A bunch of Philly metal bands will play at the day-long extreme metal festival at Underground Arts on Saturday
Three years in the making, the Subterranean Dissonance Fest boasts a diverse lineup including death metal acts, punk-influenced groups, and the more experimental stuff.
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When Graham Noel started planning the Subterranean Dissonance Fest in 2020, he didn’t realize he would end up waiting nearly three years for the extreme metal concert to actually happen.
This weekend, a slate of 11 boundary-pushing bands will finally get to bring their screamed vocals, chaotic solos, and blast beats to Underground Arts for a day-long show. It starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the performances will run on both of the venue’s stages until late that evening.
“I’m equal parts nervous and excited,” said Noel, who works for the Ardmore live event company Rising Sun Presents.
The festival will feature bands from across the East Coast, more than half of which are based in the Philly area.
Those local performers include the death metal acts Horrendous, John Frum, and Cognitive; the more punk-influenced groups Kaonashi and the HIRS Collective; and experimental metal band Cleric.
They’ll be joined by the black metal act Liturgy, the doom metal group Sunrot, the experimental metal act Imperial Triumphant, and the death metal bands Umbra Vitae and Pyrrhon.
Horrendous bassist Alex Kulick was glad to see a new extreme metal event pop up in Philly to complement the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest, which he said is larger and less intimate.
Despite the extended lineup, the bassist expects the crowd to remain energetic throughout the show.
“Not having the live experience for a while helped people reflect on what’s special about it,” he said. “Now, people are really thrilled to be there.”
Kulick praised Noel for putting together a bill that’s diverse by the standards of heavy music, but the promoter said the lineup is just a reflection of his personal taste.
Many of the bands on the bill are notable for their experimental elements, including Philly act Kaonashi, which plays a blend of emo and Myspace-era mathcore.
“We don’t really get a chance to play in front of this kind of crowd,” said vocalist Peter Rono, who incorporates hometown references into his lyrics. “I always like being the black sheep.”
Noel is already thinking about holding the festival again next year and making it an annual tradition.
Due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, he kept the event relatively small this time around. But in the future, he wants to go bigger.
Subterranean Dissonance Fest, Feb. 11, $30, available on the Underground Arts website. This is a 21+ event.