Maryland Deathfest has once again delivered the kind of lineup announcement that makes metalheads simultaneously scream with joy and panic about their PTO requests. The festival just revealed another wave of bands for its 2026 edition, and let’s just say—it’s getting ridiculous (in the best possible way).
Among the newest additions: Old Man’s Child, Norway’s symphonic black metal veterans, who will no doubt prove that melody and corpse paint do mix. Thrash legends Whiplash are also on board, along with cult murder-balladeers Macabre, grind freaks Cephalic Carnage (promising an old school set from their first three albums), the stoner doom haze of Bongzilla, and doom lifers Novembers Doom. Oh, and Acheron returns to the altar—because what’s MDF without at least one ritual invocation?
The underground trenches are also well-represented, with Pan-Amerikan Native Front, gore-soaked veterans Lividity, necrotic noisemakers Miasmatic Necrosis, and a pile of grinders including Mellow Harsher, Soil of Ignorance (Canada), and Excrescence. Consider your eardrums officially doomed.
But that’s not even half the story. The full confirmed lineup is already massive, with everything from thrash legends (Kreator playing a deep cuts set, Destruction doing Infernal Overkill, Death Angel celebrating Act III) to death metal pioneers (Cancer, Grave, Dying Fetus old school style, and a literal resurrection of Sarcófago, led by Gerald “Incubus” Minelli). Add in blackened extremity (Rotting Christ performing only their early filth, God Dethroned, Der Weg einer Freiheit) and total grind lunacy (Pig Destroyer revisiting Prowler in the Yard, Rotten Sound pulling double album duty), and MDF is basically daring you to survive four days without collapsing.
And let’s not overlook the cult treasures: Solitude Aeturnus for your doom fix, StarGazer from Australia for cosmic weirdness, Wolfheart for that Finnish melancholy, and To Violently Vomit—because yes, that’s the ex-Disgorge guys, and yes, the name tells you exactly what you’re in for.
Organizers have also teased that Nevermore Hall will host a few yet-unannounced surprises, including one act that will close out a night. Plus, an additional round of Angels Rock Bar announcements is expected by year’s end. Translation: your schedule is going to be a war zone.
Tickets? The last 100 four-day passes are currently up for grabs at deathfests.com. All other options (single-day, venue passes, and VIP) won’t go live until the full lineup drops in September. If you snooze, you’ll either end up crying into your battle jacket or paying scalpers the price of a used car.
So, to summarize: Maryland Deathfest 2026 is shaping up to be a relentless celebration of every genre branch that sprouted from the unholy tree of extreme metal. Get your earplugs, stretch your neck, and prepare to smell like smoke and beer for a week straight.
Full list of confirmed bands:
1914 (Ukraine)
Acheron
Aberration
Aftermath
Anatomia (Japan)
…And Oceans (Finland)
Antichrist Siege Machine
Avernus
Batushka (Poland)
Blood Red Throne (Norway)
Bongzilla
Cancer (UK) – ‘Death Shall Rise’ set
Cephalic Carnage – Old school set (First 3 albums)
Cephalotripsy
Cerebral Hemmorhage
Chaotian (Denmark)
Condemned
Cryptic Shift (UK)
The Crown (Sweden)
Dead Void (Denmark)
Death Angel – ‘Act III’ set
Der Weg einer Freiheit (Germany)
Destruction (Germany) – ‘Infernal Overkill’ set
Diabolic Oath
Dying Fetus – Old school set (First 3 albums)
Emasculator
Excrecence
Gestation
God Dethroned (Netherlands)
Grave (Sweden) – Old School Grave/Corpse set
Grave Infestation
Hemorrhoid
Houkago Grind Time
Havukruunu (Finland)
Hellbutcher (Sweden)
Kreator (Germany) – Exclusive Deep Cuts set: Performing songs from Pleasure to Kill, Terrible Certainty, and Extreme Aggression
Lair of the Minotaur
Lividity
Lömsk (Sweden)
Macabre
Mellow Harsher
Melting Rot
Miasmatic Necrosis
Mortician
Necrofier
Novembers Doom
Old Man’s Child (Norway)
Ossuary
Pan-Amerikan Native Front
Pathology
Pig Destroyer – ‘Prowler in the Yard’ set
Poltergeist
Putridity (Italy)
Rotting Christ (Greece) – Old School Set (1989-1995)
Rotten Sound (Finland) – Murderworks & Exit set
Rwake
Sarcófago (Brazil) – Performed by Gerald “Incubus” Minelli and the Laws
Sardonic Witchery
Sex Prisoner
Slimelord (UK)
Soil of Ignorance (Canada)
Solitude Aeturnus
StarGazer (Australia)
Terror Corpse
!T.O.O.H.! (Czech Republic)
Torsofuck (Finland)
Torture Rack
To Violently Vomit (Ex-Disgorge US)
Unmerciful
Warbringer
Whiplash
Witch Vomit
Wolfheart (Finland)
Wrathprayer (Chile)
