JAMEY JASTA
continued from page 20 three-day passes , of which we put like 400 in the little Rave bar , and it was great ,” he says . “ But this year , we already have almost double that , so we ' re moving the pre-party into the bigger room . And it ' s my CD release party for the new Jasta album , which is coming out on May 17th called And Jasta For All . It ' s a love letter to thrash . I have Chuck Billy on the album , I have Zetro on the album . I have Phil Demmel on the album . I figured in the spirit of thrash being such a big part of the festival and the history of the festival , this would be a great way to start off . It ' s just a fun way to get everybody into town and get the festival kicked off . If you bought a three-day pass , you get a bonus , and you get your first crack at merch before everything ' s picked over and sold out .”
Blind Guardian appearing Friday , May 17
SPECIAL SETS
This year ’ s festival also brings a slew of special album sets and a reunion performance . Autopsy will rip through a special 35th-anniversary set of Severed Survival on Friday , while the reunited Soilent Green will play on Saturday , with I am Morbid ( featuring ex-Morbid Angel bassist / vocalist David Vincent ) playing Morbid Angel ’ s seminal album Alters of Madness on Sunday . However , according to Jasta , one of the most anticipated special sets is undoubtedly Death To All ’ s Sound of Perseverance set on Saturday and Scream Bloody Gore on Sunday . “ I really wanted to see the two different Death sets because they haven ' t done these yet ,” Jasta exclaims . “ When we heard the tour was getting announced , it was a no-brainer , as Death was such a huge part of the original Milwaukee Metal Fest . So to have them come and have members from those two album cycles , and some who even played on the albums like Gene ( Hoglan ), to me , it was a no-brainer just to have something different . If you saw Death To All on this last tour , and now you ' re going to see them at Milwaukee , you ' re going to see a different set .”
PRE-PARTY
On Thursday , May 16 , the festival unofficially kicks off with a special pre-party with Jasta ’ s solo band , featuring various guests , including Overkill ’ s Bobby Blitz , Exodus ’ s Steve “ Zetro ” Souza , and Biohazard ’ s Bobby Hambel . Also on the bill as opening acts are Sheboygan ’ s Toxic Ruin and Milwaukee ’ s H1Z1 . This is a free show for anyone who purchased the three-day festival pass , or it can be purchased separately . According to Jasta , it ’ s a great way to kick off the festivities . “ Last year , I think we had 500 or 600 people who had
THE FUTURE AND BEYOND
Compared to outdoor European festivals , US festivals don ’ t quite match up . However , there have been ample amounts of fests in the States over the past decade that are establishing a stronghold in this geographic market . “ I think the main difference with Europe is that they don ' t really do a lot of the radio rock bands ,” Jasta explains . “ It ' s mostly traditional metal and death metal and thrash and grindcore stuff . But keep in mind , ( Milwaukee Metal Fest ) is ( held at ) a ballroom and a club — it ’ s a hall and a theater , basically . So we ' re not a multimillion-dollar corporate stadium festival . So it ' s kind of funny when people treat us like that because I go on my Jasta Facebook page , and people are asking , ‘ Why can ' t you get Mudvayne ?’ Or ‘ Why can ' t you get Slipknot ?’ ( Because ) we ’ re not that type of fest . Maybe we will be one day , but right now , I ' m happy to keep it in the spirit of the original fest .”
Jasta ’ s storied band Hatebreed will be playing on Saturday night . However , there is no news on a new album just yet , as Jasta is focusing on his solo album after the festival and gearing up for Hatebreed European dates . “ Luckily , we ' re in this position where I can do both bands , and it doesn ' t really take away from each other because they ' re on different schedules ,” he says . “ So I have the pre-party
22 illinoisentertainer . com may 2024