The Obscene Extreme America festival makes its Montreal debut this week

Obscene Extreme dates back to 1999, with founder Miroslav “Curby” Urbanec putting on the massive outdoor “freak friendly extreme music festival” each year in the Czech Republic. Encompassing a wide-ranging swath of extreme music under its inclusive umbrella, Obscene Extreme focuses on death metal, punk, grind-core, crust and noise, with each edition of the festival featuring a mix of established acts and newer bands.

Apart from an ill-fated edition in Mexico in 2013, this year marks only the second time Obscene Extreme has taken place in North America, running from August 20-23 at various venues in Montreal. While Obscene Extreme America doesn’t necessarily have the same level of headliners as the European version, for an inaugural edition the lineup is pretty exciting, featuring grind-core legends Agathocles, Dropdead, Trap Them, Broken Hope, Immolation and dozens more.

You have to admire Urbanec’s tenacity in booking a festival of this scope from across the globe, in a city not exactly lacking in summer festivals. There may be some miss-steps (the cavernous Telus Theatre is an odd choice for the main shows), but Urbanec’s sheer enthusiasm about the festival, and Montreal as the host city, is contagious.

Here’s hoping the inaugural Montreal edition does well enough to become an annual event, as the festival hits the sweet spot right between the more mainstream Heavy Montreal in early August, and the punk-oriented Varning Fest in September. Below is the festival’s full weekend schedule. For tickets and up-to-date info, visit www.obscene-extreme.com/fr.