Countdown to MDF X: (48) Macabre

If you like true crime, serial killers and Grimm's fairy tales AND you also love metal, then Macabre is your band.

Hailing from Chicago, this clever trio includes Corporate Death (Lance Lencioni) on guitars, vocals, Nefarious (Charles Lescewicz) on bass guitar, vocals, and Dennis the Menace (Dennis Ritchie) on drums. They have been putting out recordings since 1987.

Some gore metal bands like to use music styles like grindcore to frame their horrific lyrical content. Macabre does this too, but they are also just as likely to use more minstrel-like tunes with some clean singing and more traditional song structures. Their lyrics are generally based on true events and historical facts. Macabre's most recent album, Grim Scary Tales, recounts murderous exploits through the centuries beginning with the Emperor Nero, Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), Hungarian serial killer Elizabeth Bathory, New Englander accused of killing her parents Lizzie Borden, French serial killer Joseph Vacher (aka the Killer of Little Shepherds) and German serial killer Carl Großmann, among others.

Macabre do not limit themselves to metal but freely blend folk, punk, thrash, acoustic and just about whatever styles they want as they see fit. The musical talent is evident throughout and the vocals are strong and harmonious. They even have an entire collection of campfire songs that should be in every astute child's record collection. Macabre Minstrels: Morbid Campfire Songs, released in 2002, includes their charming version of that well known children's song that all we had to sing in elementary school, "The Cat Came Back," as well as many other classics such as "Tom Dooley" and a bluegrass song about the Ed Gein family. Seriously, I am not making this up. Think of Burl Ives with a really sick, sick sense of humor.

Friday afternoon at the Maryland Deathfest with Macabre should be very interesting indeed. I'm going to prepare for a sing-a-long.

Countdown to MDF X: (49) Demigod

Demigod's Friday appearance at the Maryland Deathfest reportedly will be their second to last show ever, EVER. (Their last show will be in June in their home country of Finland at the Tuska Festival in Helsinki.) But who knows for sure? Demigod has a record for breaking up and reuniting over their 22 year history. Why should we believe them?

Assuming that this actually will be one of their last shows, then, according to the band's website, attendees at MDF should prepare to be treated to a nostalgic retrospective of music from Demigod's most acclaimed recordings: Slumber of Sullen Eyes and Unholy Domain. "Slumber" made Terrorizer magazine's list of 40 death metal albums you must hear. Once you hear it, you will agree.

The group's current members include Tuomas Ala-Nissilä - Vocals, Jussi Kiiski - Guitars, Tuomas Karppinen - Guitars, Sami Vesanto - Bass and Tuomo Latvala - Drums. I am not going to bore you with descriptions. Just listen to this shit--it kicks so much ass on so many levels. Go to MDF! Heck, go to Tuska and see Demigod before they go away forever (or not)!

Countdown to MDF X: (50) Today is the Day

I have never been so excited to see a band live I have never listened to until today. But then again today is the day that you will like Today is the Day, also.

Originally from Nashville, members of Today is the Day include founding member Steve Austin, lead vocals, guitars (since 1992); Ryan Jones, bass (since 2010) and Curran Reynolds, drums, percussion (since 2010). Note: As of March 19, Ryan Jones is now also the bassist for Mutilation Rites, so I don't know what that means for MDF. The band has also featured Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher, now members of Mastodon, and Derek Roddy, who has played with such notable  bands as Nile, Malevolent Creation and Hate Eternal. Their appearance at the Maryland Deathfest on Friday afternoon represents 20 years since the band came into existence.

I quickly discovered that there is no easy way to categorize this band's sound. One song can be thrashy and punkish, the next can be experimental and noisy, the next  melodic and melancholy. There is no doubt they will put on an intense, mosh pit inducing set, I just could not speculate as to what tunes they might play. A friend pointed out that Today is the Day reminded him of a grindcore version of The Melvins and he's sort of right. Both groups have shared the same record label, Amphetamine Reptile. But I would not say Today is the Day is simply grindcore. It there was a metal subgenre called experimental-awesome-core then maybe that is what they are.

Today is the Day seems to play by the rule that there are no rules. They play what they want, or what Steve Austin dreams up, and that works out just fine. If you have never heard them before, go in with an open mind and don't think death metal, or progressive, or grind or whatever. Just think that today is the day you hear a band you will never forget.

I've included three songs here, just so you can appreciate the range and diversity that is Today is the Day.