Friday
Missed the first three bands because Bleeder and I went to the Babe Ruth Museum. Totally worth it, but I'm kind of bummed I missed Jig-Ai.
Sayyadina – Only caught about half of their set, but it was cool.
Gnostic – Really bad.
Cattle Decapitation - Seen them like 5 times, so I didn't pay much attention.
Cephalic Carnage - Same as CxDx. Seeing "Black Metal Sabbath" was cool though.
Pigsty – Their set was a blast. Insane vocal performance, some drunk guy going apeshit and over the railing (twice) and inflatable sword fights in the pit.
Mayhem – Meh, didn't do a whole lot for me. I couldn't hear Attila for probably 90% of the set. I'm even less impressed now that I know they cut in to Asphyx's time.
Asphyx - FUCKING AMAZING. Van Drunen is a god and probably put out my two favorite performances of the 'fest. Awesome setlist, as they mostly played stuff off The Rack and The Last One On Earth.
Venomous Concept - Good. Definitely got better as their set went on. Kevin was drunk as hell and funny: "More alcohol in the monitors."
Victims – Awesome. First time hearing/seeing them and I loved it. Tons of energy and a great way to end the night.
Saturday
Drugs of Faith – Didn't watch.
Maruta – Only caught the last couple songs. It was okay.
Pretty Little Flower – Loved them...intense as fuck.
Unearthly Trance – I've never listened to them before, but they were heavier than elephant shit. Perfect set length too.
Crowpath – Moments of their set were really enjoyable, but for the most part, I couldn't get in to it.
Flesh Parade – Really, really awesome. The vocals blew my mind.
Weekend Nachos – I was in the bathroom for 5 minutes and missed all but one song.
Rotten Sound – Didn't watch--me and dr0ne were outside singing along to Slipknot over the PA and getting a spot for Hail Of Bullets.
Hail of Bullets – Like I said before, Van Drunen is amazing live. "Nachthexen" was as heavy as any song at the 'fest. Shit ruled.
Brutal Truth - Sat down in the back and relaxed and didn't really pay attention.
Misery Index – Briefly caught the end of their set before Immo. 'Twas pretty good, and loud as hell.
Immolation – Had to make a tough choice to leave 4 songs in to get a good spot for Birdflesh, but those four songs kicked immense amounts of ass. "Father, You're Not A Father" into "Swarm Of Terror" was epic.
Birdflesh – SO. MUCH. FUN. The between-song-banter and song explanations are hilarious, and they were really tight. Me and my friends throwing 200 Glo-Sticks in the pit = awesome.
Atheist - Sat in the back and relaxed. Something about the sound was kind of wonky, and I lost interest pretty quickly.
Pig Destroyer – Pretty good. Kind of bummed they didn't play "Junkyard God," but they did play "Jennifer" and "Pissangel," which ruled. Scott Hull was not happy about the left over Glo-Sticks getting thrown on stage.
Napalm Death - Again, sat in the back and relaxed, but it what I heard sounded good. Also, was too busy watching all the hood-ass security guards quell the Great Crustie Revolt of 2009.
Phobia – Didn't watch.
Bolt Thrower – Awesome set, and awesome setlist. We were a little ways back, but it still crushed.
General Surgery - Tons and tons of fun. They had some sound problems early on, but powered through them. The new singer and material sounded really good.
Wolves in the Throne Room – Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too tired to care. Left early.
Sunday
We missed a lot of bands on Sunday, mostly on account of being fucking exhausted.
Complete Failure – Didn't watch
Agenda of Swine – Didn't watch.
The Endless Blockade – Didn't watch.
Lair of the Minotaur – Didn't watch.
Magrudergrind – Decent, but kind of disappointing
Kill the Client – So fucking intense. Like entwined said, I bet they would kick ass in a basement show. Their lead singer scared the shit out of me.
Splitter – My first time hearing them, but I dug it.
Despise You – Bad.
The Red Chord – I had a blast. The "Dreaming In Dog Years" pile-on at the end was rad. Also, surprisingly well received.
Yakuza – Didn't watch.
Catheter – Pretty good set. Tight, but the low vocals were weak and I thought the whole set was kind of flat.
Krallice – Unfortunately, I missed this set.
Antigama – One of my favorites of the 'fest. Really tight, good setlist and length, high intensity and Sivy killed it on the drums.
Absu – Didn't watch.
Abscess – Didn't watch.
Aura Noir – Didn't watch.
Destroyer 666 – Didn't watch.
Trap Them – SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. I'd never bothered to listen to these guys, which was a huge mistake, because they brought huge amounts of win. One of, if not the most, energetic sets of the 'fest.
Bolt Thrower, v2.0 - So much better inside. "World Eater" in to "Cenotaph" was awesome, and the whole set kicked my ass. Super loud, gut-rumbling heavy.
Devourment – My first time seeing them, but it was about what I expected...awesome. The pit was fucking nuts, and the SMN blow-up toys and monkey masks were hilarious, especially Bleeder in his short-ass cut offs and Jewski fucking the inflatable money. Also, Eston putting on the monkey mask made me laugh.
Sigh - Watched like 4-5 songs before a 1-woman mosh pit and sheer exhaustion made me leave. It was good shit, but really hard to be enthused about at the end of the weekend.
Here's a brief video of the Birdflesh set. Keep an eye out for the Glo-Sticks flying around--that was me and my friends:
It seems like there is going to be an official MDF VII DVD released, so I'll provide more details on that as they become available.
Also, check out Return To The Pit for all the pictures you could ever want. I didn't even bother with band pics, as most of them turned out like crap.
I'll be talking a lot more about the 'fest on Friday, as well as playing some of the music from the bands that killed it.
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