It was a massive coup for MDF that they convinced this British death metal institution to hop the pond one more time to headline the Saturday night lineup, but even more amazing that the band ended up playing an encore set on Sunday night in place of Dutch act Pestilence, who were apparently refused entry to the US at the last minute. Throughout their 23 year career, Bolt Thrower has been at best excellent and at worst very solid, so their success at the festival was a no-brainer. The quintet was note-perfect in every regard as they closed out the Saturday evening bill; they were as heavy and relentless as the tanks they describe in their lyrics. They also inarguably had the biggest crowd of the weekend, which was not unexpected considering that earlier in the day there was a two-hour wait in line to buy Bolt Thrower shirts.
The band went on to completely break precedent and cement their festival standing by performing a “surprise” encore set on the secondary interior stage on Sunday night in the slot left vacant by Pestilence. It was telling that those in attendance were perfectly happy with the arrangement, considering that the stage area was literally packed to overflow. Pestilence's new album is widely regarded as a stinker, anyway.
View the entire top 10 best and worst things about Maryland Deathfest 2009 for more.
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