Milwaukee Metal Fest preview with Vacant Voice, Surefire, Casket Robbery

Welcome back to Milwaukee Metal Monthly, the column where I chat with pleasant people who play unpleasant music.

This month I’m doing a preview of Milwaukee Metal Fest that’s taking place during the first weekend in June. As such, I’ve expanded beyond Milwaukee. I spoke to three Wisconsin bands that are playing the festival, including one Milwaukee band.

First up is the Racine-based quintet Vacant Voice, consisting of unclean vocalist Sean Madden, guitarist and clean vocalist Mikeal Dollak Posch, guitarist Ethan Taylor, bassist Ryan Katka, and drummer Shane Murphy. I spoke to Posch in late April at Black Dawn Tattoo where he works full-time as a tattoo artist. (Contact him via Facebook if you’re interested in gettin’ some ink.) Posch is a helluva nice dude who’s thoughtful and kind, which allowed for an enjoyable and informative conversation.

Vacant Voice’s early stuff might be classified as post-hardcore or perhaps melodic metalcore. With their last few singles, though, there’s been a shift towards beat down-style hardcore. (For how heavy they can get, it should be noted that Posch’s singing is stunningly delicate. Here he is doing a superb vocal cover of Julien Baker.) Given that Madden’s a fairly new addition, I ask if his joining shifted the band’s sound.

“I don’t think that Sean affected it really,” says Posch. “Some of the newer music that we’ve been working on—particularly ‘Waste’ and ‘Code Red’—we had those songs written a while ago with our old vocalist. Over the last couple years, we’ve all really started to enjoy the process of making heavier music. We still really love some of the foundational elements that we embraced before—more metalcore-y, sort of post-hardcore-y kinda stuff—but I think we’ve started focusing more on having fun as much as can, and I think the natural direction of that has just been like, ‘What can we make that’s gonna sound kind of ridiculous and also be fun?’”

The “fun” aspect may be surprising given that the band is overtly political. They’ve posted about “us[ing] music to try to make a difference in the world” and about ICE, and they’ve got an “Anti Bigot” shirt as part of their merch. Additionally, they’ve played social-issue shows like Pride Metal Fest 2025 and Life After Hate 2026. They even did a pro-Palestine cover of Rage Against The Machine’s “Freedom.” In other words, they try to incorporate that as much as possible.

“Everything that we do outside of and alongside writing, we try to involve the things that we believe in as best we can,” says Posch. “Ya know, like doing the Palestine Children’s Relief Fundraiser, or trying to raise money for food drives, or doing a food drive at our merch table—stuff like that.”

Their lyrics are often political, too. During our conversation, I highlight VV’s song “Quiet Decay” as a way to discuss their interest in writing political material. “‘Quiet Decay’ was obviously kind of our ode to Aldo Leopold,” explains Posch. “Our drummer is an ecologist, so he brought the concept to the table, and I fell in love with it. I read Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and I was like, ‘This is beautiful. We need to talk about this.’ We are all politically active. We all know history very well, especially our bass player, Ryan—huge history buff. And I’m also a history buff. Obviously, without knowing what came before us, things will persist and happen again.”

(Fun fact: There’s an excellent piece on The Aldo Leopold Foundation’s website about the intersection of Leopold and Vacant Voice, and includes a history of the band.)

And then Posch concludes his point with a bit of a mic drop: “It’s definitely something that we’ve never been quiet about. My great-grandmother was in Auschwitz, so I don’t give a fuck. Some people come at me and they’ll be crazy. And every now and then we’ll make a post that definitely shows what we believe in, and people will come outta the woodwork to be like, ‘Didn’t know you guys were sissies.’” (He later offers this just-in-case clarification via Facebook Messenger: “I mentioned my grandmother being in a concentration camp, specifically my followup sentence about not caring what people think. I think what I meant to say moreso is that, because of my familial history, I feel a responsibility to try and give a platform to the disenfranchised as best as I can, and we all feel that way as a group.”)

So it’s possible—plausible, even—that the band will make their, ahem, voices heard when they play Milwaukee Metal Fest on June 7. Interestingly, the story behind how that came to be is sitcom-y. “I reached out to [the organizers],” recalls Posch. “I almost tattooed at Metal Fest last year. The logistics didn’t line up, but I was like—and I said this in my email—I kinda just figured maybe I can reach out to the same email [again] and maybe get it done. And I didn’t think it was gonna happen ’cause I didn’t hear anything for a while. And then I was in the middle of a concealed-carry class, and I got an email. It was like, ‘We have one slot open. Do you guys want it? Let me know tonight.’ And I was like, ‘Oh shit.’ [He mimes typing on his phone secretly.] ‘Yes please.’”

Since Posch and I spoke, they’ve been busy. They played River City Slam on May 2, and they’re playing Beloit on May 22, and Oshkosh on May 23. (That last one’s a fundraiser for St. Jude’s.) Then, of course, they’re set to play Metal Fest. But that’s about it for a while.

“We don’t really have much booked past that at the moment,” says Posch. “We have some things that are in the works, but we’re mostly just kinda taking the rest of the year to put out the new songs and play some shows, hopefully supporting those songs. But we’re takin’ it bite by bite right now.”

Next up, we’ve got the Milwaukee-based Metal Fest vets Surefire, who played last year, and who released an excellent EP called Endorphins back in January. Their current lineup is vocalist Joseph Coleman, guitarists Cameron Padget and Jake Heckel, and drummer Devin Taylor. (They’re currently backtracking bass for shows.)

I had an enjoyable and amusing conversation with their vocalist Joseph Coleman, a truly decent human who’s about as altruistic as anyone I’ve interviewed. (Example: “It just makes me happy to see my peers and friends thriving. I think with everything going on in the world right now, it’s good to see positive things coming out of my friends and their endeavors.”) Additionally, he’s humble enough to fact-check himself during our conversation. Oh, and he’s full of salient observations, too. Here he is on modern marketing for bands: “A lot of people have the misconception that if you just dump money into just Spotify ads or Google ads that you’ll see a return on things. I’ve come very quickly to realize that a lot of it is social media, and if you can find someone that’s willing to collaborate with you on social media, it helps you much more than a lot of typical ad campaigns will.”

Surefire · Endorphins

Coleman’s also a goofball. He—and the rest of the band, really—has a silly sense of humor. Thus, I ask how he reconciles silliness with Surefire being a deathcore band. “I think that even though it’s a business and the stuff we write is heavy or very emotional, I think finding a way to kind of lighten that serious tone is the best way to connect to people,” says Coleman. “Anyone can put a song out and go, ‘I wrote this about the darkest point in my life. This is what that is.’ If that’s the only way you’re trying to portray yourself, I feel like you’re limiting your sense of artistic creativeness. It’s best to just present that as, ‘Hey, this is what it is, but here’s a funny way to look at it.’”

He then clarifies that guitarist Padget is behind most of their posts: “In all honesty, I don’t make those memes. Cameron usually does. My sense of humor is very much eco or green or animals. Hence, the frog shirt that we had a while back.”

And Coleman is really into frogs. “I dunno how to describe it,” he says. “It makes me happy to look at them, ya know? They have two brain cells that are constantly trying to figure out what the other one wants to do. I have a frog tattoo, as well. There’s actual meaning behind the tattoo, which is kinda silly, even though it’s just a frog sitting on a mushroom. But I’ve just always been drawn to amphibians and reptiles in general. And frogs just kinda stuck more than the others, I guess.”

The frog thing stems from Coleman’s overall love of animals. “I’ve always been a big fan of critters in general. When I was a kid, I had two house toads, and I had a whole aquarium for them. One of them was Sir Toadus, and I don’t remember the name of the younger one.” I laugh, then he reacts. “It’s so silly, right? I’ve always been surrounded by animals. I had two cocker spaniels growing up. Then I had my frogs. Then we had hermit crabs. Then we had fish. Then we had another dog. Right now, I have a cat. His name is Mango.”

As for their music, there’s a curious thing about Surefire’s catalog. If you use Spotify, for example, Surefire’s popular songs have tens of thousands of streams, with the most-popular one sitting at about 96,000 as of this writing. And then there’s the anomaly called “Salt The Wound,” which is currently sitting at 1.1 million. The reason, it turns out, relates to this TikTok meme involving Godzilla. I’d be failing at my job if I didn’t ask what the deal was with that, so I did.

“I had commissioned Brandon [Watson] in the past for some content that he put out on BrandonBreakdown,” says Coleman. “One day he reaches out to me and goes, ‘Dude, I came across this clip for Godzilla. I’m gonna throw ‘Salt The Wound’ in, and I’m gonna post it. I think it’ll do really well.’ And then literally the first day it passed a hundred-and-five thousand likes. And it was really jaw-dropping. I could have never imagined we would’ve had an experience like that this early on. A lotta bands, they’re playing shows and making music for closer to eight to ten years before they really start seeing huge opportunities [come] their way. That one is currently sitting at, like, 3.1 million views on Instagram alone, if I’m not mistaken. Which, to me, is just mind-blowing.”

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Whether or not Surefire is gonna be defined by a single song that’s blown up on social media, Coleman has thoughts on that. “I love that song, I really do,” he says. “But every time I’m like, ‘Hey, have you heard our band?’, they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’ve heard ‘Salt The Wound.’ It’s like, ‘Please pick another song. Please, any other song.’”

I then ask if “Salt The Would” is for Surefire what “Creep” is for Radiohead. He laughs, then answers. “Part of me is like, ‘Yeah, I love doing that song. The breakdown at the end is so much fun to do. But I think that we have a few other songs that we’re working on right now that could be more defining. But, again, that’s not really up to me, right? The general listeners decide what song that they like listening to the most. Everyone has their own perspective on art and has their own takeaway on why it was written, what it’s about, all of that stuff. If we had a song that got to that point, and billions of people knew that song because they’ve heard it from everyone, I would not be upset at all. I would love that. But I hope we’re not a one-hit wonder.”

As mentioned, Surefire are returning to Metal Fest on June 7, and this time they’re playing The Room. “They’re having us play the Ballroom stage, which is—I’m still trying to process it,” says Coleman. “I think the day of that show, I’m going to be just starstruck because playing The Rave in itself is such an honor. And the fact that we’ve played it so many times, and they’ve had us back so many times, it’s very humbling to think about the growth that we’ve had, the work that we’ve put in, and how some of it is starting to come back at us. We’re starting to be able to eat a piece of the pie, so to say. And I’m still starstruck that they were willing to do that for us. I believe in my guys a lot, and I believe in what we can do, and it makes me happy to see that the blood, sweat, and tears are finally starting to bear a little bit of fruit.”

As for what’s next, the main focus is new music. “After [Metal Fest], I think we’re locking in and doing the first LP, is what I believe the conversation is right now,” says Coleman. “We’ve all been busy the past month or so. Like, [Taylor and Padget] with Dead/Awake. Me with my new band. It’s been hectic and it’s been busy, but in a good way. And I’m excited to see what we do in the next year, because the past year has been wonderful, and I’m grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to us.”

The final band this month is a Madison-based death metal quintet with the most Metal Fest experience, having played it in 2023 and 2024. They’re called Casket Robbery, consisting of vocalist Megan Orvold-Scheider, guitarists Cory Scheider and Troy Powell, bassist Troy Powell, and drummer Austin Vicars. (Fun fact #2: Their rhythm section is also in Illusion Of Fate, a Milwaukee band that was briefly discussed in February’s installment.)

To get some perspective on being two-time Metal Fest alums, scary stuff, and fan-band relationships, I spoke to Orvold-Scheider via phone call. (She gave a quick history of the band, but if you’re looking for something in-depth, check out her appearance on the Put Up Your Dukes podcast from 2023.)

Casket Robbery has a, let’s say, penchant for evil and darkness, but there’s also a tongue-in-cheek aspect. Two quick examples: their “Beer, Cheese, Serial Killers” T-shirt, and their song “I Did Coke With Billy Mays.” Meanwhile, Orvold-Scheider is a sweet, enthusiastic, and lovely human who uses “super-fun” and “gosh” unironically, so it might come as a shock that the person onstage growling and bellowing about Countess Báthory and the dead coming back to life seems to be an entirely different entity. Additionally, Orvold-Scheider voiced a character in Dead By Daylight. She’s part of The Monster Factory, and explains why metal vocalists are good at voicing creatures thusly: “The whole thing is, metal vocalists can make these monster sounds organically, and are able to sustain that longer than most people.”

The obvious question, then, is whether or not that personality split between on- and off-stage is intentional. “It wasn’t,” explains Orvold-Scheider with a laugh. “When I joined Casket, I was terrified. I had been in a band previously that was a metalcore band where I sang half the time and screamed a little bit but not much. And the cool thing about Casket is that I was able to jump into this first tour that I did with them, and I got to become this terrifying little creature night after night. And that just kinda morphed to what it is now, and I just have so much fun. It’s definitely a dichotomy of my personality and the way that I talk. I love it. I love being this weird little creature that terrifies everyone.”

Which fits right in with their horror-film aesthetic. “We take a lot of influence from horror and horror movies, spooky things,” confirms Orvold-Scheider. “Cory’s big thing is he wants a song, at least musically, to be immersive—like, you’re watching a horror movie—and so I try and play on that. I am a deathcare professional, and I draw upon that. And we love spooky things, so we watch a lot of horror, and I take a lot of inspiration from that, too.”

It follows, then, that many of their songs are effective horror vignettes. Take, for example, the opening to “Worm Food” about being buried alive: “Your eyes slowly open, but nothing can be seen / Your cries go unanswered, only echoes of your screams / Reaching out, fingers graze splintered wood / You’re in a cage.”

And while the common intersection between heavy metal and horror is not a new observation, Orvold-Scheider has some insight on why. “It’s those things that we don’t talk about a whole lot but are there,” she observes. “And it’s a good outlet to be able to be like, ‘Oh, that’s really messed up. Let’s get that out, and not in a violent way or anything.’ It’s just a way to use art in that way. But, yeah, there is a very big overlap between metal and horror.”

That certainly helps to explain why the band’s fans are referred to, collectively and affectionately, as the Casket Crew. “We really do have the best fans ever,” Orvold-Scheider says about halfway through our conversation. “Cultivating our relationships with our fans over the years has been my favorite part.”

So that’s what you can expect when they play Metal Fest on June 5. Being that this is Casket Robbery’s third appearance, I ask if there’s a difference now. “We know kind of what to expect now with playing it,” Orvold-Scheider says. “That first year, I was a bundle of nerves the entire time. And then we had [Exodus vocalist] Rob Dukes introduce us there, and I was terrified. The second year we got to play the [Rave] Ballroom. I have grown up in southern Wisconsin and Madison, and I would go to The Rave for all of the shows. So, being able to play there with so many of my favorite musicians was insane.

“This year we’re so excited to be back,” she continues. “We’ve added a little bit to our stage show. We have added new music that we’re working on with our new album. We’re gonna play it there. We are gonna throw back to the ten-year anniversary of [Casket Robbery’s debut album] Evolution Of Evil and throw something in there. So that’s what we’ve kinda been planning to do.” At the end of our conversation she adds, “Please say hi. We plan to be there the entire time. That’s really important to us. I’m usually literally running from band to band trying to see as much as I can.”