Bangers and Thrash

Baltimore d-beat band Old Lines, who has been out playing in support of its self-titled first LP, kicks off a month of strong shows Wednesday, March 6 with straight-edgers WarXGames and Big Christ at Club K. Also at Club K, on March 18 check out Holly Hunt, a new band featuring members of Cavity and Floor (two of B&T’s favorite dark, sludgy groups of the ’90s) with D.O.C., Radical Discharge, and Eddie Brock.

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

Moving into April, Tim “Ripper” Owens plays Cafe 611 in Frederick on the 6th. This guy went from being in a Judas Priest cover band, to being in Judas Priest, to having a movie starring Mark Wahlberg made out of his life. Pretty wild ride. The next night, Baltimore’s Passage Between opens for Kowloon Walled City and Zozobra at the Ottobar, and Evil Army opens for Cemetery Piss at the Sidebar.

Joining the ranks of other local fests, such as A389 Bash and the upcoming Maryland Death Fest, Chris Moore (Magrudergrind, Coke Bust) has organized a strong lineup for the first Damaged City Fest, a two-day event at Saint Stephens in D.C. Area acts Mindset, Sick Fix, Ilsa, Necropsy, Coke Bust, and Give play along with out-of-towners like Negative Approach, Double Negative, and Dropdead. It goes down April 12-13 and passes are on sale now.

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

Finally, on a sad note, longtime Relapse Records director of sales 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 has released a benefit EP named Mass and Volume, made up 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 toward Egan’s daughter’s college fund. You can find out more at patlapse.bandcamp.com.

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