Named after Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta's record label, Stillborn Fest really delivered the goods this year with a great line-up. Props to Jamey Jasta for always putting Stillborn Fest line-ups together that bring out the old guard and new recruits, forcing people into proximity and reminding us that even if you don't like every band, we're in this together. While I was dismayed to see what I call “hard choreography” STILL growing more popular than ever, the overall show was far more positive than disappointing. I only gripe because people used to mosh in a way that really set the roof off, not this take-turns doing stupid looking retard's karate bullshit, where you always have to be looking over your shoulder or wondering if someone is going to make your girlfriend's pretty face ugly. I personally just hate that style of dancing and think it is cornball compared to old school slamming. A lot of places it just used to be fairly standard that no one would throw punches at face level and I think people who do that are fucktards. Circle pits and even just slamming into each other makes the show a lot more wild, in my book, than people posing and just flailing their arms, especially when some of the scrawny ass kids acting tough on the floor made Bring Me The Horizon's Oliver Sykes look like WWE's Batista!

Now, while we are on the subject of scrawny singers, I have to admit that when Chuck from The Chance (who is a seriously huge black man and also sometimes sings hair metal ballads really loud) introduced Poughkeepsie's own Awake The Storm, I was pretty skeptical. When I used to go to hardcore and metal shows in Poughkeepsie there were awesome bands like Innerdam, Unbalanced, and Blindside (not to be confused with the also good band from Sweden that had that cool song "Sleepwalking"). I have seen a lot of piss poor, derivative bands come and go since. Awake The Storm took the stage and were fairly young. Vocalist Nick DeMaro definitely looked on the scrawnier side (no offense, dude), but he really screamed his head off (though I find the screaming more convincing from a skinny dude than death metal growls). Still, UNLIKE all the Fall Out Boy fans turned wanna-be death metal bands who seem hell-bent on huffing (the not bad but not God-like) Suicide Silence's dick fumes ad nauseum and leave shows after the band they like plays, Awake The Storm really threw down and had some personality. A song that I believe was called "Irrevocable" was pretty cool. Drummer Joe Wilhelm was my favorite part of the band, kicking serious ass on the kit and whipping things up to a frenzy. While some of ATS's riffs were mosh-core breakdowns we have heard many times before, the crowd pleasing breakdowns were tempered well with fast parts. The band was very passionate and held their own alongside some giants of the underground. A lot of times headbanging with short hair cuts just looks like violently sucking dick, but these dudes even managed to rock out pretty hard and not look silly. I would hope they work on some of the stage chatter a bit, because there was a lot of "go crazy" and "we have merch" banter from Nick, but it didn't really detract from the set like it usually does for me when bands say that stuff. I DO have to tease DeMaro though for saying ,"Stick around for the other bands". Dude, Hatebreed and Crowbar are playing! We are not leaving just 'cuz you guys are done! Anyway, I am devoting a lot of article space to these guys because I recommend heavy fans check them out. It is very inspiring to see a younger band coming back on the Upstate, NY scene strong again, especially a local Poughkeepsie act who can get kids dancing from the start of a huge show! Awake The Storm has a lot of potential and hopefully will stick it out, because so far they have an awesome work ethic. Many bands give up and crash on the rocks, but if it wasn't for perseverance, there would be no Hatebreed or any of the headliners. Sticking to your guns will save the day and awake the storm on a larger level, so I wish these dudes lots of luck.

Upstairs in the smaller venue, The Loft, more of Stillborn Fest '09 was going on. The larger stage of The Chance overlapped with the smaller Loft stage's acts, most of which were artists on Stillborn Records like The World We Knew and Strength For A Reason. The first act I caught upstairs was Newhaven, Connecticut's Dead By Wednesday. I had mixed feelings about the band after seeing their set. They did one of the more tepid covers of Sepultura's legendary "Territory" I've ever heard, but I could watch the rhythm section of this band all night, any day of the week. I was stage side watching Mike Modeste play bass and it felt like I was watching Infectious Grooves for a minute! Modeste is really SICK!! Punk Drummer Opus was also super cool, lending a devil-may-care reckless punk vibe to the band’s very metal set, but I couldn't get past the two screamers. Bands with multiple vocalists should really not have two dudes that sound so much alike.

Back downstairs on the main stage, Thy Will Be Done from Rhode Island taught the crowd a serious lesson in true metal. "There may be a reason some of you don't like us," snarled incendiary TWBD front man J. Costa. "It's because we still listen to Black Sabbath and Slayer!" His words were directed to the more new school in attendance, but most of the crowd roared approval. Costa and Chance bouncer/announcer Chuck BOTH at separate times in the night gave props from the stage to some dude who had on a St.Vitus shirt, which was pretty metal. Thy Will Be Done are one of those great bands who could really elevate the next generation of metal while not forgetting the great roots of metal's past. Not since I first saw Ben Falgoust of Goatwhore/Soilent Green have I seen a newer thrash and death influenced band with a front man who could wake motherfuckers up like Costa. The whole band was tight as hell, devastating to behold as they unleashed set highlight "And Fire Will Fall" from last year's In Ancient Of Days. My favorite performance of the night besides Crowbar and Hatebreed, by far. Get behind this horse now.

Other standout sets of the night...let's see. The Casualties delivered a rousing punk rock set. I hadn't seen them in years and years since before they were anywhere near as big as they are now. An old band of mine had opened for them and John The Baker's Slimy Penis Breath at a punk rock co-op called The Sleeping Turtle (RIP J Bone!) in 1997, and I hadn't seen them since! I was always more of a Black Flag than Exploited fan, but I really dig what these guys do and liked the Die Hards album, though i don't really follow them. I have to say though that the band’s stage vibe was awesome and it made me feel good to see the positive vibrations and rousing street punk feel hopefully expose some of the more macho crowd types to a different way. Kids were bouncing around like crazy and having fun instead of killing each other, and it was very cool. They even dicked around on some Iron Maiden for a minute.

The best band to hit The Loft was by far Facedown Record's Wrench In The Works, who are serious contenders. Not only are they the best band on the Facedown roster, influenced by Converge AND Zao, the group has a serious live attack. They are currently working on a follow up to their Lost Art Of Heaping Coal record. Vocalist Darrell Tauro was quite sarcastic on stage but held things together and has quite a roar. I remembered him from when Darrell and some of the WITW guys were called Emmanuel .7, and I once shared a bill in an old band of mine with them and Nora, I think. But yeah, Wrench brought the goods and have a heavy, clobbering time sound not to be fucked with. Darrel also hinted that their next release is going to be a bit more strange, with Greg Thomas (The Risk Taken, Shai Hulud, Silver Bullet Studios) who was the engineer and producer of Lost Art Of Heaping Coal, set to help with guitar duties for the next release. Props to the tiny girl in mini shorts who did a flip and scared away two dudes out of the mosh pit. I think that was during WITW. I forget.

Best set of the night was Crowbar, who were just so beyond pure it was untouchable. Opening with the classic "All I Had (I Gave)" from the 1992 self-titled record, it was sludge heaven. Most dumb ass kids had no idea what to do while music that morbid, slow, and brutal descended on them in black waves. It was like watching people stare at an oncoming avalanche. "New Dawn" from Lifesblood For The Downtrodden was masterful, the poetic melancholia of Kirk Windstein's riffing and his examinations of pain nothing but legit. I had seen Down earlier in the year but hadn't witnessed Crowbar since their last tour with C.O.C. maybe four or five years ago. "The Lasting Dose" was monstrous, while "Planets Collide" from Odd Fellow's Rest still has the best fucking opening riff of all time, hands down, any song. I will probably always stand by that firmly.

The Acacia Strain are a big hit with the younger crowds and give very funny interviews. Their breakout record Continent is a roller coaster of unhinged death core, and they made the room absolutely explode. I like how the band is clearly not about image, though I really could care less about their singer's rants about how much of a "negative" person he is. Good band for what they do, but there is other stuff out there I am way more into. Definitely the main attraction for a lot of kids, and entertaining, but after Crowbar and Wrench In The Works I was burnt.

Hatebreed took the stage like avenging kings, cranking out the heavy hits with original guitarist Wayne Lozinak back in the fold. Opening with "I Will Be Heard", it was less about getting their biggest hit out of the way then setting things off right from the start. Jasta gave very cool shout outs to old school area bands like All Out War, Innerdam, and Beneath The Remains from the stage and they played material ranging from way back like ”Under The Knife” to the anti-child molestation song “A Call For Blood” and on and on. Hatebreed played a lengthy set, making sure everyone was happy and bloody. Speaking of which, “Everyone Bleeds Now” had the desired effect, to put it mildly. Recent single “In Ashes They Shall Reap” was a rallying cry and Jasta sounded great on the singing section, new found confidence for less shouty vocals gained via his time in Kingdom Of Sorrow bearing real fruit. “Live For This” from The Rise Of Brutality was the most fitting song of the night, however. It served as a positive reminder that whatever your role in the underground community, hardcore and metal are nothing less than unstoppable.