It's Spring and Controversy Is In The Air! A Review of the Wacken Metal Challenge Baltimore Round 33-23-25 Written By: Vincent Deskiewicz, Jr.

From lyrics to stage antics to merch designs to encouraged rowdiness of fans heavy

metal music has always been a music genre that has a cloud of controversy around it. In

it's baby years of 1981 we had Ozzy biting the head off a bat and Alice Cooper accidentally hanging himself in 1988. It's preteen existence gave us plenty to talk about

with GG Allin from the early 80s to early 90s. In it's teen years we saw Guns N Roses

cause riots like Missouri in 1991 and Limp Bizkit being targeted for the destruction of

Woodstock 99. It's adult years gave us Rage Against The Machine at the New York Stock

Exchange and the Marilyn Manson and John 5 on stage fight of 2003 and the modern feuds

of Emmure versus this band or that band. These are just a few examples of the

controversies of Heavy Metal, the list is endless. One thing that has been consistent with

Heavy Metal Controversy is it is seen from the local bar band shows to the world wide

stadium touring concerts. So it was a safe betting man's bet that there would be

controversy at The Wacken Metal Challenge Round 3 presented by East Coast Metal

Mayhem in Baltimore on 3-22-25!

I arrived at Morseberger's Tavern in Baltimore and found a great venue for a battle

of the bands bracket! It was decorated well, there is a bar room and dance hall separated

by a door, a real sound system with a sound man, an actual stage, room for bands to setup

merch tables, FREE WATER and Bryan from Eastcoast Metal Mayhem playing the

Hostess With the Mostess directing everyone to where they had to be and what they

needed to do to get ready for the 6:00pm door opening. Parking in the back of the building

fills up quick so be prepared for possible street parking or there is a nice lighted lot across

the street for the shopping center that you can use for parking. Food and drink (including

alcohol) was available for purchase on site. There is a nice deck out the back door that

gave me a great place to conduct interviews without the loud music overpowering my

microphones. Overall I give Morseberger's Tavern an A+, excellent small venue and I

would recommend seeing a show there.

There was an excellent mix of Heavy Metal genres for Round 3 of the competition!

Fupa Goddess played first and did not disappoint. Very crowd interactive and got the

crowd moving and literally rolling on the floor (see the clip on American Mosh Pits social

media). Within Me filled spot #2 and I really enjoyed their set. When I saw the lead

singer just in a plain black T I just knew these guys were polished and would sound good

and that was correct. The third slot belonging to our friends Desolation from Philadelphia,

PA. They put on a set that was exactly what I traveled to Baltimore for, well rehearsed and

polished hardcore metal that could rival any signed hardcore band on the current market.

Slot four was interesting, Babies For Brunch. During their set they literally threw bloody

babies into the crowd, two thumbs up from Vin for that stage element. Slot 5 brought us

Watersdeep and if Warped Tour needs another band Watersdeep can fill that slot for you.

Man this band nailed it with the Warped Tour era sound of their band. Our final band of

the evening was Gone Cold. First off on behalf of the Heavy Metal fans of the world I

want to apologize to Gone Cold from us, there should have been 1000 people in attendance for their set. I am shocked this band is not signed and is still doing things on their own

without a record company backing them. I have paid $75/$100 for a ticket and did not see

a performance like Gone Cold put on Saturday night in Baltimore. You better go see them

now because any day you are going to be paying next level ticket money to see them at

theaters and with national acts.

And here comes the controversy! There was a 15 minute break between the end of

Gone Cold's set and the announcement of what two bands will move on to the finals. My

personal scorecard (I was not a judge, mine was for media reporting purposes only) had

Desolation and Gone Cold taking the spots and moving on to the finals. By the buzz of the

crowd after Gone Cold I am pretty positive my score card matched those of the majority of

the fans in attendance. Up comes the guest MC for the evening “Our scores have been

tallied and we have Gone Cold and Desolation moving on the finals! Hold on guys, wait a

second.” “Our winners our Desolation and Watersdeep. Have a great night!” Wait,

what??? As the reporter I immediately went to the guest MC and asked for clarity and she

said “stand by, I need clarity.” After about 10 minutes of nobody really knowing who

really won it was verified Watersdeep and Desolation were moving on to the finals. I

stood there in the middle of the pit area with my microphone and red notebook scratching

my head.

In the end the finals have a card full of great bands and on 4/11/25 two of them will

go on to represent Baltimore at nationals of The Wacken Metal Battle Challenge 2025.

What did I learn from the evening? Gone Cold is the real deal. Desolation gets better and

better with every show and released track. Mosbergers in Baltimore is an amazing small

venue. Music is art and when in a musical competition the judges are the eyes of the

beholders the art must please those eyes.