In the beginning, there was Milwaukee Metal Fest. Its initial run from 1987 to 2004 became the stuff of legend. Metalheads travelled from near and far to attend, as if it were a rite of passage. In many ways, it was. As a young headbanger who came of age in the ’10s, my metal youth was filled with tales of this storied festival from elder metallists. So you could only imagine the shock of myself and everyone around me when in 2022, Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta unveiled plans to reboot the iconic event. Having attended the inaugural redux of MMF in 2023, there was no way I was going to miss this year’s edition, especially with yet another stacked bill. As was the tagline for this year’s affair, we were “back for more in ’24” (Ratt not included). Here’s how it all went down…
DAY 1 -FRIDAY, MAY 17
Bewitcher
Since I was not on hand for the pre-party festivities that ensued the night before, my MMF ’24 kicked off at roughly 3:20 PM at the second biggest of the event’s three stages, The Rave. And what better way to get things started than with none other than blackened speed blasphemers, Bewitcher? Despite the release of a brand new single entitled “Starfire Maelstrom”, Bewitcher kept it simple for their all too brief 25 minute set, opting to storm through a set of “golden oldies”. Even though it feels just like yesterday, its been 8 years since Bewitcher released their now classic self titled debut. Cuts like “Bewitcher”, “Sin Is in Her Blood”, and “Speed ’til You Bleed” have reached anthem status, and rightfully so. Indeed, “The curse of the Bewitcher” had Milwaukee in a chokehold and set the stage for a nonstop weekend.
Nunslaughter
Enshrouded by an ominous crimson light and flanked by two inverted crosses, first generation death metallers Nunslaughter were next. These devils weren’t just hellbent on taking the youthful Rave audience back to an era before death metal was strictly defined by gravity blasts, slamming breakdowns, and Cookie Monster vocals, but unleashing pure hell itself. Led by founding frontman Don of the Dead (Thanks to King Fowley for that sick nickname!), the band followed Bewitcher’s lead, making the most of their limited set time and assaulting the audience with an all killer, no killer set of diabolical ragers. They are death, death is Nunslaughter. Also, yes, I purposely used a blurred, out of focus shot for this one to emphasize the chaos of the music. Have fun getting your OCD under control.
Visigoth
Oh Eagles Ballroom you acoustically challenged shell of a concert venue, we meet again. Admittedly, this room has ALWAYS sounded bad. With the right amount of magic, the best sound technician in the world could make it sound OK at best. Unfortunately, these shaky acoustics greatly impacted what was an otherwise victorious set from US power metallers Visigoth. One of the premiere traditional metal acts of the past decade, Visigoth had the crowd chanting and pumping their fists in triumphant jubilation, setting the tone for what was an almost exclusively power/prog metal lineup on the main stage. Hopefully the next time I catch Visigoth, frontman Jake Rogers’ operatic vocals will be more audible and the mix will be clearer.
Eternal Champion
By the time epic metal barbarians Eternal Champion took the stage, my friends and I figured that the sound quality of the Eagles Ballroom varied depending on which spot we stood. That said, it was a matter of trial and error. We spent the better part of Eternal Champion’s first couple songs moving around, trying to find which pocket suited us best before settling on the upper right side of the stage. Once settled, we were treated to some top shelf epic metal that went hand in hand with Visigoth who played beforehand. Having seen Eternal Champion once before at the Legions of Metal festival, it was cool to see them again, this time playing to an even larger crowd. Now if only Jasta would book their melodic metal offshoot, Sumerlands…
Overkill
After finishing The Marcocito from the Marco Pollo food truck in record time (Adam Richman of Man vs. Food infamy would’ve blushed), it was off to the Eagles yet again to mosh off my meal with my favorite thrash band of all time, Overkill. I was really curious how this legendary outfit would tackle their 40 minute set time. I secretly hoped for a surprise all ’80s set, but was still pleased by what we did receive: Half new school, half old school. This is a band still riding high on their early ’10s resurgence, and it showed by the inclusion of “Electric Rattlesnake” and “Ironbound” alongside new cuts “Scorched” and “The Surgeon”. Repping the old school were “Elimination”, “Hello from the Gutter”, “Rotten to the Core”, and the obligatory “Fuck You”. 40 years later and they STILL don’t care what you say!
Symphony X
If nothing more, Symphony X rightfully hold the title for the classiest band on this year’s Milwaukee Metal Fest lineup. This is a band who comes off as refined compared to the already refined power metal crop that made up this year’s Friday itinerary! Whereas nearly every band on the bill had a rowdy mosh pit, or at the very least mass headbanging, Symphony X’s audience consisted of mind-blown metallists who could only stand still in awe of the band’s virtuosic musicianship. I’m specifically referring to the six string heroics of Mr. Michael Romeo, who may very well be the greatest neoclassical player on the planet since Yngwie Malmsteen. As strange of a booking as this was for MMF, I found myself pleasantly surprised and encouraged to explore these prog/power veterans further in depth.
Doro
Despite having been a Doro fan from the age of 10 on, I never got around to catching the Queen of Metal live. For whatever reason or another, every time she came through town, I was either busy, on vacation, away at college, or some other senseless excuse. That all changed last Friday. For this set, I made sure to muscle my way up right against the barrier and I’m sure glad that I did. With a setlist that consisted largely of Warlock classics, Doro easily stole the show for MMF day 1. Not only did a heavy dose of Teutonic nostalgia strike at the collective audience’s very metal heart, but so did a high energy performance and an all star band featuring none other than Savatage’s Chris Caffery on guitars. When pressed on the status of Savatage’s forthcoming final album, Curtain Call, Caffery replied, “It’ll be out when it’s ready.”
Autopsy
I really gotta hand it to Jasta on the booking side of things this year. It’s as if (with the exception of Sunday) he eyed my Last.FM page and said, “Yeah, let’s make that the fest lineup.” Booking my favorite thrash band of all time in Overkill was one thing. Booking my favorite death metal band and getting them to play a setlist centered around their greatest album on the same day? Unthinkable. And yet that’s exactly what happened when Autopsy unleashed a crushing Severed Survival set on the Rave stage. With guitars cranked up to 666 and Chris Reifert sounding feral as ever, the death metal OGs channeled the “Critical Madness” of their initial MMF appearance 35 years earlier. Yours truly absolutely lost it to the likes of “Ridden with Disease”, “Charred Remains”, and the title track, as did many other mutants who prefer their death metal on the gross and true side.
Blind Guardian
Rounding out MMF ’24 day 1 was none other than euro power metal legends, Blind Guardian. Having last graced our shores 8 years earlier, the anticipation was high and could be felt from the moment they took the stage. With a setlist consisting of fan favorites and selections from their latest opus, The God Machine, the only band I’ve ever seen that I could compare Blind Guardian to is Iron Maiden. The interaction with the crowd, from the singing along to the chanting to the humming of the guitar riffs, was so outright glorious. Even the most hardened of headbangers in attendance couldn’t help but throw down to the power folk metal romp of “Mirror Mirror”. All hail Hansi!
DAY 2 – SATURDAY, MAY 18
Morbikon
Remember earlier this week when I said I prefer Municipal Waste offshoots to the actual band? Morbikon is one such case. Featuring bassist Landphil and drummer Dave Witte, Morbikon specializes in ’90s blackened thrash in the vein of Nifelheim and Absu, and do an incredible job at such. After catching them on their co-headline run with Early Moods last month, I had to catch them again, even if for yet another ultra brief 20 minute set. As much as people complain about these minimal set times that have been a staple of MMF going back to the early days, I see it as an opportunity for the band to waste no time and fight even harder, which is exactly what Morbikon did.
Skinless
Those most familiar with my personal tastes are probably shocked to know that I stood through a Skinless set. Admittedly, I’ve always been a casual fan at best and was more there for my buddy who LOVES this band. However, I’d be lying if I said the mutant in me didn’t get down to the brutal riffage, gut-churning gutturals, and samples ranging from the horrific to the absurd. As one of the many alumni of MMF past, Skinless played it smart and delivered the goods, storming through a setlist exclusively consisting of songs off their first two albums, Progression Towards Evil (1998) and Foreshadowing Our Demise (2001). For a mere 30 minutes, life DIDN’T suck…but we did die.
Soilent Green
Now at some point along the way, the stage times, that had already been slightly pushed up at the 11th hour, fell slightly behind schedule. This happened Friday as well, but was not nearly as prevalent of an issue as it was on Saturday, especially on The Rave stage. As a result, I was only able to catch roughly half of one of the fest’s most anticipated sets, the Soilent Green reunion. Featuring members of Crowbar and Goatwhore, many assumed this reunion would take place at last year’s edition as both bands were on the bill. That said, better late than never! The sludge-grind supergroup unleashed their signature brand of murky chaos as if they hadn’t missed a beat since they last played a decade earlier. I just wish I could’ve caught more, because there was no way I was missing a minute of…
Terrorizer
Rejoice! Morbid Angel’s grindcore offshoot, Terrorizer, are back from the dead yet again! I’ve lost count how many times this band has split and regrouped in the last 35+ years, but at least this time around they’ve got David Vincent back in the fold, albeit solely playing bass. The vocals were left to former Vital Remains frontman Brian Werner, who did a rather proficient job growling his way through the band’s debut masterpiece, World Downfall (1989). The star of the show, without question, was founding drummer Pete Sandoval, who blasts with the same intensity and firepower today as he did decades ago. This is no easy task for a drummer half his age. At 60, we should all bow down to this legend.
Possessed
It was the buildup to death metal forefathers Possessed’s set that the disparity in set times REALLY became apparent. There was a half hour gap between they and Death to All who proceeded them. A half hour should be more than enough time for a crew to assemble a stage setup for a band playing a roughly half hour set. And yet come 7 PM, the members of Possessed waited in the wings as the crew continued to take an additional 20 minutes putting everything together. Thankfully, there were no clashing bands for me to worry about, but I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a bit discouraging. Nevertheless, Possessed took the stage and unleashed their signature brand of death metal circa ’85. Yeah, that’s right, DEATH METAL, not thrash like some of you revisionist Gen Z dorks would like to believe. The highlights, unsurprisingly, were “The Exorcist” and “Death Metal”, which had the entire crowd snapping their necks in rejoice.
Deicide
The similarity between Deicide and Doro? I’ve been listening to both most of my life and had never seen either up until MMF ’24. The similarities end there. Hot on the heels of a new album, good ol’ GB (as J-Dawg likes to call him) and the gang treated the Milwaukee horde to an almost exclusively old school set. With all due respect to the band’s latter day material, if I’m going to be catching Deicide live, THIS is the setlist I wanted to hear. “Once Upon the Cross”, “Sacrificial Suicide”, “In Hell I Burn”…the list goes on and on. It would be really cool to see the band tour a setlist of this nature, because yet again, I only caught roughly half of it due to the aforementioned delays. Another must see for me was…
Testament
I fully went into Testament’s set expecting a middle of the road, “play it safe” hit parade. This would’ve been fine by me. The band has enough bangers to keep a throng as large as that in the Eagles Ballroom thrashing nonstop. Little did I know the surprise that awaited me. After kicking it off with first track, first album opener in “Over the Wall”, Chuck Billy said, “That was the opening track off our debut album, The Legacy…which we’re going to play for you in full tonight.” Needless to say, the shitty cellphone pic you see above was the last thing yours truly saw before proceeding to mosh his teenaged thrasher heart out for every last song on that album. I’m still covered in bruises as I type this very review and I wouldn’t change a thing. This was hands down the best set of MMF ’24. Perhaps Jasta can invite them back next year for a playthrough of The New Order?
Mr. Bungle
Most events save the best for last. MMF ’24 saved the weirdest. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the Mike Patton Allstar Band AKA Mr. Bungle! Joined by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Patton and company delivered the musical equivalent of a schizophrenic breakdown that lie somewhere between thrashing death metal, avant-garde absurdity, and ’70s adult contemporary. Yes, you read that correctly. Who would’ve thought Slayer’s “Hell Awaits” could segue so easily into Seals & Crofts’ “Summer Breeze”? As someone who’s been listening to Patton since middle school, it was a thrill to finally see him alive in any capacity, even if with this unexpected supergroup.
Afterword
All in all, Milwaukee Metal Fest 2024 was an enjoyable experience. The perk for yours truly is having a lineup this stacked this close to home (75 minutes in good traffic). As for what could be improved, again, I’m not sure if any sound tech could save the Eagles Ballroom, but if there was one, it would probably be the incredible Ms. Cheyenne Brandt. Furthermore, schedules staying stuck to go a long way, especially in a festival environment. Perhaps for ’25 a backline would make things go easier? I found this especially strange considering there wasn’t a single instance of this in ’23, but I digress. These observations aside, it was a kickass weekend that would definitely make founder Jack Koshick proud. Thanks Jamey and company! We’ll see you next year!