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Danzig, Morbid Angel, S.O.D. Headline Extreme-Metal Fest

Small but fervent crowd comes out for three-stage weekend event dubbed November to Dismember.

SAN ANTONIO — The crowd at the inaugural November to Dismember heavy-metal festival Friday and Saturday was small but dedicated.

About 2,000 fans came to the Live Oak Civic Center for the two-day,

three-stage display of extreme metal, featuring Morbid Angel, Danzig, Stormtroopers of Death and a reunited Samhain.

Among the faithful was Joe Keyser, 22, of San Antonio, who severed an artery in his left wrist Friday when broken glass exploded out of the ring during a demonstration of self-mutilation wrestling. The wrestling event was one of a variety of sideshows at the fest.

On Saturday, Keyser, his arm heavily bandaged, was back at the Civic

Center and videotaping a contest in which fans tried to out-gross each

other. The winner, whose name was not released by the contest's sponsor,

Corpse Gristle Records, of Dallas, downed mouthfuls of raw meat, animal eyeballs and — after taking a swig from a liquor bottle — what was said to be a handful of fresh human feces, served in Tupperware.

"I held the bag" in which the feces were delivered, Keyser boasted. "It's awesome."

For his efforts, the contest winner scored 30 CDs,15 T-shirts and $100.

Despite that kind of fanaticism, organizers said they were disappointed

by the turnout. They were hoping for a crowd of at least 3,000 in a city that is often called the heavy-metal capital of the world (because bands such as Judas Priest, Triumph and Riot were championed early in their careers by San Antonio radio).

Promoter Jack Koshick, renowned in metal circles for his 13-year-old Milwaukee Metalfest, which drew 9,000 fans in July, wouldn't say whether there would be a second November to Dismember festival here next year. He said he is planning an extreme-metal blowout for Los Angeles in May.

Leather-clad death-rockers, Mohawk-wearing punks, Goth kids, tattooed women and old headbangers inside the Civic Center — a stark, cavernous, 26,000-square-foot hall with a low ceiling and cement floor — were seemingly oblivious to the implications of the sparse turnout. They were here to rock.

They weren't disappointed. The distorted sonic siege was constant.

"Is this proof enough that metal is not dead?" Morbid Angel's singer Steve Tucker asked.

The first real slamdancing and stagediving of the festival came during Friday night's set by the Anthrax offshoot Stormtroopers of Death. They made a humorous midnight entrance to the strains of "We Are the World" and got the slamdancers moving with "Kill Yourself" (RealAudio excerpt).

Singer Billy Milano beckoned to "mis amigos," before singing "Speak English or Die." Next, they did "Fuck the Middle East."

Saturday was highlighted by a double dose of horror-metal veteran Glenn Danzig. First up was Samhain, the nightmare-punk band that he fronted between the 1983 breakup of the original version of his band, the Misfits, and his forming Danzig. He recently reunited Samhain to open for Danzig on a concert tour that continues into December.

One fan climbed up some electrical wiring and hung from the suspended

lighting system, swaying precariously overhead while Samhain banged out

the punk-metal tune "The Birthing" (RealAudio

excerpt).

"In the early '80s, Samhain started something different," said Donnie Hawthorne, 21, of Dallas, who said he came Saturday only to see Samhain.

Danzig disappeared backstage and smeared his bare chest with something resembling blood before reappearing for "Mother of Mercy," strutting and clutching his microphone as if he were gripping a dumbbell.

Samhain done, a leather-clad Danzig returned with his current band for a 15-song set that included "Satan's Child" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Lilin" from Danzig's new album, 6:66 Satan's Child, as well as "Her Black Wings," "Dirty Black Summer" and "Mother."

Except for the headliners, all of the bands played for free, according to Koshick. Many traveled thousands of miles.

Laughing Dog sounded nothing like their name — they played growling, harsh metal — but Pissing Razors sounded like theirs.

Mexico City's Makina and Transmetal played impressive sets in English. Makina offered "Nymphomaniac" and the hilarious "Cabrón Pinche," which they dedicated to President Clinton; the latter song's title translates roughly to "Cheap Bastard."

Makina's lead singer, Javier Herrera, said Mexico City has a big metal scene, although many people "still think it's Satan music."

"We're not about Satan, we're about reality," Abel Barrera, of the McAllen, Texas, band Severance, said.

Among the younger acts were New Jersey's Witchmoon, a techno-doom metal band of 18-year-olds promoting their album Upload the Virus. Their shredded clothes, nightmarish makeup, cat-eye contact lenses and cornrowed hair provided visual enhancement as they played such songs as "Catacombs" and "Harvest Moon."

"This is like heaven to me," Cindi Fitch, 30, of San Antonio said as Witchmoon played. "It kicks ass."

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