The biggest celebration of Metal music accompanied by the best beer brands - The Decibel Magazine Metal and Beer Fest in Philly has been doing this for years now. This year was no exception, and April 4 and 5 was the days of celebration at The Fillmore. The lineup was stacked with Dismember and Exodus closing the 2 nights.
Day 1 started with Unholy Alter, Mother of Graves, and Maul. Vastum was next with death metal music blended with heavy lyrics and a great presence of the vocalist Daniel Butler. Next up, Darkest Hour brought in the molodic death metal on stage by performing one of their iconic albums - “Undoing Ruin”. The legendary grindcore band Pig Destroyer came next, blending noise, the poetic lyrics, with the essence of Thrash and hardcore punk. Finally, the audience got to witness one of Sweden's iconic big fours of death metal - Dismember. After a long hiatus, the band reunited in 2019, and for the audience in the US, it was a great opportunity to see them live performing their first album, “Like an Ever Flowing Stream”.
Day 2 kicked off with Vicious Blade, Funeral Leech, and Sonja. Philly’s very own Devil Master came next with a great stage presence not only for their music but the apprearance as well. Eternal Champion was next with heavy power metal music and visuals of old pulp movies in the background. Next up, it was NY’s iconic Thrash metal band - Demolition Hammer. Even though they disbanded between 1995 - 2016, the fans were too excited to see them live, and the band's energy transcended to the fans. Finally, it was one of the legends who shaped the Thrash Metal music and scene - Exodus. Tom Hunting on the drums, Gary Holt on the guitar, Lee Altus and Jack Gibson on the guitar and Bass, and Rob Dukes on the vocals made sure that the fesival has the biggest grand finale. The band performed their debut album “Bonded by Blood,” which also happens to be one of the important albums for the genre and fans could not ask for more.
It was a successful festival for 2 nights on April 4 and 5. We will also have to mention the great breweries who were present with an array of beers like 3 Floyds, WarPigs, New Trail, Nepenthe, Thin Man, and Attic. We even got to see Exodus hanging out at the Attic’s corner and interacting with the fans. Also, there was a pre-fest night on April 3, headed by the great Incantation, to kick off the fest. Overall, it was a great festival and we will definitely look forward to next year.
DAY 1
Dismember
Pig destroyer
Darkest hour
Vastum
Day 2
Exodus
Demolition Hammer
Eternal Champion
The Devil Master
