PIT ROMNEY: A FEW RAINFEST SPRINKLES; A389 BASH IMMINENT

And now, another installment of the hardcore festival news round-up known as Pit Romney!

Over the weekend, the folks behind Seattle’s Rain Fest made their initial line-up announcement, being the first of the Spring/Summer season’s crop to do so. In addition to performances from 2011 fest alums Losing Skin, Oblivion, Rotting Out, Wisdom In Chains, Wreck, and Xibalba, 2012’s iteration will also boast sets from Backtrack, Clarity, CodeXRed, Cold World, Dead End Path, Earth Control, Expire, FocusedXMinds, Incendiary, Soul Search, Strain, Trapped Under Ice, and Twitching Tongues. So far a solid lineup, though noticeably missing legacy acts or headliners. (Last year’s fest featured 7 Seconds, for example.) Another round of acts will be revealed February 15, at which time the 3-day passes for this May 25-27 event will go on sale.

Always ahead of the curve, the eighth annual A389 Recordings Anniversary Bash takes place this Saturday January 21 at Sonar in Baltimore, months before the rest of the fests. Co-headliners Eyehategod and Integrity lead a feral pack that includes Full Of Hell, Gehenna, Magrudergrind, Weekend Nachos, and more. The full list of bands with set times has been posted here. Notably, this marks the final performance of Pulling Teeth, though not of the related Hatewaves project, also playing that night. Tickets are still available.

On a tangential note, Maryland Deathfest happens in the same venue as the A389 Bash, with Eyehategod returning. While not strictly a hardcore fest, MDF 2012 will see sets from Coke Bust and Rorschach.

-GS