THE SHADOW WOODS METAL FESTIVAL

 

We received an e-mail yesterday about a new U.S. metal festival that really peaked my interest, initially because of the stellar array of bands in the line-up and then for other reasons as well. Somehow it managed to elude my all-seeing eyes, which I suppose just proves that I’m often asleep at the switch. The name of the event is The Shadow Woods Metal Festival. and it will take place on September 25-27, 2015.

You can see what I mean about the line-up from the flyer above (click the image to enlarge it). It includes lots of bands we’ve praised at this site, including Midnight, Falls of Rauros, Occultation, Menace Ruine, Velnias, Anagnorisis, The Flight of Sleipnir, Hivelords, Dendritic Arbor, Anicon, Fin, Unsacred, The Black Moriah, and ZUD, plus 20 more bands. I’m including details about the entire line-up at the end of this post.

(Sadly, one of the bands, Wormreich, was devastated by a fatal van accident on Monday of this week, though their place in the festival line-up has been preserved.)

What sets this apart from most metal fests in the U.S. is that it’s an open-air and camping festival, and it’s set at the Mountain Lake Summer Camp in Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. The music will run on two alternating stages on Friday and Saturday. According to the press release:

Camping and workshops on topics such as runes, guitar maintenance, yoga and more will be offered and are included in the ticket price. Artists and record labels will be vending alongside several onsite food stands. Shadow Woods Metal Fest is BYOB and age restricted to 21+. To keep the fest intimate, only 350 tickets will be sold, and the fest is already 1/3 sold out. Tickets are $92 (plus a 99 cent processing fee). A limited number of group cabins will also be available.

“The U.S. has big fests like Coachella that involve camping, but they don’t feature any bands I want to see,” said lead organizer Mary Spiro who runs the Metallomusikum.com blog and who books shows in Baltimore, MD. “We also have great metal fests like Maryland Deathfest and Martydoom, but those events happen on parking lots or inside of venues. I wanted to experience the music I loved in a more aesthetically pleasing environment.”

The press release also states that the property where the festival will take place includes six cabins that can hold up to 12 adults each, a lodge, electricity, indoor plumbing, a professional kitchen, and a cafeteria, and it’s located adjacent to a swimmable lake. Attendees can also stay off site in a hotel in one of the neighboring towns.

The festival is being co-hosted with Metallomusikum by Lokvlt Productions in Philadelphia, WinterForge Promotions in Pittsburgh, Leftover Pizza Productions in Frederick, MD, and Slimehole/Strange Matter in Richmond, VA.

Official sponsors for the festival include include Baltimore’s Grimoire Records and MusicfortheDead.com. The press release says that additional sponsorship opportunities are available and provided this e-mail for details:

contact@shadowwoodsmetalfest.com

Other links are below, followed by info about all the bands.

http://shadowwoodsmetalfest.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shadowwoodsmetalfest

http://youtu.be/qdtYYeUH3gc

 

Official Lineup:

Anagnorisis (Louisville, KY)
–American Black Metal; unsigned
http://www.anagnorisis.com/

Anicon (New York, NY)
–black metal; unsigned
https://anicon.bandcamp.com/

Ashagal (New Hope, PA)
–Ritual folk; unsigned
http://www.ashagal.net/

Bridesmaid (Columbus, OH)
–Instrumental Doom-Sludge; unsigned
https://bridesmaid.bandcamp.com/album/breakfast-at-riffanys

Cladonia Rangiferina (Virginia)
— ritual black metal, doom, acid rock; unsigned
https://www.facebook.com/reindeermoss

Dendritic Arbor (Pittsburgh, PA)
–black metal + powerviolence; Grimoire Records
https://dendriticarbors.bandcamp.com/album/sylvan-matriarch

Destroying Angel (Philadelphia, PA)-
–Folk music for exorcisms; unsigned
https://destroyingangel.bandcamp.com/

Dreadlords (Philadelphia, PA)
–Ritual black metal blues; Not Just Religious Music
https://dreadlords.bandcamp.com/

Dweller in the Valley (Frederick, MD)
–Black, death, doom; Grimoire Records
https://dwellerinthevalley.bandcamp.com/

Existentium (Baltimore, MD)
–melodic technical death metal; unsigned
https://existentium.bandcamp.com/album/decadent-desecration

Falls of Rauros (Portland, ME)
–folk/atmospheric black metal; Bindrune Recordings
https://fallsofrauros.bandcamp.com/

Fin (Chicago, IL)
–black metal; unsigned
https://www.facebook.com/pages/FIN/287496941295269

Heavy Temple (Philadelphia, PA)
–psychedelic doom; Vàn Records
https://heavytemple.bandcamp.com/

Hivelords (Philadelphia, PA)
— experimental psychedelic black doom; Anthropic Records
https://hivelords.bandcamp.com/

Immortal Bird (Chicago, IL)
–black/death metal; unsigned
https://immortalbird.bandcamp.com/

Iron Man (MD)
–doom metal/heavy rock; Rise Above Records
http://www.riseaboverecords.com/artists/riseaboveartists/ironman/

Menace Ruine (Montreal, Quebec)
–avant-garde drone black metal; Profound Lore Records
https://menaceruine.bandcamp.com/

Midnight (Cleveland, Ohio)
–Black heavy metal; Hells Headbangers Records
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight/87909491643

Molasses Barge (Pittsburgh, PA)
Traditional doom metal; Innervenus Music Collective
https://www.facebook.com/molassesbargedoom

Occultation (New York, NY)
–doom metal; Profound Lore Records
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occultation/127574070630828?fref=ts

Oneirogen (New York, NY)
— dark, doom, drone; Denovali, Shinkoyo
https://oneirogenvoid.bandcamp.com/

Psalm Zero (New York, NY)
–experimental black doom; Profound Lore Records
https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-drain

Sentience (Woodland Park, NJ)
–death metal; unsigned
https://sentiencedeathmetal.bandcamp.com/

Slagstorm (Hagerstown, MD)
–prehistoric doom thrash; unsigned
https://www.facebook.com/tarpit.of.doom

Snakefeast (Baltimore, MD)
–jazz metal sludge; Grimoire Records
https://snakefeast.bandcamp.com/

Stone Breath (Red Lion, PA)
–experimental folk; Hand/Eye Records
https://stonebreath.bandcamp.com/music

The Black Moriah (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
Western occult black/thrash; Southern Casket
http://www.theblackmoriah.com/

The Day of the Beast (Virginia Beach, VA)
–blackened death metal; unsigned
https://thedayofthebeast.bandcamp.com/album/the-day-of-the-beast

The Expanding Man (Baltimore, MD)
–solo improvisational electronic soundscapes; unsigned
https://soundcloud.com/theexpandingman/sets/pyramid-ep

The Flight of Sleipnir (Denver, CO)
–black metal; Napalm Records
http://www.theflightofsleipnir.com/news.html

The Owls Are Not What They Seem (York, PA)
–experimental ritual soundscapes; Eleventh Key
https://bleakvastness.bandcamp.com/

Tyrant’s Hand (Baltimore, MD)
–deathened black metal; Music For The Dead
https://tyrantshand.bandcamp.com/album/dystopia

Unsacred (Richmond, VA)
–savage black metal; Forcefield Records
http://forcefieldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/false-light

Velnias (Denver, CO)
–blackened folk/doom metal; Pesanta Urfolk
https://www.facebook.com/VelniasCult

Wormreich (Huntsville, AL & Nashville, TN)
–black metal; Moribund Records
https://www.facebook.com/wormreichofficial

ZUD (Portland, ME)
–bluesy outlaw black metal; unsigned
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZUD/572368749452852