NEWS

Chris Harris of MTV.com reports:

Fans of the nihilistic underground genre descend upon San Antonio, Texas, for the festival's ninth year.

Usually, when someone sneezes and you mutter a polite "God bless you," you get an automatic, usually meaningless "Thank you" in return. But say as much at the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child Festival, and you'll be met with a menacing scowl — if not worse.

That's because the Sacrifice Of The Nazarene Child — the ninth installment of which unfolded this past weekend in San Antonio, Texas, at the Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar (motto: "When life hits you hard, hit Rock Bottom") — is a bestial, booze-filled gathering of some of the blackest, most Satanic metal bands on the planet.

The SOTNC Festival has become an annual destination for dozens of dedicated disciples of this sinister, underground genre, who — donning their M60 bullet belts, black Doc Marten boots, billy-goat beards, pentagram necklaces, and CORPSE MOLESTATION and ANAL VOMIT T-shirts - have traveled from as far away as France for an entire day of blasphemous, face-melting noise.

It's the impressive bill - boasting obscure acts like GOSPEL OF THE HORNS, NOSVROLOK, DEVASTATOR, PROSANCTUS INFERI and NUCLEAR DESECRATION - that summoned most of these tatted hellions to the home of the Alamo. This year's biggest draw is Profanatica, which was formed during the late-1980s in New York by frontman Paul Ledney and guitarist John Gelso. Saturday's gig was the influential band's first since 2001, and will, in all likelihood, be its last for some time. Why? Well, as one devoted fan reasoned, "It wouldn't be special, otherwise."

Read the full story here.