M'Lou Elkins
Milwaukee Metal Fest 2025 is officially unhinged, and Music Fiends is on the ground, headbanging and documenting the chaos all weekend long! Last night, Thursday, May 15, the pre-party lit the fuse, and let’s just say… this fuse leads straight to a keg full of TNT.
First on stage: Sacrament, local hellraisers straight outta Wisconsin. These guys kicked things off with raw energy and righteous hometown fury. Blistering riffs, pounding drums, and enough sonic boom to make Lake Michigan ripple. Consider them the righteous warm-up ritual for the madness ahead.
Next up: XCOMM, and oh yes, the rumors are true, Revel Ian (yes, Scott Ian’s son) is an absolute beast on drums. Their sound? Imagine if Municipal Waste had a brawl with Green Day and Powerman 5000 was refereeing. Thrash meets pop punk with a healthy dash of powerviolence: chaotic, tight, and totally fresh. These guys didn’t just perform, they detonated.
Jasta & Friends took the stage next, and the word “friends” doesn’t do this crew justice; this was a metal summit. The minute Elise McCready-Laycox of Daylight Riot (catch them Saturday at 2 PM) hit the stage, the floor exploded into a mosh pit frenzy. Whirlpools of limbs and pure adrenaline, classic Jasta effect.
And then… Scott Ian himself materialized like a thrash god descending from the clouds (or maybe just the green room). If that wasn’t enough, Danny Lilker joined in next and they launched into “Critical Mass,” and we ascended to the Church of the Riff. Jasta summed it up perfectly: “This dude is the epitome of metal.”
And then came Phil Demmel (catch him at 1:15 PM Friday), riffing like a demon on a mission. “He’s in the top 5 nicest guys in metal,” Jasta said of Phil, and judging by the way he melted faces with a grin on his face, we believe it.
Finally, Flotsam and Jetsam closed the night with a masterclass in old-school thrash. These Phoenix titans came out swinging with ’80s fury, reminding everyone exactly why their legacy still hits like a freight train. Heads banged. Horns raised. Necks ruined. Totally worth it.
And that was just the pre-party.
Stay locked to @musicfiendsrock on Instagram and here on MusicFiends.com for exclusive on-camera band interviews, raging concert photos, fan reactions, and unfiltered show reviews all weekend long from Milwaukee Metal Fest 2025.
See you in the pit.
Check out our concert photo gallery from the Milwaukee Metal Fest 2025 Pre-Party below:
Comments