ue to the massive success of the second edition of Milwaukee Metal Festival, the iconic midwestern event is returning in 2025! The festival will take place once again at The Rave/Eagles Ballroom from May 16-18, 2025, with the pre-party kicking off on May 15. Early bird tickets are now available HERE.
You know the festival will not disappoint, as this year’s event absolutely exceeded expectations, which were already sky high! So don’t wait to get your tickets and take advantage of the discounted price while it lasts!
If you missed out this year, you can get a little taste of the excitement with Metal Injection’s “Behind the Scenes” chats with I Am Morbid, Municipal Waste, Bleed from Within, Bewitcher + more HERE.
You can also find a full video recap and clips of the band’s via The Most Epic Adventures with Robb Zipp HERE as well as by Wyatt’s Metal channel HERE. Warning: May cause whiplash!
Milwaukee Metal Festival 2024 conquered The Rave/Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, WI last month with so many epic performances and surprises! Festivities kicked off with the pre-party on Thursday, May 16, with a headlining set from JASTA and Friends, in which Jamey Jasta joined forces with Bobby Blitz, Zetro, Bobby Hambel, Danny Diablo, and Hoya Roc, in which they rocked the house with original songs and fan favorites!
The three day festival kicked off on Friday afternoon, with fans lined up around the block to catch the openers, packing out the room from wall to wall for the first Century Media set of the day by USBM masters UADA. As No Echo writes, “the precision they brought to the stage showcased how a band listed as an ‘opener’ can perform like they are the only band on the lineup.” The day was jammed with a mix of black metal, death metal, thrash, and of course, an epic block of power metal to close the evening from Hammerfall, Symphony X, Doro, Kamelot, and the weekend’s first headliner, Blind Guardian.
Saturday also started with a bang, with newcomers Morbikon setting the tone for the day with their rip roaring energy and blackened speed while Long Island hardcore horde Internal Bleeding got interactive with the crowd, leaving the stage behind as they took the floor alongside the audience for their brutalizing showcase. Meanwhile, the crowd surfers never stopped and trash cans were affectionately thrown around during Municipal Waste‘s now legendary performance, only rivaled by the Dunable Guitars/MartyrStore.net headliners, Belushi Speed Ball, whose set was described by Metal Insider as “an all-out (NERF) war in the bar, with people throwing trash cans, toilet paper, and assorted other objects around in a moshpit that filled most of the space.”
Of course, highlights also include The Red Chord‘s flawless performance, the long-awaited reunion of Soilent Green, epic album plays by Death to All and Terrorizer, and of course, co-organizer Jamey Jasta‘s own Hatebreed who really delivered the PMA. Katatonia adapted to a new guitarist as one of their own had travel issues, but the fans were still moved nevertheless by their somber and beautiful music while Mr. Bungle closed out the night with their legendary lineup and a mix of originals and covers.
Despite the relentless energy exerted from the fans over the first few days, they did not at all slow down by the final day. With hangovers and bangovers, festival goers once again arrived bright and early for Sunday’s openers, with death metal newcomers Stabbing and Milwaukee mainstays Casket Robbery stealing the early show with their blistering brutality. Death to All returned for a second album play, this time to a larger room, setting the tone for an epic second half of the final day with stunners like Gatecreeper, I Am Morbid, Lacuna Coil, Avatar, Skeletal Remains, In Flames, and Slaughter to Prevail made sure the festival ended with a bang! As Knotfest eloquently stated on the festival’s conclusion, “Framing the scope of the festival – with a reverence for the classics while still nurturing the contemporary – the final day of Milwaukee Metal Fest perfectly summarized the bigger picture in resurrecting the festival brand. Combining the classic with contemporary, year two further asserted the importance of the fest and properly set the stage for the next edition in 2025.”
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