MetalSucks

On Sunday night we caught the Beard Destroyer 2009 tour with Hull and Batillus (sadly for us, Salome didn’t play that date). It crushed even harder than we thought it would, so we asked our friend, Batillus skinsman Geoff Summers, to do a tour wrap-up for us. We hope you enjoy!

So, here I sit with a mild case of PTD (post-tour depression) writing up this wrap report for the so-called Beard Destroyer tour featuring Salome, Hull, and my band, Batillus. We had some good times, and we had some bad times. It rained. A lot. Everywhere we went. Fortunately, though, the good dwarfed the bad. Let’s recap…

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At the beginning of the year I wrote a piece highlighting the sudden abundance of awesome metal festivals in the U.S.. Though our friends across the pond still retain an advantage in metal festivals in both number and size, 2009 saw a whole host of upstarts in the U.S.: Scion Rock Fest, L.A. Murderfest (in its 5th year), California MetalFest, Texas Metal Up Your Ass, Dudefest and of course long-established destinations such as Maryland Deathfest, New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and Dirtfest. SXSW and CMJ both made surprisingly strong showings for metal this year, too.

The party keeps on rolling into the fall with another brand new festival, Planet Caravan, to take place September 18th and 19th at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina. The lineup is headlined by Clutch and Pentagram, with Orange Goblin, Kylesa, Burst (!), Yob, Wino, Astra, and Revolution Mother rounding out the bill. I haven’t heard of Taddy Porter, Orchid, or Pick Up the Snake, but even if all 3 bands are terrible (highly unlikely) that’s still a fucking killer lineup!

MetalSucks is co-sponsoring the event so we’ll have more news as it’s available. Check out the press release and festival details after the jump.

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