In the studio & on location with SKELETONWITCH.

Skeletonwitch
Skeletonwitch
Skeletonwitch
Skeletonwitch
Skeletonwitch

This was a fun shoot – Prosthetic Records wanted some photos to commemorate the addition of Adam Clemans to the Skeletonwitch line-up, and they were in town recording with Kevin Bernsten of Developing Nations, so we did a quick session. They ended up needing to shoot a live video of them in the studio as well, so I helped out with that also, so some of my footage ended up in this:

Great day and what a great bunch of guys!

Skeletonwitch in the studio
Skeletonwitch in the studio
Skeletonwitch in the studio

SEE ALL THE SKELETONWITCH PHOTOS HERE

Noisem photo shoot.

NOISEM
NOISEM
NOISEM
NOISEM
NOISEM
NOISEM
NOISEM
NOISEM

I love this band. One of the brightest spots on the Maryland heavy music scene, and a bunch of really awesome dudes as well. It’s been super cool to watch their careers rise, and it’s totally deserved as their records rip (and each one is better and more nuanced than the last). Always fun to hang out and take photos for a couple of hours with this crew, and I think this set shows it.

VIEW THE WHOLE PHOTO SHOOT HERE | Noisem Bandcamp

Carcass & Crowbar @ Baltimore Soundstage

CARCASS @ Baltimore Soundstage
CARCASS @ Baltimore Soundstage
CARCASS @ Baltimore Soundstage
CARCASS

CROWBAR @ Baltimore Soundstage
CROWBAR @ Baltimore Soundstage
CROWBAR

Another catch-up post! Two classic metal bands who have been touring a lot lately, it was good to catch them at Soundstage, though, one of my favorite places to see shows these days. Crowbar really put on a good show this evening, was stoked since there were issues with their MDF set the last time I saw them in Baltimore. Great band. Carcass is a band I never expected to be touring again like this, and each time could be the last time seeing them so I was super stoked to catch them again as well… right now feels like the best time to be seeing heavy bands play since the late 90s or early 00s.

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE

LISTEN: Carcass | Crowbar

Brujeria & Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage.

Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
Brujeria @ Baltimore Soundstage
BRUJERIA

Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
Cattle Decapitation @ Baltimore Soundstage
CATTLE DECAPITATION

Another catch-up post. This was a great show, two modern classic bands that I hadn’t ever seen before somehow (or, at least I don’t recall seeing them before, anyway!) Brujeria led the crowd in a Fuck Donal Trump chant and brought out a fake Trump on stage, pretty fun antics for the election season. Cattle Decapitation showed off their ever-broadening sound, they really impressed me live, and their newest record backs those live chops up.

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE
LISTEN: Cattle Decapitation | Brujeria

Thou @ Sidebar, 10/3/2016.

Thou @ Sidebar - 10/2016
Thou @ Sidebar - 10/2016
Thou @ Sidebar - 10/2016
Thou @ Sidebar - 10/2016
Thou @ Sidebar - 10/2016
Thou @ Sidebar - 10/2016

Managed to escape from the recent Green Day show I shot for the Washington Post and make it back to Baltimore to catch one of my favorite bands, Thou, at the Sidebar. Bryan Funck, Thou’s vocalist, is an old friend and one of the best people in punk & diy. Thou’s work ethic is really inspiring, they’ve released so many great records and toured consistently without any sort of compromises. Love seeing bands who still do it right.

SEE ALL THE THOU PHOTOS HERE

Watain @ Soundstage : 2015/11/25

Watain @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage
Mayhem @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage
Watain @ Soundstage

Watain never disappoints. Always a great show, always a terrible smelling show. I had heard they wouldn’t be as vigorous with the blood and animal carcasses on this tour, but that proved to be wrong. The next day at Thanksgiving Dinner, someone asked me if I had spilled food on my jeans and I had to admit that it was congealed pig’s blood.

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE

Putrisect.

Putrisect

Putrisect
Putrisect
Putrisect
Putrisect
Putrisect

This weekend, I headed out to scenic Sparks, MD for a photoshoot with my friends in Baltimore metal band Putrisect. It was a great time, featuring classic suburban fun like sneaking into an abandoned building, drinking beer next to cars and being harassed by local teens. You can check out all the photos HERE and check out Putrisect’s tunes at their BANDCAMP PAGE. As always, get in touch if you need some band photos or portraits taken.

Enslaved & Yob @ Soundstage Baltimore

Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
Enslaved @ Soundstage
ENSLAVED

Yob @ Soundstage
Yob @ Soundstage
Yob @ Soundstage
Yob @ Soundstage
YOB

Consistently great metal shows at Baltimore Soundstage. I had never seen either of these bands before. Yob was a band I’ve heard alot and enjoy, thought they might have been a “relaxed” band life before I saw them, but the life show was good. Made me want to crank the albums up when I got home. Enslaved is a band I’d always heard a lot about, but wasn’t super familiar with – they were great! Amazing stage presence, with little to no ‘kult’ stuff that can sometimes be a little much with European bands. They loved the crowd and played to the crowd (and the photographers) perfectly, really great performance.

See all the ENSLAVED & YOB photos here | BUY PRINTS of my photos, including some from this show

Watain & Revenge @ Baltimore Soundstage..

WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN @ Sound Stage - 2015/01/09
WATAIN

REVENGE @ Soundstage - 2015/01/09
REVENGE @ Soundstage - 2015/01/09
REVENGE @ Soundstage - 2015/01/09
REVENGE @ Soundstage - 2015/01/09
REVENGE

Black metal legends Watain are always so good live. The times I’ve seen them before I was never able to get too close, either because of circumstances, fear of getting actual pig’s blood thrown on me/my equipment, or inebriation, but this time it worked out well. Blood was still there, but less than previous tours and you could still smell the scent of grave dirt as soon as they walked out on stage…

SEE ALL WATAIN & REVENGE PHOTOS HERE | Select images from this show are available as prints

Pentagram, Bang!, The Pilgrim, Kings Destroy & Radio Moscow @ Soundstage

Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram @ Soundstage
Pentagram

Bang! @ Soundstage
Bang! @ Soundstage
Bang!

The Pilgrim @ Soundstage
The Pilgrim @ Soundstage
The Pilgrim @ Soundstage
The Pilgrim

Kings Destroy @ Soundstage
Kings Destroy @ Soundstage
Kings Destroy @ Soundstage
Kings Destroy

Radio Moscow @ Soundstage
Radio Moscow

Last month, Doom icons Pentagram played Soundstage (which is really shaping up into a great venue for metal in Baltimore) along with The Pilgrim, Bang!, Kings Destroy and Radio Moscow. Pentagram shows are notoriously hit or miss, as anyone who was at their infamous Black Cat comeback show can attest, but this night they were on their A game. It’s also always great to see them with Victor Griffin, when he is back with the band everything seems to just run more smoothly and Liebling (the famously troubled frontman of the band) seems to hold it together more. They didn’t disappoint, one of the best times I have seen them (though not sure if that first time I saw them at Sonar can be topped).

It was great to see Bang! too, a band I had always heard about but never had the chance to see – they really seemed to have a great time on stage, the first half of their set especially killed. This was apparently one of the last shows for quite some time for The Pilgrim, one of my favorite Baltimore bands. Cool that they managed to get on such a sick bill.

SEE ALL MY PHOTOS FROM PENTAGRAM @ SOUNDSTAGE HERE.

Windhand, The Pilgrim, All Of Them Witches @ the Ottobar

Windhand @ Ottobar
Windhand @ Ottobar
Windhand @ Ottobar
Windhand @ Ottobar
Windhand @ Ottobar
Windhand

The Pilgrim @ Ottobar
The Pilgrim @ Ottobar
The Pilgrim @ Ottobar
The Pilgrim

All Them Witches @ Ottobar
All Of Them Witches

Good show at Ottobar the other day (week? slowly getting my site up to date). Really dug the chance to see Windhand, as this was the first time I had seen them in a non-festival setting. The Pilgrim is always great, one of my favorite heavy Baltimore bands.

See all the WINDHAND, THE PILGRIM, ALL OF THEM WITCHES photos here!

Adam Savage’s bday w/ Pig Destroyer, Magrudergrind, Cemetery Piss & Putrisect

Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer

Magrudergrind @ Metro Gallery
Magrudergrind @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Magrudergrind

Cemetery Piss @ Metro Gallery
Cemetery Piss (cricketcemetery.bandcamp.com)

Putrisect @ Metro Gallery
Putrisect (putrisect.bandcamp.com)

For his birthday, Baltimore promoter Adam Savage gave us a present – a sick party at the Metro Gallery (a venue that has stepped up it’s game of late with a remodel, new stage as well as way more metal shows). Local newcomers Putrisect are the most promising new band I’ve heard this year- brutal, guttural howling vocals, killer riffs and a “fuck y’all” live performance attitude add up to a band to watch. Black Metal band Cemetery Piss (featuring the birthday boy himself) have been a fave of mine for awhile but they just keep getting better and more consistent. Pick up their new 7″ if you are at all a fan of the genre. I had to slip away at this point to go to LadyFest to see Whore Paint, but Inter Arma’s set was, by all accounts, incredible. Magrudergrind killed, as always – love those guys and the crowd obviously did as well. Finally, it’s great to see Pig Destroyer strutting their stuff as a five-piece – they have been playing a lot of out of town dates, and it shows in how together they are. One of the best times I’ve seen them in awhile (and I’ve seen them a lot). Super secret birthday suprise: A Pig Destroyer Misfits cover set with Adam joining in on vocals!

SEE ALL THE ADAM SAVAGE BIRTHDAY W/ PIG DESTROYER, MAGRUDERGRIND, CEMETERY PISS, PUTRISECT PHOTOS HERE!

Earlier in the day, I shot Pig Destroyer and Magrudergrind band photos, so be on the lookout for those soon…

Pig Destroyer Misfits covers with Adam Savage on Vocals @ Metro Gallery
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

Pig Destroyer & 3 Floyds beer release with Old Lines, LTW

Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat
Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat
<a href="https://www.flickr .com/photos/joshsisk/8717977613″ title=”Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat by Josh Sisk, on Flickr”>Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat
Pig Destroyer  + Katherine Katz (of ANB) @ Black Cat
Old Lines @ Black Cat
LTW @ Black Cat

3 Floyds Brewery and my friends in Pig Destroyer (primarily Scott Hull, noted craft beer fan) collaborated on a beer, Permanent Funeral, which rated VERY highly on the various beer sites, including Beer Advocate calling it one of the top 40 beers of the world. To celebrate, they threw a release party at the Black Cat in DC. Continuing on my mid-year resolution to get my site up to date, here are the photos I took at the event… Baltimore band Old Lines and (now-defunct, I believe) DC band LTW opened.

VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE PIG DESTROYER/3 FLOYDS BEER RELEASE HERE

Bangers and Thrash : March 2013 Edition

Starting off a strong month of heavy shows is Baltimore d-beat band Old Lines, who have been playing out a lot in support of their self-titled first LP. See them Wednesday, March 6 with straight edgers WarXGames and Big Christ at Club K. Also coming up at Club K is Holly Hunt, a new band featuring members of Cavity and Floor (two of my favorite dark, sludgy groups of the 90s). They’re playing with D.O.C., Radical Discharge and Eddie Brock on March 18th.

Last year, Baltimore musician Jason Donnells (The New Flesh) split for greener pastures but thankfully he’ll be back long enough for his most recent band, Friend Collector, to play a show in town. See them at the Bell Foundry on March 25th with Curse and Multicult. Later in the week, a new metal party kicks off on March 30th at the Borinquen Night Club on Eastern Ave, featuring performances from Lich King, Possessor, and a host of other bands. The promoters say this will be the first of a weekly metal night at the club.

Moving into April, on the 6th Tim “Ripper” Owens is performing at Cafe 611 in Frederick. I can’t say I’m a huge fan, but the guy went from being in a Judas Priest cover band, to being in Judas Priest, to having a movie made out of his life starring Mark Wahlberg as him. Pretty wild ride. The next night, Baltimore’s Passage Between opens for Kowloon Walled City and Zozobra at the Ottobar, and Cemetery Piss opens for Evil Army at the Sidebar.

Joining the ranks of other local fests like A389 Bash and the upcoming Maryland Death Fest, Chris Moore (Magrudergrind, Coke Bust) has organized a strong line-up for the first Damaged City Fest, a two day event at Saint Stephens in D.C. There are too many bands playing to list here, but some of the area acts include: Mindset, Sick Fix, Ilsa, Necropsy, Coke Bust and Give, along with out of towners like Negative Approach, Double Negative, and Dropdead. It goes down April 12-13th and passes are on sale now.

Necropsy, a Baltimore metal band new enough that several members are reportedly still in high school, have just recorded an album with Kevin Bernsten of Developing Nations for their debut release on A389 records. The album should be out in the next few months. Baltimore punk band Paper Dragons have just released an LP, Die To Please, on Wallride Records. They are also playing on April 14th at the Ottobar, with Diarrhea Planet & Tenement. Everlasting grind band Triac just released a split 12” record with D.C.’s D.O.C. on German label RSR.

Finally, on a sad note, longtime Relapse Records sales manager Pat Egan recently passed away from pneumonia complications. Egan was a beloved fixture in the metal community at large for years and Relapse‘s Pig Destroyer is releasing a benefit EP named “Mass and Volume”, which will consist of several doom metal-inspired tracks that were previously available only in Japan. Relapse has also released a 20 band compilation entitled “Patlapse”. Proceeds from both will go towards his daughter’s college fund. You can find out more at patlapse.bandcamp.com.

Noisem (formerly Necropsy) @ Golden West

Noisem (aka Necropsy) @ GW
Noisem (aka Necropsy) @ GW   Noisem (aka Necropsy) @ GW
Noisem (aka Necropsy) @ GW
Noisem (aka Necropsy) @ GW

Noisem (formerly known as Necropsy) are a great young Baltimore metal band – though their sound and chops are already quite seasoned, as is their live performance. They recently signed to A389 Recordings and changed their name… I would guess you will hear alot more about these guys in the next couple of years. Here are some photos from their last show under the old name, at the Golden West.