crowd goers and it was clear that folks didn’t need much encouragement to show their love for metal.

I made my way across the hall to the medium sized Century Media stage, which last year was called the Indiemerch stage. Confusingly, the Indiemerch stage was now upstairs in the Eagles Ballroom. Here I caught the shadowy black metallers UADA, a band I have had some pretty serious issues with. Their set was a pleasant surprise, the first of several this weekend. Swathed in layers of fog (they were likely the foggiest band of the weekend) and features obscured by dark hoods, they played droning high speed black metal that created a kind of hypnotic effect. Their more controversial melodic/electronic moments were fortunately left to the way side. The result was pretty mesmerizing and they drew a pretty good crowd despite the fact they were the second band to play. Black metal has been in short supply at MMF...sadly, MARDUK had to withdraw for the Fest, which I’m sure made a lot of 300 pound chicks with blue hair and nerd glasses happy.

The next sequence of bands was a kind of mad dash all over the place. Grim and grimy NECROFIER from Texas played their blackened death metal to a packed DG/Martyrstore stage. I believe one of these gentlemen was the organizer of the excellent Hell’s Heroes fest in Houston, which was so expertly covered by our own Colonel Angus. Then a run upstairs where Wisconsin’s power metal avatars LORDS OF THE TRIDENT were playing to a healthy but not packed crowd. These guys are good at what they do, but there’s something about them that seems like they are having a big goof on metal fans. Caught a couple of songs and then ran back to the Century Media stage, where BEWITCHER held forth. Some folks think they are the future of the business...I wouldn’t go that far. They played some rock n roll tinged dirty speed metal not a million miles from MIDNIGHT, dusted with a light coating of black metal. Slimmed down to a 3 piece, they played with a lot of energy but have yet to establish their own identity. Keeping up with these 3 bands gives you an idea of how insane the MMF schedule was.

I ran back upstairs for NIGHT DEMON, who took forever to fiddle around with their sound. Sound troubles on the big stage were a constant issue this weekend. Finally, I just said “fuck it” and went back downstairs. I will be seeing them at Blades of Steel later in the year. I just don’t have time to hear “check...check one, two” and monotonous drum beats over and over.

Downstairs I rushed to see evil Clevelanders NUNSLAUGHTER blaspheming against the name of Christ. This was as crushing a set of down-tuned Satanic filth as you could imagine, with an incredibly heavy bass-saturated sound that you could feel in your ribcage. Although the presence of Jim Konya is still sadly missed, Don of the Dead made for a great sinister frontman. Extra marks for having a hot “evil nun” come out to gyrate lasciviously to the last few tunes. This is one band I was happy to make time for. On the bar stage, I caught a bit of ILLUSION OF FATE’s blackened thrash as well as almost the whole set from Milwaukee’s brutal ANCIENT ENTITIES. This latter band is absolutely the shit, throwing down some violent MORBID ANGEL/IMMOLATION style death metal. I think you will be hearing a lot more from those guys in the future. Also, I have to mention that the sound on the two downstairs stages blew away the sound at the big ballroom above.

I decided to stay in the downstairs zone and hoped that my comrade Theron, who I had bumped into earlier, would be able to say something about VISIGOTH and ETERNAL CHAMPION. Speaking of bumping into, I ran into all sorts of familiar faces here at the show. Amazingly, Randy Kastner the No Fun Shogun and pizza nerd Bob Byrne were hanging out with each other and no blood had been spilled. Will wonders never cease? It’s always a pleasure to hob nob with fellow metalheads, whether you know them well or are just meeting them for the first time.

I was curious to see ultra-subterranean Satanic maniacs PROFANATICA in action. These dudes play a super crude kind of basic death metal along the lines of VON and HELLHAMMER. Did I say “dudes”? I never noticed it before, but their bass player is a chick! With their bearded drummer growling and roaring away, they almost made NUNSLAUGHTER sound commercial. I was into it for about four songs, then I realized they were basically playing the same track over and over, or so it seemed. There is such a thing as being TOO primitive!

One of the big pluses of these multi-day fests is that you often get introduced to great new bands just getting their start. Such a band is BACKLASH. Playing no-nonsense thrash metal of the old school, these guys rocked the Martyrstore stage HARD. I’m sure this was the first time many in the crowd encountered them and despite the fact their lead singer looked like a cross between a choir boy and a rockabilly dude, BACKLASH delivered the goods. Of all three stages at Metalfest, there seemed to be a special aura about the bar stage...something reminiscent of the early day of underground metal. You had to be there to experience it; later on, I would see that feeling kicked up to a level even beyond what BACKLASH created.

Following this set, it was time to haul my carcass back up the stairs to see the all-time heroes of metal, OVERKILL! Sorry, INCANTATION and HELLWITCH...there was just no way I could pass up these guys on the big stage. One of those hard choices I had to make with the schedule….at any rate, the Eagles Club/Indiemerch stage was primed and ready for the boys from Joisey, who came out smashing with the title track to their latest album, “Scorched”. Bobby Blitz, now into his 60’s, has got to be one of the most beloved characters in all of metaldom. “Jesus, you motherfuckers look like you came in from 1985!” he chortled on seeing the rabid pits break out.

The unfortunate thing about OVERKILL’s set is that the live sound was far from the best. This was a persistent problem in the big Eagles Club stage...neither of the downstairs stages sounded off at all. But OVERKILL’s guitars came across grating and harsh, like they were being amped through PVC pipe. The band deserved better, but they powered through a great set that got a rabid response. “Coma”, “Elimination” and “Hello From The Gutter” popped up from the glory days while more recent tunes like “The Surgeon” and “Wicked Place” got their due. This was the first show back after a prolonged layoff for bassist D.D. Verni and as usual, his bass sound was dominating even with the less than perfect sound job. As you might expect, they rounded things off with “Fuck You”, which got the thousands in attendance singing along.

Then it was time to run back downstairs, head outside to grab a bite at one of the many foodtrucks and race back to the Martyrstore stage, where I saw the excellent HEATHEN play live for the very first time. These guys are so underrated, even at a fest like this! A great mix of intense thrashing and strong melodies is what they provide, with bald-pated frontman David White uncorking powerful clean vocals like few others. They started with “Dying Season” from the awesome “Evolution of Chaos” record and crammed as much of their 30 year plus career into their set as they could, including the title track to their first album “Breaking the Silence”. The bar stage was packed tight and rarin’ to go, but the next band to hit that stage would take things to the level of insanity!

Before that, though, I caught the tail end of metal queen DORO’s set, one focusing on early WARLOCK tracks. We all know DORO’s a sweetheart and even now she’s still very easy on the eyes, but I’ve not been a real big fan over the years. Live seems to be where she really excels and it looked like she had a talented band backing her up. Saw her do the classic “All We Are” and “Burning The Witches”...the latter song still kicks all these years later. The lady seemed genuinely thrilled and happy to be in Milwaukee and it would be a pretty hard metal heart that wouldn’t melt seeing her so glad to be in her element.

I’ve seen HAVOK play several times before and even interviewed them once at one of the old Spring Bash events. NEVER have I see anything like the show they played on the Martyrstore bar stage. This was total fuckin’ thrash metal INSANITY!!! The bar was packed with rabid bangers and once HAVOK hit the stage, it became a war zone. Bodies were flying everywhere and there was an endless crush of crowd surfers. It was the like the awesome JUNGLE ROT gig from last year, but crammed into about half the space. The band fed on the energy and went batshit crazy on every song. The vocalist yelled “I was ready to give this shit up a year ago, but now, no fuckin’ way!” This must have been what seeing SLAYER or POSSESSED at Ruthie’s Inn in 1984 must have been like. The bartenders looked on in disbelief at the crowd antics and I think there was more than a touch of anxiety about the intensity of it all. I was well back of the damage zone but close enough to feel the heat. There was part of my 60 years plus bones that longed to dive into the mayhem, but sanity prevailed. Many thanks to HAVOK...this was hands down the best set I saw at MMF 24.

Although HAVOK was the apex of Friday, more surprises awaited. I headed back to the Century Media stage to experience power metal kings HAMMERFALL for the first time. I’ve kind of lost my interest in these guys over the last 10 years, but wow, what a great show they put on tonight! I missed the first few songs, but caught a lot of their set. The crowd was packed tight and they sang along with just about every tune. “Hammer High” was amazing, as everybody raised their first and yelled “HAMMER HIGH!” along with singer Joacim Cans, who incidentally was flawless as a frontman. If HAVOK embodied the mayhem of thrash metal, then HAMMERFALL perfectly symbolized the camaraderie of classic power metal. It helped me reconnect with this kind of music and now I look forward to the upcoming new album from the band with enthusiasm. “Hearts On Fire”, “Glory to The Brave” and I think they snuck a new one in there...it all came across spotlessly. Terrific set from these guys!

I raced back over to the bar stage in hopes of catching MACABRE. It seems these guys are the mascots of Milwaukee Metalfest who must be there every year. Well, they picked up where they left off last year…with more sound problems and fiddling around with equipment. These guys have a reputation for being really fussy and it’s well deserved. Honestly, I was getting fatigued and once I realized they’d probably play the same set as last year,I just kind of threw in the towel and sat down outside to catch a breather before the final push of the evening.

It was time to cross another bucket list band off my list, death metal maniacs AUTOPSY, who I’ve been trying to see for forever and a day. Alas, they were also bit by the bad equipment bug and spent an interminable amount of time fiddling with things. Drummer/vomiter Chris Reifert tried to keep the tone light with some good-natured jokes but I was just getting plain restless. Finally, the band kicked into their set at about the last moment and we were off to the land of sickness and revulsion. The set tonight drew heavily from the “Severed Survival” album which had its 35th anniversary this year. I can’t fault the guys on their set list, which featured classics like “Gasping For Air”, “Ridden With Disease” and “Embalmed”. The guitar tone was nice and ugly and Reifert performed the very difficult task of keeping a rock steady beat while spewing vocal filth like a madman. I hope someday to see these guys under more ideal conditions and with a longer set time.

This left one final band for the evening so I dragged myself up the stairs to witness yet another band I have never seen...or thought to see…, Germany’s power metal kings BLIND GUARDIAN! Getting these guys was a real coup for the Fest, as they play very little outside of Europe and are known to be exceedingly expensive, as singer Hansi Kursch actually mentioned during the set. I wonder if they could pull off their epic, intricate style of fantasy metal. For the most part, they did, although once again, the Eagles Club did not have the greatest acoustics. The band had a terrific light show (although I was told that KAMELOT had the best) and their stage presence was top notch. The short-haired clean shaven Kursch looked like a tech company executive but his voice was powerful. He harmonized very well with lead guitarist Andre Olbrich, who’s not a bad singer himself. The vocals are so multi-tracked on GUARDIAN’s albums that it’s impossible to duplicate that sound like without a ton of overdubs, but they did better than I would have expected.

Much like HAMMERFALL, the crowd was very much about the singalong and there were several, most notably for the ballad “Nightfall”. I liked their faster, heavier stuff and there was plenty of it, with “Imaginations From The Otherside”, “Violent Shadows” and “Valhalla”. Having slightly less than an hour to play I’m sure cramped their style. I think I liked HAMMERFALL just a tad more but it was pretty close. Well, that’s another band to cross off my bucket list.

And that was it for me as far as Milwaukee Metalfest 2024 goes. Good Worm-buddy Theron Moore will now give you his take on Day One and Two both. 

For a final assessment, I think Jasta did a pretty fair job of getting the right bands. He certainly broadened the palette, so to speak, and featured more styles than 2023. Sunday was pretty heavy on “core” bands, which aren’t my cup of tea, and also had the dreadful AVATAR, but I can understand why he got those bands. And to be honest, I heard Sunday drew the most people, so what do I know? At any rate, Milwaukee Metalfest is now re-established as a force...2023 was not a fluke. I look forward to next year.

Take it away, Theron...

FRIDAY. MAY 17

The first band I caught were black metallers UADA on the Century Media stage. I knew of them but hadn’t listened to them prior to seeing them here. They were intense and mysterious, and heavy AF. They won me over as a fan. Now remember, there’s three stages loaded with bands playing at the same time (or staggered times), so I leave UADA to catch what I can of LORDS OF THE TRIDENT (LOTT) on the Indiemerchstore.com stage (third floor). I hate those stairs, they’re not my friend. 

It’s my first-time seeing LOTT live and damn, are they impressive. The stage they’re playing on is huge, and they command it like old pros. Just for clarification, this is the venue bands like KORN and QUEENSRYCHE play when they pass through Milwaukee and get booked at The Rave. 

The crowd is into their exuberant brand of power metal and I’m really digging what I see and hear from these guys, however, because of time constraints – which is a huge detractor with MMF – I leave LORDS OF THE TRIDENT and head down the stairs of “doom and death” to get to the Century Media Stage on the first floor to see BEWITCHER rock some vicious blackened thrash to a very receptive audience. 

After maybe 5-7 minutes, it’s back up to the third floor to see NIGHT DEMON, a band I’ve been a fan of for a while but hadn’t truly appreciated them until seeing ‘em at MMF. NIGHT DEMON plays a melodic style of European influenced power metal which floored me, they were that good! I rank them right up there with JAG PANZER as one of the best bands working this genre of music. Totally impressed with ‘em. I’m making it a point to catch them live the next time I can.  

It’s back down the stairs to the first floor to catch my bucket list band, the truly incredible NUNSLAUGHTER, who deliver a live show beyond anything I ever expected, they were great beyond great. And the show was topped off with an appearance by the dancing “nun” towards the end of their gig, yea!

By now the heat and humidity level inside the venue is at fever pitch. We’re all hot, we’re all sweating, and we’re a collective stinky human stew inside The Rave. I periodically stop to grab a beer and a shot, both of which were waaaaaay overpriced but it’s MMF and screw it, I’m going for it. Next up, I catch a little bit of PROFANATICA at the Century Media Stage before heading upstairs to catch nearly all of ETERNAL CHAMPION’s gig. PROFANATICA didn’t make much of an impression on me with their black-ish/death-ish set but I really got into ETERNAL CHAMPION, another solid power metal band up on the third floor in the big ballroom. Their set was heavy, amazing, and had that unique hint of European metal to their music you can’t go wrong with. I’m keeping an eye on this band going forward.

The ballroom’s filling up in anticipation of OVERKILL who are next, so I make the tough decision to forgo seeing INCANTATION on the first floor and stake out my spot close to the stage, and I’m thankful I did. I’m a longtime OVERKILL fan going all the way back to 1986 and seeing them live / in person was another bucket list moment for me. Check that one off! By now the crowd is huge and getting bigger and when the band hits the stage, they remind me why I’ve been a fan so long. They are masters of their art. The place goes wild, and the band rips it up!

When you talk about the godfathers of speed/thrash, OVERKILL stands side by side with METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, and ANTHRAX.  Their set at MMF was a blistering frenzy of greatest hits and pounding metal and I’m glad I stayed for the whole thing even though I missed DORO’s set, unfortunately. In the end though, it was worth it.

I rounded out Friday night with SYMPHONY X in the big ballroom following OVERKILL’s set and HAMMERFALL at the Century Media Stage on the first floor. Both bands were thoroughly impressive with HAMMERFALLbeing over the top incredible. For me personally, HAMMERFALL defines what the spirit of metal is all about. They had the look, the sound, and banged out a set for the ages.

That was Friday night. I didn’t stick around for later bands opting instead to leave and get something to eat before spending what was left of the evening with my wife in the big bad city of Milwaukee. Day one was good, no regrets. The cost of booze, both stairs of “doom” and “death,” and multiple stages with staggered band times, were the negatives of the fest overall.  

I discovered POSSESSED in 1986 after buying their ‘Seven Churches’ record. The sound on that album blew me away and kind of helped open the door for me regarding extreme music (black, death, etc.). The same holds true for DEICIDE whom I was a fan of prior to the release of their first record, which is both one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. DEICIDE is no stranger to MMF having played it for the first time in 1992 with peers OBITUARY, CANNIBAL CORPSE, CANCER, BRUTAL TRUTH and MALEVOLENT CREATION among others.

Both POSSESSED and DEICIDE are godfathers and trailblazers and it’s not an over exaggeration to label them icons and legends, it’s stating fact. To see both live, FINALLY, I was beyond excited for. I had a front seat in the balcony overlooking the stage and by God (wrong deity—Dr. M) I wasn’t moving for any reason. My line of vision was better than what I expected.

POSSESSED took the stage to set up their rigs and soundcheck and even before they played, they OWNED the stage and audience. Founder/singer Jeff Becerra finally made his way front and center, and at this point the crowd went crazy with not even a single note yet to be played! They performed to a near capacity audience pitting and crowd surfing like there was no tomorrow. The band was relentless sporting a “take no prisoners” approach. Just when you think they were winding down towards the end of their set they ramped it up and got even more aggressive. The wilder the crowd was, the more intense and deadly POSSESSED got.

They looked and sounded epic. And correct me if I’m wrong but I think I saw Athenar from the band MIDNIGHT in the middle of the crowd towards the end of Possessed’s set, crowd surfing a couple times as well! I wasn’t surprised since the drummer for POSSESSED was wearing a MIDNIGHT shirt which probably wasn’t a coincidence.Founder/singer Jeff Becerra had a smile on his face the entirety of the band’s performance. POSSESSED had this onstage charisma – not to mention look – of pure metal. They exuded it and struck a very intimidating presence jamming out the loudest, rawest, death-thrash mankind will ever know. Their set was pure devastation. 

Next up was DEICIDE . POSSESSED broke down their stage while DEICIDE members casually strolled to their respective spots and sound checked. I spotted Glen Benton behind a wall of speakers doing prep work – his stage left. Asheim is already sitting behind his drum kit, ready to roll. There’s no pomp and circumstance, just a band doing what they do best: Getting ready to destroy both stage and audience as soon as they get the green light. DEICIDE was prepared, they were consummate pros, and it showed.

Soon enough the band gathered ‘round and launched into their set unleashing total mayhem onstage and in the audience. Benton sounded great and the two new guitarists were spot on shredders of the highest order. DEICIDE has never sounded better. Benton’s voice was in top form and by all rights should be registered as a deadly weapon anywhere they play. The acrobatics he does with it live, is astounding. 

Midway through the DEICIDE  gig, I notice there’s two shows going on simultaneously. The first is the band, and their set demonstrates why they are / always have been, the reigning kings of blasphemous death metal. The second is the audience who are moshing and circle pitting at a level of intensity I don’t think I’ve witnessed before. The aggression level is amped up high, the crowd is into DEICIDE’s show, and the surfing is almost non-stop, at least that’s what it felt like watching it. 

Benton is unphased, he sees the carnage going on, he likes it. The look in his eyes says it all, “I want more!” The crowd appeases him. The band plays harder, heavier, while the fans bring “the crazy” up to the front of the stage. This is the DEICIDE show I’ve been waiting for. By the time the gig was over, I was blown away and exhausted, and I was sitting in the balcony for their performance! 

I caught a little bit of TESTAMENT’s show and called it a night. I saw what I came to see and had a great time. I finally made it back to Milwaukee after a 30+ year absence, saw the town, made it to Culver’s for a Pork Tenderloin sandwich, and survived the legendary Milwaukee Metalfest. Total success. Next stop: Labor Day weekend in Madison for Blades Of Steel. That’ll mark four metal festivals in a 365-day calendar year for me. Horns up!