For the past five years, Barely Breathing V has become one of the Northeast’s essential gatherings for participants of the powerviolence, grindcore, power electronics, harsh noise, and other strains of underground extreme music. Organized by Baby Chico Records and Syrup Head Recordings, the festival has steadily grown without abandoning the DIY principles that gave it its identity in the first place. The event will take place at Mr. Beery’s in Bethpage, New York (with the kickoff pre-show at The Calling Bell in Huntington, NY.
Several artists will perform live for the first time, debuting at Barely Breathing V. With extreme displeasure I am sad to share that one those debuts, Shotgun Cock, featuring members of Metrorrhagia and Morgue had canceled due to the untimely death of Travis Bickle, whose spirit will be honored in this version of the festival, including many more to come. Abortion Breath, the latest project from Jason Hodges (Suppression, Brown Piss, Oozing Meat); Matsunaga Was Right, featuring members of Couple Skate; Urethral Carnage, with members of Groin and High On Formaldehyde; and Malarkey, featuring members of Harvester, Agonesiac, and Bloat.
The festival will also host a one-time collaborative performance between Maggot Mulch, the project of Adam Rotella (Anal Birth), and Deterge, adding another exclusive set to a weekend built around projects that rarely—or in some cases, never—share a stage.
*UPDATE*
Unfortunately, DIURETIC, HARVESTER, MALARKEY and THIS WORLD IS DEAD had to drop from the main show as well as PURITY CONTROL from the pre-show.
AQUATIC DEATH INVESTIGATIONS, MALIGNANT HYPOTHERMIA and REEKING PIECES have been added to the main show!
What has always separated Barely Breathing from larger heavy music festivals is its emphasis on community rather than spectacle. Labels set up next to touring bands. Artists spend as much time talking with attendees as they do performing. New projects receive the same attention as established names. The festival functions less as a showcase and more as a meeting point for a scene that stretches well beyond Long Island.
FRIDAY AUGUST 14 line up
Afterbirth (LI)
Agonesiac (PA)
Criticality (LI)
Deliriant Nerve (DC)
Dopescab (NH/LI)
Sulfuric Cautery (CA)
Suspect Unknown (???)
Thin (NYC)
Masticated Polyps (VA/CA)
SATURDAY AUGUST 15 line up
Abortion Breath (VA)
Aquatic Death Investigations (TX)
Bardo (NYC)
Eroneko (LI)
Fermented Mess (LI)
Gaterror (PA)
Groin (AZ)
Maggot Mulch/Deterge Collab Set (LI/PA)
Malform (DC)
Malignant Hypothermia (CA)
Matsunaga Was Right (OH) FIRST SHOW
Metrorrhagia (TX)
Penis Geyser (OH)
Pillowbiter (NYC)
Purge Liquids (TX)
Repugnant Consumption (TX)
Reeking Pieces (NYC)
The Rocker Show (PA)
Shunt (PA)
Sinister Feeling (MD)
Youth In Asia (NH)
As Mr. Beery’s prepares to close its doors, Barely Breathing V stands as both a milestone and a transition. Five years in, the festival has established itself as a fixture within the DIY extreme music landscape while remaining committed to the values that made it possible: independent promotion, carefully curated lineups, and creating space for the underground to gather on its own terms.
Barely Breathing V runs August 13–15, with the Thursday noise pre-show at The Calling Bell in Huntington and the main festival August 14–15 at Mr. Beery’s in Bethpage. Tickets, weekend passes, and the complete lineup are available at barelybreathing.org.
Weekend pass holders will also get discounted entry for the official pre-show on Thursday 8/13 @ The Calling Bell in Huntington.
PRE-SHOW LINEUP*
Degloved/Hydrops Fetalis Collab Set (VA/NY)
Grooming/Pacing Animal Collab Set (NY/NY)
Half Decayed (LI)
Hilary Snuff (PA) FIRST SHOW
Morrison Shelter (LI)
Stress Orphan (NYC)
Viodre/Purity Control/Swollen Organs Collab Set (LI/CO/LI)
As the festival closes the chapter on its run at Mr. Beery’s, Barely Breathing looks set to deliver one final weekend of relentless performances and a celebration of the underground extreme music community.
REMEBERING TRAVIS SCOTT GEARHART (1987-2026)
Travis Bickle was the stage name of underground American/Canadian goregrind and noise musician Tyler Scott Gearhart (1987–2026), who played drums for the extreme metal project Morgue Tar alongside other underground bands like Bestial Putrefaction and Spastic Tumor. While Shotgun Cock were due to perform at the festival, though will no longer due to the unfortunate and untimely passing of Travis.
“We all knew Tyler through his undying love for D-beat, gore, horror movies and other underground oddities. He displayed a unique passion for the things he loved and few people can be defined as committed and integral to the underground as he was. He genuinely loved everything he was passionate about in our scene, and it showed through his music, bands, drumming, art and collecting, none of which was ever done for gimmick or fashionable life phases, but for genuine and undying love for the game. Tyler would have devoted the rest of his life to crust, gore, horror and underground art and subculture for the rest of his life, and we all know he would have.
Our deepest and most sincere condolences go out to Tyler’s family, his girlfriend, his closest friends, bandmates and collaborators. You will be missed Tyler, the world just got a little bit colder without you.”
– Sentient Ruin
