Review for Friday:

Went and picked up this guy, Jon, from the Century Tedium message board after I got off work and then we headed on up to Milwaukee. We got there around 4pm and checked into the hotel and were drinking some beer because we were thirsty. Then got a hold of Stooper and said we were on our way over to the venue and that we would meet up once we got there.

We didn't have tickets yet, I was going to get mine from Disinter, but they didn't get their tickets until the day of the show. Well, anyway on the way over to the venue I saw my friends from Reprobation and Bound and Gagged. And they had tickets for sale and we bought them from them for only $25. Fuck Ticketbastard and actually paying full price for Metalfest.

Had no problem with bringing in my camera this year and went right on in to the main arena. I saw Rev Jim Jones right away and talked to him for a little bit. Me and my friend split up and I went and bought a bunch of CDs from Rich(United Guttural/Fleshgrind).

Stooper called me up and I could hardly hear him but we eventually met up with each other right after that. Saw my other friend again and we all walked back to the hotel to drink some beer because it was expensive at the venue($4.50). We had to be back to the venue by 6pm so we chugged down a few brewskis pretty quick.

Macabre was going to be playing soon so we went to the stage they were going to be playing at and I introduced Stooper to the Rev. Like, Stooper said, we had our picture taken. Again only 3 Covenites were there. We need to get more Covenites to come and party with us.

Macabre didn't sound as good as the last time I saw them when they opened up for St. Vitus at the Double Door. They played a few new songs from the forthcoming Murder Metal album, they also played: Dog Guts, The Hitchiker, the Nightstalker, and Albert Fish in which they had someone dressed up as Albert Fish on stage.

After Macabre played I went upstairs with Rich and ate some free lasagna in the area for the band members. While we were there, Don Decker of Anal Blast, started talking to Rich about their time slot. They were arguing with each other and they finally worked it out.

Bands that I saw later on in the night were, Mistweaver,Asgaroth,Windir,Enslaved,Naglfar, Summer Dying, and Screaming Afterbirth. They all were pretty damn good with Windir being my favorite one of them all. Once Ice T and Body Count came on I left. Met up with my friend Jon after that and we headed back over to the hotel. We went and partied with the guys from Deadspeak and Throcult until 3am.

Review for Saturday:

I woke up around 11am and went to the mall next door to get fresh batteries for my camera in case I needed them and then I went over to the venue so that I could see Deadspeak. I got there in time to only here one song by them and they sounded good. Up next on the stage next to them was Exit to Eternity from New York. They play progressive thrash metal and they were pretty good too! I went into the main arena and saw my friends from Reprobation play. They play chunky, death metal from Chicago. They played some new songs that they are working on. There wasn't that many people there this early in the day. But the few people watching them liked them.

Well, there really wasn't any other bands that I wanted to see for another couple of hours so I bought some more CDs and went back to the hotel. Started drinking beer again and went and got some lunch from Quizno's and brought it back to the hotel room. Took a nap for a little bit to rest up for the rest of the day.

Went back over to the venue around 4pm and saw Dreamscapes of the Perverse from North Carolina play. They play epic black metal ala Dimmu Borgir, etc. They had a pretty good crowd watching them and they sounded good. I ended up buying their CD later on in the night.

Next bands I saw after that was a little bit of Anal Blast's set and some of Mutilated's set. Both bands really didn't impress me that much. I was waiting for Fleshgrind who played on the stage next to Anal Blast right after they were done.

Fleshgrind were having problems with their guitar so they didn't sound as good as I've seen them before. I was surprised that they started off their set with Holy Pedophile from their demo back in 1993. I was glad they played it though because it's my favorite song by them. They played the title track, Murder Without End, from the new album. They played a few more songs and then when they were done, Rich jumped out into the crowd and bodysurfed.

By 6pm the place was getting packed for Skinless. They had a huge crowd for them. Sherwood, their singer, would walk over to the stage next to them and sing from there. He did this a few times throughout their set because so many people were there. The crowd was totally into them and there was a big pit during their set.

I saw a little bit of Dying Fetus and Misery Index who played after Skinless but they didn't have as big a crowd that Skinless had. After they played then there was another couple hours before any band that I wanted to see play. So, I just walked around and got something to eat and more beer. Then went and sat down in the main arena for a little while.

Saw Fallen Empire from Arkansas play at 9pm. They play symphonic black metal sort of like the Dimmu Borgir style. I should have picked up their CD because I liked them a lot. Oh well, I can always order it online somewhere. Oh yeah, I checked out Silencer and Tenebrae before Fallen Empire came on. They were both OK.

I watched some of The Mentors set but their just not the same without El Duce(RIP). After they played, Vesperian Sorrow from Austin,TX came on and played. They play melodic black metal and have two keyboard players in their band. These guys are really good and it was the first time that I have ever seen them play live. They played the title track from their Psychotic Sculpture CD and a few new tunes that they are working on. They had a good crowd for them and they seemed to like them. They tossed out some shirts and CDs but I didn't nab any.

I caught a little bit of Bloodstorm's set and they sounded good. I've seen them before so that's why I didn't watch their whole set because Vesperian Sorrow was playing at the same time as them. And I wanted to see Vesperian Sorrow.

Next band that I watched was my friends from Disinter. This is the last year for them playing Milwaukee Metalfest because after this December they are calling it quits. Their working on new material and will head into the studio in September to record their final album. There were a lot of people there watching their set, mainly fellow Chicagoans. They played, "Welcome to Oblivion", "Demonic Portraiture", "The First and Last in Battle", plus a few new songs.

I then checked out some of Nuclear Assault's set. John Connelly, singer/guitar, was down below in front of the barricade for a couple of songs. And then hew went back up on stage. They were really good and had a big crowd for them. Vital Remains was next and Glen Benton came out wearing a hockey mask with an upside down cross on it. There were a lot of people there watching them and I only stuck around for the first few songs. Then I went over to the other stages and watched Forest of Implaed play. Surprisingly there were quite a few people there to watch them considering that Vital Remains was playing at the same time as them. These guys are really good and I picked up their newest release, Forward the Spears.

I then watched my friends from Bound and Gagged play. There weren't many people there to see them because everybody was in the main arena for Suffocation. Mike Crothers,singer, jumped out into what little crowd there was and was moshing. Then he jumped back on stage and was moshing all around and stomping all over the place that one of the sound guys came over and started yelling for security. He stomped right out of there and left.

Suffocation were pretty damn good. They played a new song, Deceit. They plan on entering the studio in December/January to record the new album. They also played, "Effigy of the Forgotten, and "Pierced from Within". I don't remember what else they played but it was a good set.

Well, even though Metalfest seems to be getting worse each year, I still enjoy meeting new friends and seeing old ones again too. It was great meeting up with Stooper and seeing the Rev once again. See ya again in 2004, unless I can afford to go to Wacken next year.