Nov 292019
 

 

Our site obviously isn’t an all-purpose outlet for metal news. We almost never post announcements of tours, festivals, line-up changes, or even forthcoming albums (unless there’s an advance track we like that we can share in a new-music round-up). We get dozens of such announcements in our in-box every day, and even if all we did was copy/paste those things into our page, there wouldn’t be time to do much else. Plus, there are tons of other sites out there which do the newsy copy/paste thing. Why would anyone need one more?

Having said that, the last few weeks have brought a flood of enticing 2020 festival announcements, and I thought it would be worth making a slight exception to our usual decision-making and collect some of those here today. Still, this collection isn’t intended to be comprehensive — most of what I’ve picked will take place in North America — nor is my memory photographic, so I’m sure someone will be irritated that we left them out. Apologies in advance.

ASCENSION FESTIVAL ICELAND

I’ve already expounded at length about how much I loved the first edition of Ascension Festival Iceland, which I attended earlier this year. Definitely one of the best festival experiences I’ve ever had — maybe THE best — and a fantastic successor to the Oration festivals that preceded it. All respect and appreciation to Stephen Lockhart and his partner Edda for making it happen — and even more gratitude and respect to them for bringing back Ascension for round two next year. Continue reading »

Nov 182017
 

 

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley, and sometimes they’re just naturally daft and glazed, which is a good description of myself this morning.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s round-up, I’m now deep in the heart of Texas for a high school reunion tonight, and spent last night catching up with some old friends over a bottle of whisky. I then slept 11 hours, which I don’t think I’ve done since the year of my high school graduation. And so, this Saturday round-up includes fewer items than I had originally planned.

MIGRATION FEST

The first Migration Fest (organized by Gilead Media and 20 Buck Spin), which took place in Olympia, Washington, in August 2016 was fantastic. The next one is now set for July 27-29, 2018, at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And this morning the festival announced the first round of confirmed bands: Continue reading »

Aug 142016
 

Capitol Theater-Day Two

 

This is the second part of a three-part recap of the first Migration Fest in Olympia, Washington. For the first installment, covering the pre-fest show on August 11 and Day One on August 12, go here.

The first day of Migration Fest proved to be a very strong start to what I selfishly hope will become an annual tradition. If anything, Day Two topped it, in large part on the strength of a history-making performance by Saturday’s headliner — Panopticon — that was simply stunning.

At the end of this post I’ve embedded five videos from Panopticon’s 90-minute set, and I’ve got one video of Vastum in here, too. By tomorrow, I also plan to update this post (and yesterday’s recap of Day One) with videos of additional bands. For now, I’m including the best of my crappy cellphone photos, and some words of course. Continue reading »

Aug 132016
 

Migration Fest poster

 

Here I am on a gorgeous Saturday morning in Olympia, Washington, still pinching myself to make sure what I’ve been experiencing isn’t some kind of fantasy (or more likely, incipient dementia). Yesterday was the first day of Migration Fest, and the night before that was the unofficial start of the party with a three-band pre-fest show. In a nutshell, it’s been an absolute blast so far. More words (and amateurish photos) to follow.

This is, of course, the first edition of what by all rights should become a never-ending tradition, a labor of love jointly organized by Adam at Gilead Media and Dave at 20 Buck Spin, with support from a whole bunch of their tireless friends and family members. They assembled a stellar line-up of bands, and based on what I’ve seen so far (at least from a fan perspective), they’ve been executing on the plan like a well-oiled machine. Continue reading »

Feb 092016
 

Migration Fest-panopticon

 

In late January we very excitedly spread the word about an official announcement we’d been waiting on for months — that two of America’s most respected underground labels, Gilead Media and 20 Buck Spin, would be collaborating to present a metal festival on August 12-14, 2016, in Olympia, Washington: the first Migration Fest. And today we bring you more tremendously exciting news: The festival headliners will include the first-ever live performance of Panopticon.

Migration Fest’s official announcement follows, along with a statement by Panopticon’s Austin Lunn about his decision, at long last, to perform Panopticon’s music live, the people who will be on stage with him, and some other interesting news….

Also below, we’re including the festival’s announcement about when early-bird passes for the fest will go on sale .

Continue reading »

Jan 262016
 

Migration Fest 2016

 

Today brought an official announcement I’ve been waiting on for months, ever since hearing early hints that it would be happening: Two of America’s best underground labels — Gilead Media and 20 Buck Spin — are collaborating to present a metal festival on August 12-14, 2016, in Olympia, Washington — the first (and we hope not the last) Migration Fest.

The initial line-up of confirmed bands announced today is, in a word, fantastic. It primarily showcases bands from each label’s roster, but also includes “other affiliated and respected artists, highlighting the distinct and contrasting styles that makes each label stand out”. Check this out:

Auroch
The Body & Krieg collaborative performance
Christian Mistress
Dead To A Dying World
False
Fórn
Full Of Hell
Khemmis Continue reading »