Obituary Spearheads Hartford Deathfest

Hartford Deathfest
The Webster in Hartford, CT – 5.20.2017
Words and photos by Alex Lindsay

On Saturday, May 20^th, The Webster Theatre hosted legendary Florida based death metal troupe Obituary. Joining alongside Obituary were Gruesome, who had been on tour with Obituary, as well as Canadian tech-death masters Cryptopsy, who are currently on The Devastation on The Nation tour featuring Rivers of Nihil, Decrepit Birth, Gloom, and more!

Opening the festival were a mix of brutal New England favorites, which included Boston’s Goratory and New Hampshire’s Begat the Nephilim. Begat the Nephilim, who had been on the hunt for a new guitarist, brought Thomas Gramolini (ex-Lightsbane) into the fold as their new permanent riff master.

On the Webster’s main stage, New England metal revelers were treated to a medley of metal mayhem. Gruesome, who had been on tour with Obituary for the last couple weeks, had Obituary bassist Terry Butler join them on stage to perform a cover of Death’s classic track “Pull the Plug”. Cryptopsy was the final opening act of the night. Headlining the Devastation on the Nation tour, the four-piece Canadian tech-death group brought their own brand of fast riffs, blood-curdling vocals, and enough windmill headbanging to make your neck stiff by just watching it.

To end off the night, Obituary brought their own form of Southern death metal comfort to New England. The band, well known for being pioneers in the death metal genre, showed no sign of fatigue while on the last stretch of the multi-month-long tour. Obituary also pulled out some new tunes from their latest self-titled album. “Sentence Day”, “A Lesson in Vengeance”, and” Ten Thousand Ways to Die” were some of the tunes that were belted throughout The Webster.

Overall, it was a successful night for death metal. We can only hope what 2018 will bring for Hartford Deathfest.

Bone Storm