Was afraid you were gonna say that, haha - But I'm glad it was great. Would love to see them some time, Master Control is one of my all time favourite albums.

Had an absolute blast, perhaps enjoyed it even more than last year even though I was more excited about the headliners back then than this year. Chilling outside on the lawn was absolutely perfect in the clouds and drizzle on Friday. Much more brutal on Saturday in the sun, though still worthwhile. So swapping the upstairs stage was an improvement overall, even though I did enjoy not having a barrier up there and being able to get up in the band's faces.

But good god I did not let it's absence stop me from getting in faces this year I TRULY exerted myself, going absolutely wild, pitting far more than expected, screaming and singing along so much that I lost my voice by night 2, and crowdsurfing more for the Celtic Frost set than I have my entire life up to this weekend. If you saw someone in a black vest with a Demilich backpatch with a nosebleed during Vio-lence, or spitting blood over everyone during Ross the Boss, or generally constantly dancing or giving people intense 1000 yard stares, that was me.

For the headliners, Razor was the big surprise for me. I'vealways been a thrasher at heart, but I had low expectations since the vocals on the new album were so bad. But Bob sounds great live and the intensity did not let up; I was expecting to just watch them from the lawn but ended up running in when they played Instant Death for their second song. Violent Restitution and Behind Bars are truly perfect thrash tracks.

Some of my other favorites were Visigoth and Pagan Altar (of course), Satan (despite the constant anti-mosh bitching banter) but also Sonja, Tower, Christian Mistress, and Gatekeeper. Out of the smaller bands, Freeways was probably the biggest surprise for me; they're a lot heavier live and I absolutely loved their hopeful vibe. I knew Tower would slap as well but holy FUCK they go so much harder than expected. Sarabeth hands down had the best stage presence of any of the vocalists all weekend.

Loved seeing a bunch of familiar faces from last year, and meeting plenty of new people and some musicians as well (got to have a nice long conversation with Jeff Black of Gatekeeper, which meant a lot since I've been a big fan since the demo). Can't wait to go back next time! Feels like they'll be running out of bands to have play for the first time soon: Demon Bitch/White Magician are the main ones I'd love to see come out. Pagan Altar, Visigoth, Sumerlands and Eternal Champion should play every fucking year as far as I'm concerned. Would be a much better tradition than Haunt and Night Demon, or trying to get Enforcer and them inevitably dropping.

Haunt and Night Demon were actually two of my favorite sets, though I only went to the Saturday and Haunt's set was the first time I was able to escape the outdoors. By time Pagan Altar went on I almost passed out from the brutal sun + 8 beers combo. Can't wait to do it again.

If you remember a woman at the very front row of Visigoth with very long hair losing her shit like a dork during Abysswalker, that was me Shout-out to the two Hispanics (I think) right behind me who knew the entire lyrics of the song, too, you two are good people


One of the highlights for me, as someone who never paid serious attention to them before. Really solid!

Best festival experience in North America, no contest. Maybe even my best festival experience ever. Nothing but killer vibes all around.

I saw some of them both last year and they were both sounding good, probably better than on record. Night Demon in particular are very cool, I like both their albums and can't help but have some hometown pride seeing them get big, as well as for Jarvis resurrecting Cirith Ungol. I need to check out their new album, now that I think of it.

But Eternal Champion are just one of the best current bands going rn, and since they're only a few hours away they (along with Helstar of course) should be the house band.

If Eternal Champion and Helstar play every year I would certainly not complain.

New fest lineup, new year! Who's going? Who are you excited to see? Lineup is insane and this year was amazing- can't wait to do it all over again! Real glad they added Cirith Ungol.

That lineup is INSANE.
Solitude Aeturnus alone would be worth the price of admission.

(this feels like deja vu, I must have said that before).

Over/Under on Agent Steel actually playing?

Indeed. Is Lowe back in the band?

Full original lineup, including Count Lyle and Edgar Rivera. I typed that and I got shivers, not shitting you.

Tough call on Agent Steel.

Glad to see Cauldron on that poster. I thought the band was done.

Awesome news!
I hope they release some new material.

It's like someone made a list of my current tastes + classic bands I haven't seen and put them all together. If this were anywhere in Europe I'd make a concerted effort to go.

Fuck.

Nite, Night Demon and Wytch Hazel.

Too bad this is in TX.

I've had my tickets since they went on sale, and I'm still blown away. This lineup is nuts. This will be my third year in a row, and it seems like every lineup somehow gets better.

Fuck that is one impressive lineup. The variety on offer is indeed admirable, they even have Agent Steel for a bit of comedy.
Seriously, I'm jealous as fuck of anybody who gets to go to this.

Jealous, closest lineup I've seen to this in the UK was this year's dominion fest and it folded with only 5% of tickets sold.

You being in the United Arab Emirates (at least according to your profile), why is going to Europe feasible while going to America is not?

Just a random question, lol.

Oh cool Solitude Aeturnus is back

whaaaatt???

You have. In HighwayCorsair's never-ending quest to get on my nerves, he bumped his old thread about last year's fest instead of my thread about the upcoming one : viewtopic.php?f=1&t=139302

Easier to get a Schengen visa.
Shorter flight + significantly cheaper.
I've done it before (WOA 2005, WOA 2007, Hammer of Doom 2011) so kinda know what to expect from a European fest.
To a lesser extent, not particularly keen on being a brown muslim guy travelling to a post Trump Texas.

Top sets for those who went? I was expecting to not care for Tate-less Queensryche but my goodness what a vocal performance by Todd. Loved it. Demolition Hammer pit was hilarious. What a weekend.

Americans have such cool metal festivals, enjoy them while you can bros.

Kind of hard to narrow it down due to the sheer number of amazing sets, but I'd say Queensryche, Savage Oath, Eternal Champion, Blood Star and Solitude Aeternus. There weren't many disappointments for me out of the 32 sets I caught.

I went to this for the first time this year and let me say....what a great festival. I did invest in the VIP tickets so I used the extra amenities, but it would have been awesome even without it.

No dud sets for me either. I mostly did the outdoor stage, but did see Savage Oath, Destructor, Intranced, Stygian Crown, Lamp Of Murrmuur and Darvaza inside and they were all good to excellent.

I can say the set with the most crowd energy that I saw was Demolition Hammer. They fucking killed, and the crowd was VERY into them. Sodom got people moving as well. My personal favorite set was Solitude Aeturnus, who were flawless and had a great setlist. Also enjoyed Cirith Ungol, Watchtower, Omen, Queensryche, Helstar (twice) and of course Candlemass.

Autopsy got screwed because a storm rolled in right after Doro finished and they evacuated the grounds. By the time everyone got back in they had to cut set times down. Chris said they were going to play the whole Severed Survival record, but ended up only getting through the first eight songs on the album before having to stop. Candlemass lost a song and a half as well. They tried to get through Under The Oak at the end but the sound was cut off at exactly 10pm. Those were the only downers of the weekend for me, and that was out of anyone's control.

Will definitely return next year if the lineup is anywhere near this good.

I went. Sodom crushed at the end and was the perfect end to the weekend. My only chance to see them.

I was bummed Agent Steel canceled but Helstar managed a decent tribute with Juan Garcia coming out and them pounding out "Agents of Steel" at full speed.

It was also incredible to finally see Doro and Cirith Ungol in the flesh. Great setlists.

Nite were also excellent but maybe should have been put indoors rather than in the bright sunshine of 1pm.

All in all, super unique experience for America. It would be very difficult for many of these bands to tour and come anywhere neath me without a festival like this.

I'm not the biggest Rÿche fan but I do love the EP. Todd was insane, to the point where I even second-guessed myself and went "wait, that's not Tate, isn't he in Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche now, WTF is happening" He even nailed all of Tate's subtleties from the EP, it was eerie.

Favourite sets were Candlemass, Early Moods, Traveler, Cauchemar, Solitude Aeturnus, Rotting Christ and Sodom.

Bummer about the interruptions on Thursday Shit happens.

Also, James Rivera is a treasure.

Sounds kind of ominous. Are you predicting our hard times ahead for us?

No no, it was more of a wish, these bands aren't going to play forever so enjoy them while they play live shows. I seriously doubt that the USA is going to get tougher than Milei's Argentina.

I see. Maybe playing music will keep them sharp and they will stick with it.

Best fest I've ever been to, I think!

Favorite: 'ryche
Coolest: Solitude Aeturnus
Highlight from younger bands: Wytch Hazel and Early Moods
Best cape: Helstar (sorry, Toddryche!)
Most violent pit: Demolition Hammer
Band I expected to actually see live the least but showed up and was great: Sodom
Best band I'd already seen before but was still mega into: Candlemass

Had a great time, can't wait for next year!