SHOW REVIEW: CHAOS AND CARNAGE – MAY 6, 2024 – THE ORPHEUM, TAMPA, FL

(Daniel Barkasi provided us the following extensive report on the Tampa stop of the ongoing Chaos & Carnage Tour. All photos by: Brittany Barkasi @Turn off the Thunder)

The tour package dubbed Chaos & Carnage admittedly hasn’t always been a can’t miss for this scribe. Early adoptions didn’t completely appeal to my tastes, though there always have been a band or two that were very much in my wheelhouse. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Some have been outright dismissive of this tour package due to deathcore being a “dirty word,” but I’d argue that it’s way more logical to take each act on their own merits and go from there versus casting a wide net of negativity due to a label. You do you, though!

This year’s edition boasts the most varied and intriguing lineup to date. The mighty Cattle Decapitation are an all-timer, and were announced to be co-headlining with Carnifex. Support comes from Humanity’s Last Breath, Rivers of Nihil, The Zenith Passage, Vitriol, and Face Yourself. That’s a lot of bands that will get the blood pumping, and more importantly for yours truly, a diverse smattering of sound variances which could offer something for even the most discerning.

With seven bands on the billing, it was a late afternoon start at one of our favorite Tampa, Florida locales for shows, The Orpheum. They have two stages – an indoor one for small-ish shows, and an outdoor one for bigger events. This show fell into the latter, giving a mini-festival feel to what undeniably would be one of the heavier evenings of 2024.

 

Face Yourself

https://www.facebook.com/Fyourselfband

Festivities began with Face Yourself – an up-and-coming deathcore act with members from a multitude of geographical locations. Sadly for the band, their lead vocalist Yasmin Liverneaux Belkhodja was unable to join them on this tour, so filling in for most dates is guitarist Corey Doremus, whereas Shadow of Intent’s Ben Duerr would be jumping in for select shows. For this date, we had Doremus taking the helm on a very warm Florida afternoon.

The band thus far has released three EPs in 2023, and have been steadily building forward momentum. Expect a heavy, straightforward approach that leans into high levels of brutality and chunky divebombs and breakdowns that fit sleekly with their aesthetic. The band exerted loads of energy, making time blast by in a flash. Also, is Eric DiCarlo simply the happiest drummer you’ve ever seen? The David Rose-esque shirt and huge smile were quite endearing, and the guy definitely knew his way around the kit. The band had attracted a sizable group that were hanging on by every note, as the venue continued to fill up.

Digging into selections from each of their releases, beginning with “Shadow Self” and  “RED” from their self-titled debut. Their stage presence was effective and lively, attracting more eyes and ears as they continued. The remainder consisted of tracks from Death Reflections and their latest, Tales of Death – highlights being the voracious “Sirens” and a stomping stampede that is “Guillotine.” An overall sturdy performance that teed up the rest of the pandemonium.

 

Vitriol

Modern death metal sensation Vitriol was one of the most anticipated performances for this scribe. The Portland-based act’s debut long player To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice provided a strong introduction, previewing an immense potential. Their long-awaited second record Suffer & Become is much of said promise realized, being one of the most biting and cutthroat albums so far in 2024. Also, I hadn’t seen them live yet, and had heard nothing but positive experiences.

We did wonder if the straight for the jugular viciousness laid down in the studio would translate to the stage fully. Some do struggle to replicate the same explosiveness at a gig. It was evident from the first couple of notes that this wouldn’t be a problem. Vitriol’s live sound is monstrous; hitting the proverbial ground running with “Weaponized Loss” flattening like a steamroller.

The roaring energy flowing from the tandem of bassist/vocalist Adam Roethlisberger and guitarist/vocalist Kyle Rasmussen was instantly impressive. The dynamic of how they play off of each other vocally is a hallmark of their performance, being both unique and extremely compelling. Additionally, the interplay of Rasmussen and guitarist Daniel Martínez is kismet, combining to level a red-hot crowd who were lapping up every bit of what Vitriol was selling.

Two selections from To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice in “Victim” and “The Parting of a Neck” were prudent inclusions to their all too short time allotment. Watching drummer Matt Kilner wreck his kit with nary a care was quite an esteemed pleasure, both on these tracks and throughout. No wonder their sound is so punishing. The maniacal “Shame and Its Afterbirth” is a personal favorite; witnessing it live was a valiant attempt to drag these weary bones out of pit retirement. The will held strong, but many could not resist, and it was a fine sight indeed. Vitriol played their collective asses off in what was one of the standout showcases of the night.

 

The Zenith Passage

https://www.facebook.com/TheZenithPassage

The most intriguing prospect that was an unknown live quantity to me was doubtlessly The Zenith Passage. Playing a heavily jazzy form of tech death, the L.A. based wizards of instrumentation have highly impressed further with every release. With many having been involved in some fashion with The Faceless in the past, their pedigree precedes them. Their latest Datalysium is dizzying as it is surprisingly forward-thinking, and the question of whether they could execute this kind of music on stage was burning. Suffice to say, they lit everything ablaze.

Their display comprised mostly songs from said latest full-length, firstly being the opener in “The Axiom of Error.” An absolute fretboard bonanza to be sure. Watching guitarists Justin McKinney and Christopher Beattie is enough to make me want to stop playing guitar. Precise and passionate, combining to reveal quite the compelling force. Absolutely refreshing in comparison to some of their contemporaries.

Proceedings moved to the band’s inaugural album Solipsist via “Deus Deceptor”, again showcasing the band’s unequivocal skill for all to see. A number of jaws definitively smacked the floor during the fastest portions. “Lexicontagion” showed another side of the band, not only pacey and sharp, but also showing their serene melodic face. McKinney’s clean vocalizations added a welcome contrast to Derek Rydquist’s deeper growls – a tool I’d like to see the band use more often.

Thus far, The Zenith Passage’s most ambitious composition is the two-part “Divinertia,” which the band performed to further awe an already impressed audience. This is where all of the stops were pulled out and their most intuitive material was penned, with the fruits of these efforts translating to the stage magnificently. Many twists and turns about, with portions of the crowd focusing on taking it in while others bounced around in delight. If tech death is what one craves, The Zenith Passage deliver on their own plane of creativity, both on record and under the stage lights. Or in this case, a lot of UV rays.

 

Humanity’s Last Breath

https://www.facebook.com/humanityslastbreath

If there’s any band on this tour that could obliterate the crowd with sheer aura and heaviness, it’s doubtlessly Sweden’s Humanity’s Last Breath. Their mixture of death metal/doom/deathcore with increasingly dark shrouds of atmospheric dissonance is a difficult one to pin down. To anyone who states that deathcore is all formulaic and listless, listen to these fellows and report back. Even the most selective can affirm how potently their music has evolved. They were very high on my list of bands that I had yet to see live, and it was one of those times where expectation was matched and exceeded.

Their sort of heavy is twisted and mangled in ways that stand out, much akin to the likes of Ulcerate and Nightmarer in their discordant complexity. Humanity’s Last Breath additionally ooze the forging of horror-infused atmosphere and bombastic rhythmic pummelings. The band opened with the cornucopia of nightmarish tonality that is “Väldet,” quickly followed by “Abyss Mouth” and its violently chugging affront. Vocalist Filip Danielsson – donning a hooded cloak of sorts that at times covered much of his face – led the charge in the band’s brooding ambience. You feel Humanity’s Last Breath when listening to them, and that element increases in significance on stage.

A band that to these ears has steadily expanded and tightened their approach as time moved forth, it should be of no shock that their latest two albums – 2021’s Välde and 2023’s Ashen – are the ones that we’ve embraced most. Thus, the meat of their exhibition being built with selections from these recordings was peak of what was desired. “Tide” was particularly intoxicating, representing both bone-crunching and melodic viewpoints of the band’s many faces. The response received was inspired – many headbanging along while others raged in a growing mass of humanity that was the pit.

One of the riffiest songs in their catalog, “Labyrinthian”, rumbled the stage like jackhammer on concrete, in what was a standout moment in their concert. The band’s keen sense of both aural and visual atmosphere rises to such a profound level of intensity that most can only dream of equaling, almost conjuring a sort of gloomy haze. The mid-paced and cataclysmic “Passage” further emphasized this.

Further highlights included the frightening number known as “Instill” and the buzzing force that is “Earthless.” Humanity’s Last Breath stepped up to show their capabilities at a truly elite level, while leaving an indelible craving for more. We hope the band’s first foray onto these shores will prove to be a successful one, and with all good fortune, their return to this side of the Atlantic won’t be a distant one. A powerful thrashing that won’t soon be forgotten.

 

Rivers of Nihil

https://www.facebook.com/riversofnihil

It’s been a minute since we’ve caught Rivers of Nihil. Ok, maybe a little more than that. In truth, it’s likely been over a decade since seeing them in support of their first album The Conscious Seed of Light. Since that time period, it’s nearly a different band in many ways, having traversed a much more progressive path than their early days. I’ve enjoyed their transformation significantly, so there was much excitement in seeing them bring the goods in their current makeup.

They released three singles in the last year, the first of which “The Sub-Orbital Blues” was selected to kick things off. A chunky yet melodic piece, layering guttural screams and soaring cleans with weeping leads as the sound traverses from gritty to serene. Third album Where Owls Know My Name had the biggest presence of Rivers of Nihil’s catalog for this tour, firstly with “The Silent Life.” Flexing their ever-present tech death chops, the beginning amounts to a tornado of large riffs. Then the wonderful saxophonist Zach Strouse enters the fray, much to the delight of yours truly. His work in the band can’t be overstated, which began with the band’s aforementioned full-length, bringing a standout dimension that adds immeasurable sensibility to Rivers of Nihil’s sound.

Another new track in “Hellbirds” followed – with the third “Criminals” being played later on –  possibly giving a glimpse into the future with a touch of synth ambience wrapped around merciless guitar work, courtesy of Andy Thomas and Brody Uttley. These songs are also the first since the departure of vocalist Jake Dieffenbach, with bassist Adam Biggs taking up the lead vocal duties. Biggs does an excellent job both on their new recordings and in a live setting, reassuringly proving the band’s path forward without a drop in quality or dynamic.

The lone track from the masterful The Work would be “The Void From Which No Sound Escapes.” A stirringly cinematic composition – one of the band’s finest for this guy’s money – and it came off just as smooth as on album. Not an easy piece to pull off either, with so many layers, but Rivers of Nihil did so poignantly. I can’t praise Mr. Strouse enough. The live saxophone just adds so damn much, most of all here. It’s comparable when synthwave superstars The Midnight bring out Justin Klunk to serenade everyone with his silky saxiness.

Finishing with two more selections from Where Owls Know My Name in “Death is Real” and the title track completed their time slot nicely. Selfishly, I’d have loved to have had another track from The Work, but their appearance was excellent both in song selection and performance, so maybe next time we can hope for a longer runtime. The resultants from their next full-length will be highly intriguing, but what’s certain is that Rivers of Nihil put on the most emotionally fulfilling set of the night.

 

Carnifex

https://www.facebook.com/CarnifexMetal

Carnifex has been at it for quite some time. One of the forefathers of the trademark deathcore sound, they’ve remained one of the major tentpoles of the style. Their earlier material didn’t always resonate with my tastes – while technically sound, it was too predictably chug/bass drop/breakdown saturated. Remembering those early days, they seemed to be on a metric ton of tours from 2008 – 2012, and I saw them a dozen times or so. Since then, they’ve faded in and out of my purview. That said, we arrived prepared for a revisitation of the Californian quintet.

Throughout the years, the band – like many of the breakthrough deathcore acts – have added new influences as time has moved on. Carnifex chose the blackened-ish road, at times producing a symphonic black metal feel with a plethora of their deathcore elements always being the baseline. Tonight, they pulled significantly from albums that affirmed that direction, like 2014’s Die Without Hope, which along with predecessor Hell Chose Me were the first signs of skewing towards said new pastures.

The blistering techy “Salvation is Dead” established the tone to brutality steadfastly. Frontman Scott Lewis has kept an imposing presence to go along with his trademark transitions between mid-range growl to snarling screams. “Dark Days” brings the previously mentioned symphonic tinged black metal influences to the forefront, coming across as thickly rhythmic and super slick on stage just as it does in recorded format.

Finishing the Die Without Hope bonanza was the visceral title track, itself being a crunchy monster that transitions between more melodic moments in between the pavement-shattering bits of stripped down barbarity. Another blackened style track in “Hell Chose Me” is sandwiched in between two newer selections from the Necromanteum record in “Torn in Two” and the said LP’s title piece. This duo are polished and symphonic while remaining heavy as hell, continuing to inspire madness abounding from a large number of the patrons.

The lone song from their now 17-year-old debut LP “Lie to My Face” chugged and grooved along, before two cuts from 2016’s Slow Death completed the set with soaring symphonics and cutting riffs in “Dark Heart Ceremony” and “Drown Me in Blood.”

Carnifex have had a back-and-forth relationship with my brain over the years, and to their credit, they’ve stuck with it and have written some crushing tunes over the years. They pulled an incredibly strong sampling of songs for their constantly energy-filled and aggressive performance, which was quite the crowd pleaser. Carnifex massacred Tampa on this weekday night boasting a long-proven longevity, showing why their live shows are such a staple of their success.

 

Cattle Decapitation

https://www.facebook.com/cattledecapitation

The mighty Cattle Decapitation were slated to close out this co-headline trek, and we couldn’t possibly be more eager. Having caught them on the Decibel tour in 2023 just a hair under a year ago this month, and again at this very venue late last year with Immolation, Sanguisugabogg, and Castrator, it’s obvious that we’ve been on a steady diet of their live exhibitions; way tastier than what’s being presented on the covers of To Serve Man or the Medium Rarities compilation.

Truth be told, we can’t get enough of the band’s wholly singular progressive death/grind stylizations, which continue to transform in ways that are impossible to resist. Therefore, here we are to witness Travis Ryan and his perpetual moistness, along with their savage musicality.

Not known for frolicking about – unless it’s in the remnants of our cruel and broken world, a theme the band has much explored to our delight – the program began with roaring crowd-pleasers from their latest revelation Terrasite. Ranking as one of my top releases of 2023, there aren’t many albums that have been revisited in the last few years to the amount this one has. It took about 3.8 seconds for the inevitable violent coming together of human flesh to open up over the now star-filled sky to the soundtrack of “Terrasitic Adaptation.” A more pervasive opener would be damn difficult to locate.

Continuing down the tracklist of Terrasite was the poignantly ferocious “We Eat Our Young.” Both the band’s humbling message and robust wall of raging death metal hit harder and more effectively than most manage to conceive. When Ryan barks “Brought up to be so inconsiderate, Living in delight of belligerence” it’s impossible to not scream along, albeit much worse sounding than the vocalist extraordinaire. The evolution they’ve undergone as songwriters continues to impress, having steadily upped the ante since Monolith of Inhumanity. The Terrasitic trio concluded with the horrifying “Scourge of the Offspring,” leaving all in tatters. At this point, Ryan is the equivalent of an incredibly pissed off Wade Ripple, with all the rest of us taking it all in (and those in the front row, including our photographer, getting a bath by proxy).

The farthest back into Cattle Decapitation’s extensive discography they visited would be Monolith of Inhumanity via the relentlessly slamming “Your Disposal” and the visceral and timely/geographically relevant classic “Forced Gender Reassignment” a little later on. I’m glad they included a few of their more vigorous death/grind tracks, giving a taste of the steady progression the band continues to embrace. I recall witnessing them in 2012 at a small DIY venue in Pittsburgh – The Mr. Roboto Project rules – when supporting this album, and it’s wild to see where they are now, though certainly not surprising in the least.

A lone track from the cinematic Death Atlas was included, and to anyone familiar, there was no way they weren’t going to include the scarily predictive pandemic darling that is “Bring Back the Plague.” Drummer David McGraw is like a death metal octopus behind the kit, barreling through the set like the versatile skin-smashing machine. His work on “A Photic Doom” on this occasion especially made this guy’s jaw fall askew, though the exerted efforts from all of Cattle Decapitation are always awe-inspiring.

A prophetic tune in “Manufactured Extinct” and a crushing hammer in the form of “Kingdom of Tyrants” capped the evening off in chaotic form, fitting to the tour’s naming convention. The momentum Cattle Decapitation has cultivated from extremely hard work and dizzying songwriting chops feels unstoppable at this point, sans humanity’s own self-extinction as the only instance that comes to mind which could cause an issue. Though with what Terrasite alludes to, even that may not slow their velocity. A wonderful event of retrieved loogies and a widely varied display of heavy music was enjoyed by all, and for that, we’re gleefully satiated.

The tour is continuing on through the west coast through the next week or so – if there’s a remaining date near you (check below), don’t miss it! If you hit up a show, let us know how awesome it was.

5/23/2024 UC Theatre – Berkeley, CA

5/24/2024 The Belasco – Los Angeles, CA

5/25/2024 House of Blues – Anaheim, CA

5/26/2024 House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/cattledecapitation

https://www.facebook.com/CarnifexMetal

https://www.facebook.com/humanityslastbreath

https://www.facebook.com/riversofnihil

https://www.facebook.com/TheZenithPassage

https://www.facebook.com/vitriolwarfare

https://www.facebook.com/Fyourselfband