Rites of Darkness III

[Conservationist]

Rites of Darkness III
December 9-11, 2011
Backstage Live
1305 E. Houston Street
San Antonio, TX 78202
(210) 224-2747

Friday, December 9

    * PLF
    * Birth A.D.
    * Blaspherian
    * Divine Eve
    * Loss
    * Adversarial
    * Grave Upheaval
    * Butcher ABC
    * Adorior
    * Weapon
    * Demonical
    * Stargazer
    * Nunslaughter
    * Demigod
    * Inquisition
    * Root.

Saturday, December 10

    * Ilsa
    * Aldebaran
    * Hour of 13
    * Plutocracy
    * Midnight
    * Cianide
    * Evoken
    * Funebrarum
    * Tribulation
    * Ignivomous
    * Sargeist
    * Zemial
    * Dead Congregation
    * Pagan Altar
    * Mortuary Drape

Sunday, December 11

    * Warmaster
    * Anhedonist
    * Grave Ritual
    * Vasaeleth
    * Mitochondrion
    * Cruciamentum
    * Akitsa
    * Anatomia
    * Interment
    * Strid
    * Impetuous Ritual
    * Urfaust
    * Behexen
    * Antaeus
    * Mournful Congregation.

http://www.examiner.com/metal-music-in-houston/rites-of-darkness-iii-december-9-11

[Ksatria/Gang_Rapist]

Birth A.D. has since cancelled.

Updated running order:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/rites-of-darkness/updated-running-order/253442518038378

[lord.aspie]

Mortuary Drape cancelled and are being replaced with Black Witchery.

[ksava]

Who else is going to this? Which bands' sets are worth watching (that I might not know of)? I think I have the "worth it" list down pretty much.

[Humanicide]

Half the bands on this fest cancelled. It's a shitfest now.

Their facebook page supposedly has the news. Site hasn't been updated (last I checked).

[Conservationist]

The site is updated, and only about a third of the bands canceled, but they were some of the ones I really wanted to see. Many of those cancellations were not the promoter's fault, but most of them appear to be from disagreements with the "new terms." It's probably not as easy as it seems to get thirty bands into town for a three-day fest though.

[Heydrich]

It's shame, but this fest is an absolute mess. It is to the point that the promoter is literally soliciting money from fest-goers to pay airfare for bands not yet fully covered, etc. Totally bushleague, embarrassing stuff.

http://www.facebook.com/RITESOFDARKNESS

[Ksatria/Gang_Rapist]

Day one was saved by Demigod, who were excellent.

Anyone pitching tonight? I'll be the guy with the Sarcofago shirt asking if you like anus.

[Conservationist]

Any final summaries on this?

Curious to how Demigod, Blaspherian, Cruciamentum and Cianide were.

[Tachäl Dhäl]

Summary: Antaeus was the highlight for me.  Their set conjured up a state of nihilistic freedom I have never felt at a live show.  Demigod was an obvious standout, for rather opposite reasons as Antaeus (transcendent chaos vs. crushing professionalism).  The other "anus approved" bands were each highly worthwhile.  As for everything else, I was pleasantly surprized how enjoyable the vast majority of the bands were.  The band order was mostly well put together with aesthetic variety and listener attention span in mind, and most bands played with solid underground-level professionalism, and most importantly with hessian spirit.  These bands were by no means ground breaking, and I won't be going out of my way to sit around and listen to their material, but they represented their established flavors of underground metal well.  As for the crowd, I was relieved that just about everyone who bothered to show up checked their disappointment at the door, and came to have a damn good time.  I don't think I've heard from a single person who was there who regrets it.

Full Antaeus set in reasonable quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhoPafo5UO0