Something is brewing in the northeast corner of the Hoosier State: an electrifying new festival ready to rattle the underground metal scene of Fort Wayne. This is, of course, Shamrock Slaughter Fest. Two days of hardcore metal mayhem coming right to Indiana's doorstep. Two stages and twenty-eight bands spread out across March 13th and 14th. Headlined by the legendary Incantation, this is a coming together of the music community that you aren't going to want to miss. More than just a show, Shamrock Slaughter Fest is sure to be a phenomenon. On top of being a carnival of mind-melting performances, Shamrock Slaughter Fest is an open invitation to give back to Fort Wayne and show the city what it means to be a metalhead. I got the chance to catch up with festival organizer Braxton Keyser to discuss the details of the festival and what exactly it is that it's bringing to Fort Wayne.
What made you decide on Fort Wayne as the location for Shamrock Slaughter Fest?
"I’ve been going to and playing festivals for decades, and one thing I’ve always believed is that you don’t need a massive market city to build something special. Fort Wayne sits in a really great central hub in the United States, which makes it easy for fans to travel in from all directions. For me, it was about proving that a city like this can host a serious underground extreme metal festival and bring people together from all over the country and beyond. Fort Wayne has a strong music history and great venues, so it felt like the perfect place to build something like Shamrock Slaughter Fest. Great festivals aren’t defined by the size of the city — they’re defined by the passion of the scene."
What can you tell me about the inception of Shamrock Slaughter Fest?
"It was something I had thought about doing for years. I’ve always had a deep love for the underground extreme metal scene and the community that comes with it. Originally, it actually started as a pretty small idea. I was just planning to throw a birthday show for myself with maybe five bands. Well… that plan went completely out the window. Once I started talking to bands, things escalated pretty quickly. It turns out when you try to book five bands, sometimes you accidentally end up creating a two-day extreme metal festival."
What was the process of organizing a music festival like?
"Honestly… controlled chaos. There are a lot of moving parts — booking bands, coordinating schedules, production, vendors, promotion — and somehow making it all land in the same place at the same time. It’s a lot to manage, but that’s the reality when you decide to build a festival from the ground up… sometimes you just learn as you go and hope everything doesn’t catch on fire."
What do music festivals mean to you?
"For me, festivals are where the whole scene comes together. You’ve got bands, fans, artists, labels, photographers — people traveling from all over for the same reason. It’s more than just shows. It’s reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in years, discovering new bands, and just being surrounded by people who love the same crazy music you do. It’s kind of like a family reunion… just louder."
Do you have a favorite memory from a festival you would like to share?
"One of my favorite things about festivals is just seeing the energy of the crowd. When a room is packed, and everyone is locked into the same moment — pits going, people screaming every word, the whole place moving — that’s something you never forget. Those are the moments that remind you why this scene is so special. And sometimes the moments where everything goes completely off the rails end up being the stories everyone talks about later."
What are you doing to give back to the community that is hosting Shamrock Slaughter Fest?
"Giving back to the community was important to me from the start. This year, we’re partnering with Incantation’s food drive and collecting non-perishable food donations during the festival that will go to Community Harvest Food Bank here in Fort Wayne. If people can bring something to donate while they’re coming out to watch bands, that’s a great way for the metal community to help families in need locally. Metal might look aggressive from the outside, but the community behind it has a big heart."
For anyone who can't attend Shamrock Slaughter Fest in person, how can they contribute to Incantation?
"For anyone who can’t attend the festival but still wants to help, they can always donate directly to Community Harvest Food Bank. Supporting your local food bank is one of the best ways to help families in need in your own community. It’s a simple thing, but it can make a big difference."
Music festivals have been aiding and progressing American culture for decades. What inspired you to join that tradition of helping and entertaining people?
"Music has always had a way of bringing people together. Festivals have been doing that for decades — giving people a place to escape for a weekend, experience something powerful, and be around others who love the same music. In our own way, Shamrock Slaughter Fest is about doing the same thing for the extreme metal scene. Bringing people together, creating an experience they’ll remember, and helping the community at the same time through things like the food drive."
What hopes do you have for this year’s Shamrock Slaughter Fest?
"Honestly, I just hope people walk away feeling like they were part of something special. We’ve got a lot of great bands, people traveling in from different places, and a lot of work that’s gone into making the weekend happen. At the end of the day, I just want people to have a great time, discover some new bands, reconnect with friends, and leave thinking it was a weekend worth the trip. And hopefully, they’ll want to come back next year and help continue to make this thing grow."
Do you think there is any merit to the stereotype of metalheads looking mean but actually being some of the nicest people?
"I think there’s definitely some truth to that. Metal might look intense from the outside, but the people in this scene are some of the most genuine and welcoming people you’ll ever meet. A lot of us bond over the music, but what keeps people around is the community. Once you’re part of it, you realize pretty quickly it’s not about looking tough — it’s about supporting the bands, supporting each other, and keeping the scene alive. Like they say, never judge a book by its cover."
Is there anything our readers can do to get involved or help out with the festival?
"The biggest thing people can do is show up and be part of it. Come out, support the bands, check out the vendors, and bring a non-perishable food donation if you can. And if you enjoy the festival, tell people about it. Festivals like this don’t grow because of advertising budgets — they grow because the scene gets behind them. That’s really how something like this keeps getting bigger every year."
What kind of opportunities has this festival generated for Hoosiers?
"Since this is our first year, we’re really just getting things started. We do have local vendors involved, and we’re supporting Community Harvest Food Bank here in Fort Wayne through the food drive. I’m a union worker by day, so I’m always supportive of anything that helps create jobs and opportunities in the community. My hope is that with the hype around the festival and word of mouth, the city and I can continue working together as this thing grows. If everything goes well, something like this can bring more people into Fort Wayne each year and continue building into something bigger for the community."
Is Shamrock Slaughter Fest a fixture that Hoosiers can look forward to again next year?
"That’s definitely the goal. This is the first year, so right now the focus is on making this one the best experience possible for everyone coming out. If people support it and the scene gets behind it, I’d love to see Shamrock Slaughter Fest continue to grow into something people look forward to every year — not just Hoosiers, but people traveling in from all over the country and even around the world. Like anything in the underground scene, it lives or dies by the support of the people who care about it."
Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
"First off, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I really appreciate the opportunity to shine a little light on our scene and on what we’re trying to build with Shamrock Slaughter Fest. The underground extreme metal community is full of passionate people and incredibly talented musicians, and it’s great any time we get a chance to share that with a wider audience. And to everyone coming out to the festival — thank you for supporting it. This is just the beginning, and we’re excited to see where it goes from here. To stay current with announcements, lineup news, and everything happening with the festival, follow Shamrock Slaughter Fest on our social media pages."
Give to Community Harvest Food Bank:
