NEW ENGLAND METAL AND HARDCORE FEST ANNOUNCES 2012 LINEUP, AND IT’S PRETTY SWEET
The full lineup for the 2012 edition of the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, now in its 13th year, has been announced… and it’s a doozy. The fest will once again span three days at Worcester, MA’s Palladium in April, those three days are once again roughly divided by metal sub-genre, and one of those is once again likely to piss off metal purists.
If you live in or near Massachusetts, attending this thing seems like a no-brainer; all these bands in one place in one weekend is gonna be the metal party of the year, even if you don’t necessarily like every single band. Where I get stuck is whether or not it’s worth the drive up from New York since most of these bands will have NYC tour stops in the days or weeks before and after NEMHF, and many of the bands will inevitably be touring together anyway. But damn, with all the great sponsors involved this year the ticket prices are very affordable, especially considering all the star-power involved. After the jump, the lineup!
Friday April 20th: THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, The Acacia Strain, Oceano, All Shall Perish, Nile, Skeletonwitch, Lionheart, Fleshgod Apocalypse, First Blood, Molotov Solution, The Contortionist, Reign Supreme, Conducting From The Grave, Fit For An Autopsy, Incendiary, Palehorse, Hour Of Penance, Legion and Relentless.
Saturday April 21st: SPECIAL GUEST HEADLINER (to be announced on January 2nd), Overkill, iwrestledabearonce, Protest the Hero, Periphery, Bane, Shipwreck, Cruel Hand, Aborted, Blackguard, The Mongoloids, Belgardor, System Divide, Naysayer, The Greenery, Diamond Plate, Rotting Out, Expire, Elitist, Trumpet The Harlot, Manners and Malefice
Sunday April 22nd: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE (as predicted by Axl), Every Time I Die, Vanna, For Today, Chelsea Grin, Sleeping Giant, Stick To Your Guns, Attila, On Broken Wings, Mychildren Mybride, For The Fallen Dreams, Texas In July, Upon A Burning Body, Volumes, Like Moths To Flames, Hundredth, No Bragging Rights, Counterparts and Gideon.
Friday seems to be the “brutal metal” day, and with the exception of Oceano that lineup is pretty dern unfuckwithable. Saturday seems to feature bands with slightly more mainstream appeal and a younger fanbase but the day still has a great assortment of acts and a bunch of gems. Sunday… well, Sunday is interesting. Killswitch and Every Time I Die are the OG metalcore titans, and all the bands opening for them are new-school / skinny jeans-wearing / swoopy haircut / deathcore / metalcore / choreographed dance moves, etc etc… in other words, “scene.” It’s a huge assumption on the festival’s part to assume that fans of those bands care about Killswitch and ETID, and vice versa. For that matter, can you imagine any of the dudes in ETID actually enjoying, well, ANY of the bands opening for them? It’s a big gamble, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out. I can’t see anyone above the age of 25 arriving before Every Time I Die, this guy included.
And gee, I wonder who Saturday’s Special Guest Headliner is??? Probably some band that’s got a show in the Boston area on or before New Year’s Eve and therefore can’t announce any conflicting dates until that show plays. Any ideas? It’s also entirely possible that the fest’s promoters just want to build suspense and create an extra media bump when that band is announced; more power to them if that’s the case.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale Friday, December 16 at 10 a.m. Ticket prices are: $40 (Friday), $45 (Saturday), and $40 (Sunday) or $115 (three-day pass). More info is available at the fest’s official website.
-VN
