Trial and Error Collective
  • Home
  • About
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Music Blogs
    • Music Blogs
    • Photo Galleries & Live Reviews
    • Collective Collab Blogs & Playlists
  • Interviews
  • Zine
  • Podcast

Photo Gallery: Northwest Terror Fest 2019 Brings Chaos to Seattle

6/4/2019

0 Comments

 
Words and photos by Noé Loyola 
Picture
Indian headling the Friday night afterparty
Northwest Terror Fest brings together the best of the metal underground for a wonderful celebration of chaos, darkness, and community. Below are photos and impressions from the fest.

​Before attending Northwest Terror Fest, I was in a bad rut. I live in Seattle, city host to the festival. It is not a secret to most that it is rapidly transforming into the dystopia of our nightmares. Not the one that movies promised us with amazing neon buildings and badass robots, but lame electric unicycles and pretentious foodie joints.

At its core, Seattle is still a city filled to the brim with talented individuals creating wonderful metal. It is easy to forget this amidst the technological devolution. Enter Northwest Terror Fest (NWTF in short), an underground festival committed to making the heart of the city beat as loudly as it can.

On the first night of the festival, anarchist and anti-fascist band Dawn Ray’d gave a powerful speech about being the change we want to see in a world where everything seems to become more fucked up by the day. This was not only inspiring, but also made increasingly more sense to me as the festival went on.
Picture
Dawn Ray’d

The festival gathered 36 talented bands passionate about their art and very pissed off about the status quo. The event is small compared to other big name metal festivals, bringing in no more than a thousand attendees. This allowed NWTF to be a prime promoter of the underground, shedding light on smaller acts that might otherwise pass unnoticed. 

My passion for metal was reignited thanks to the amazing curatorial effort of the organizers. Bands representing diverse genres such as heavy metal, grindcore, death metal, dark ambient, stoner metal, and math rock displayed impressive technical skills and wild creativity, often crafting truly unique musical experiences.

A refreshing and important statement by the festival was the amount of women that absolutely crushed it on stage. Bands like Immortal Bird, Closet Witch, and Vastum blew me away with the intensity of their performances, demonstrating that the term “female fronted metal band” is irrelevant. 
​

The sense of community was also very strong. Band members sported t-shirts of other performing acts, gave shoutouts, and even made surprise guest appearances in other bands’ sets. Unlike many festivals where each performance seems isolated, NWTF felt like a breathing organism full of vital energy.

Energy is perhaps the quintessential quality of metal, and NWTF delivered that in spades. It had the maniacal performances of KEN Mode, POUND, and Gadget. It was also electrified by hundreds of fans that showed a wonderful sense of camaraderie. And seeing interactions between fans and musicians at the merch table always warms my heart.

The event was an absolute feast that left me utterly destroyed by Sunday morning. Despite my physical body being in pain, my spiritual self was illuminated and empowered. Even though the technological dystopia was still out there, I felt more inspired to do something about it.

Many things are out of my hands, but the experience of attending such a passionate gathering of talent reminded me that apathy is a draining and corrosive agent that should not drive my life. I feel grateful to form part of such a beautiful community, and I will try to give back to it as much as I can.

​

​
---
northwestterrorfest.com
facebook.com/northwestterrorfest


Follow  Noé's photography on instagram @n.loyolag
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Electronic
    Hip Hop
    Metal
    Pop
    Punk
    Rock

    Photo Gallery & Live Review Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Music Blogs
    • Music Blogs
    • Photo Galleries & Live Reviews
    • Collective Collab Blogs & Playlists
  • Interviews
  • Zine
  • Podcast