Michigan Metalfest 2025: Back Again, But Bigger and Better

Michigan Metalfest (MMF) is a festival that has been happening annually each August in Battle Creek, Michigan, for the last 7 years. Every year, the event is held at the beautiful Leila Arboretum. This year, the event took place on August 22nd and 23rd. This was the first year that the festival had expanded to a two-day event! The headliners for this year’s main event were huge, including performances from Crossbreed, Ov Sulfur, Within the Ruins, and Dying Fetus!

PREGAME

The Pregame event was the first day of MMF. This was particularly exciting because it was the first time that the festival was more than just a one-day event. I thought that this day was so much fun, and I hope that the festival continues to expand in this way. This was a wonderful way to ease into all of the fun that continued through to the next day. The pregame event was a bit smaller, and the performances happened on only the “Darksyde Acres” stage, making it feel more like a standard concert event. One of the radio hosts for Q106, Metal Mandy, was on stage before each band to give everyone a grand entrance. The Pregame event started at 5pm. I’ll be honest, I was not very familiar with the first two bands on the bill for this event, but Filth Spewer and Errors of Humanity did not disappoint with setting the tone for the rest of the evening!

I was pleasantly surprised with Errors of Humanity. They did not sound like the rest of the bands on this bill, which was a good palate cleanser for the remainder of the night. I really enjoyed their performance.

The next band to take the stage was the Milwaukee black death metal band, Illusion of Fate. It was so fun to see this band perform again, as they had just finished up a tour with Summoner’s Circle and made it through my area in North Carolina just a few weeks prior. I was equally as excited to see their drummer, Austin Vicars, was not only performing his set with Illusion of Fate but also playing drums for Gorgatron the next day! 

Summoner’s Circle took command of the stage next, and boy, they did not disappoint. They really never do. It is always a blast to see these guys perform. They are a progressive black metal band based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. They started their set off with their trademark sacrifice, which happened to be the vocalist of Illusion of Fate. They announced towards the end of their set that they were asked to perform again on the main stage the next day, which was super exciting! These guys are always a blast to see, and they are amazing people.

To close out the first night of MMF, Cultus Black took the stage. Cultus Black is a nu-metal/deathcore band hailing from North Carolina! It was so exciting to see some familiar faces headlining the first night of this event. The crowd went crazy for them, and it was the perfect way to top off the night. They had so much energy, and it left everyone in the crowd buzzing in anticipation of what was to come the next day.

I was not sure how the pregame event was going to go, but I feel like this was a huge success. The turnout was much more than I was expecting, and the bands were so welcoming and exciting. I hope that this extra day continues to occur for the festival in the future!

THE MAIN EVENT

The main event kicked off at 12:00 on Saturday, August 23rd. There were 20 musical acts split between the “My Merch Guy” stage and the “Darksyde Acres” stage. It was a very busy day. Each act had a 30-minute set, and just as one band finished, the next band started on the other stage only a few minutes later. Q106 host Scary Effin' Terry was there to introduce each band. I had to admit, I was incredibly nervous that things would go awry time-wise; however, the festival was extremely well organized, and they stayed on time for the entire event! Even with a small delay due to rain around 6pm, they still stayed on time and made sure everyone was going to be safe with the storm. Thankfully, it passed quickly, and the day continued on! Of note, the festival staff were so friendly and accommodating to vendors, bands, media, and attendees. I have never been to such a well-organized metal festival before. It was a breath of fresh air, honestly! All of the event staff looked like they were having a wonderful time at the festival themselves. It really set a welcoming and exciting tone for the entire festival to see how much passion this team had for this event and to see how well they treated everyone else involved. Huge kudos to this team! Additionally, all of the vendors were interesting, and I thought that all of the food trucks were reasonably priced. Everyone dreads the prices of food and drink at festivals, but I really appreciated that these vendors and food trucks had prices that wouldn’t break the bank between the two days of fun. To put things into perspective, at one food truck I saw that water was only $2! There was also a station set up that had refillable root beer for the whole event if you purchased one of their mugs! The options were wonderful and plentiful. These additions definitely would keep me coming to the festival for years to come.

The day started off with a bang with Unhealthy While Unhinged (otherwise known as UWU) setting a precedent of excitement and energy for the rest of the day. This set was very fun. My friend and I are still blasting their music, even weeks later. They definitely made their mark on us and on the rest of the crowd.

Another fun act that I was excited to see was Gorgatron. They are a death metal band based out of North Dakota. I have seen them a few times over my travels the past few years, and they are always a blast to see perform. This set was no different than the times I had seen them before!

It is really hard to quickly summarize this whole event day, because there were so many noteworthy bands on this bill! Dying Oath, Ignominious, Traverse the Abyss, Visitant, and Nail Bite were all bands I was stoked to see. Many of them are good friends of mine, both old and new. I believe each of these bands is truly wonderful and full of incredible talent.

Another band that has snuck their way into my music rotation is Aight Bet. They are a band based out of Chicago that describes themselves as “Hoodcore.” They immediately caught my ear with their heavy beatdown sound mixed with hip-hop. I hadn’t heard of them before this event, but I am happy to have found another interesting band to add into my mix.

Quickly, this lively day settled into the evening with the headlining acts taking the stage. I blinked, and before I knew it, Ov Sulfur was performing on the main stage. They were also a band that I had never seen before this event, but they sounded wonderful! The crowd was still going strong. There were entertainers in the crowd as well that included a fire breather and several light-bespeckled dancers.

Within the Ruins was the next act. It was very exciting to see them perform on this bill. Despite their wild sound, everything translated well into a live setting.

Last but not least, the main event headliner took the stage. Dying Fetus! It was so cool to see such an iconic band headlining this event. They are such an influential band for metal, and it was very cool to finally be able to see them perform. They sounded phenomenal. Their entire set was perfect. I think it was a great way to finish off the event. Everyone was getting tired from the excitement of the entire day, but those that I passed in the crowd were watching in amazement.

Overall, MMF was a huge success in my eyes. I had so much fun, and I am really sad that it is over! The last time I went to this festival was back in 2018, and it is so awesome to see just how much this festival has grown in size. Thank you to Steve Maple, and thank you to your incredibly passionate team for keeping this festival alive! The major thing that made me want to attend this year was seeing that so many hardworking, friendly, passionate, and entertaining bands from all over the United States were going to be performing. All of the bands that performed are just as passionate about music as the staff that puts this festival on. I truly can’t wait to see what next year holds for this event. I know planning has already started. The dates for MMF 2026 have already been announced to be August 14th and 15th. Early bird sales for tickets will be going on sale soon as well! Based on this year and the recent years past, I would highly recommend that any avid metal listener should go ahead and snag some tickets! You won’t be disappointed!

Obviously, there were so many amazing and talented bands that performed this year. I wish I could talk about all of them, but this article would be SO long if I did. If you want a taste of the Michigan Metalfest experience yourself, or just want to relive the experience, please take some time to check out the Michigan Metalfest 2025 playlist below!