Paleface Swiss Brought a Curse to New York City

It had only been a few days into The Cursed Tour and Paleface Swiss has been melting faces and tearing up stages wherever they go and New York was up next. A few days ago, the band made a stop at the iconic Gramercy Theater in New York City, which was added to the tour by popular demand, and played an explosive sold out show alongside Stick To Your Guns and Nasty.

Getting the show started was the Belgium-based beatdown band Nasty. The band was formed specifically in Kelmis, Belgium and has been around since 2004. The band currently consists of Matthi (vocals), Paddy (guitar), Tom Huschka (bass) and Nash Anderson (drums) and have released eight studio albums to date. The band just released their EP, Black My Heart on March 14th via Triple B Records. Nasty got the show started hard and heavy with little to no breaks in between. Their short, five song set brought disgusting breakdowns, aggressive vocals, thunderous drumming, everything you would expect from a beatdown band but cranked up 5 notches. Almost every single song had a slow breakdown and as any hardcore kid knows; the slower the breakdown, the more violent and chaotic the pit gets, and each mosh pit was more dangerous than the last. Matthi was commanding the crowd all night, telling the pit to open up and unleash violence and telling everyone upfront to get closer. He did not want them to stop and demanded that they keep it coming. On the second song “At War With Love”, he climbed up to the barrier and fans up front grabbed his mic to scream the words out. The New York crowd gave Nasty a nice, warm welcome and made the pit a warzone. I don’t know what setup Paddy uses but his guitar tone was on a whole other level of heavy. Some of the songs the band played included “Reality Check”, “At War With Love”, and “Chaos”. Unfortunately, the band had to stop midway into “Ultimate” due to an injury in the crowd but after getting them back on their feet, Matthi ordered the crowd to pick it back up again and it wasn’t long before the pit got crazy again. Nasty finished their brutal set with “FTW” which was off the new EP, and “Total Domination”.

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Up next was Stick To Your Guns. Stick To Your Guns is a hardcore band that was formed in 2003 in Orange County, California. The band is signed to SharpTone Records and is made up of Jesse Barnett (vocals), Josh James (guitar), Chris Rawson (guitar), Andrew Rose (bass) and Adam Galino (drums). The band just recently released their eighth studio album Keep Planting Flowers on January 10th. Fans were greeted with an audio introduction of the 20th Century Fox logo intro they would put before movies. The band hopped on stage afterwards and kicked things off with “Such Pain” from their 2012 album Diamond. The explosive performance of the song was met with crowd surfing and intense moshing while Barnett screamed the words out. A circle pit formed on the next song “Severed Forever” and some two stepping occurred during “Nobody”. James and Rawson were both very active musicians and allowed the music and their playing to carry them through the performance whether it was two stepping, jumping up and down or pacing around the stage, Barnett is one of the most talented vocalists in hardcore. He can produce aggressive growls and switch to melodic singing instantly and can command the crowd with such authority to do whatever he wants them to do, whether it's moshing, two-steppin, crowd surfing, or, if there isn’t a barrier, stage diving, and their dedicated fans will do it without hesitation. The whole room chanted with the band and kept the moshing going on “What Choice Did You Give Us?” before going into “More Than A Witness”, one of the new songs off of the new album. Barnett thanked all the new fans for checking them out as well as Paleface Swiss for having on this tour. He then proceeded to make jokes about how old the band is but that shows like these make him feel young. After the pit got their hearts racing in the circle pit on “More Than A Witness”, they sang their hearts out on “Amber”, which they immediately recognized by James guitar intro. After ripping through a few more songs like “Empty Heads” as well as new ones “Invisible Rain”, “Keep Planting Flowers” and “Spineless”, it was time to wrap things up but Stick To Your Guns had one more song left, and yes, it was THAT song. The song they play at every show whether it's the opening or the closer, the second track off of Diamond, “Against Them All”. This song is packed with aggressive riffs and vocals as well as the speed to keep the circle pit going but also has that clean, catchy melodic chorus that you WILL sing along to, if you know the words of course and New York was no exception here. The fans gave the band every bit of energy they had left whether it was from their dance moves or from their sore throats, New York once again proved why we are one of Stick To Your Guns favorite cities to play. Now that New York got its dose of hardcore, it was time to crank it up to some Swiss deathcore.

Okay it was now time for the main event, all the way from Switzerland, the one and only; Paleface Swiss. The brutal metalcore/deathcore hybrid act was formed in 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland and is made up of Marc "Zelli" Zellweger(vocals), Yannick Lehmann (guitar), Tommy Lee (bass) and Cassiano "Cassi" Toma (drums). The band is currently signed to Blood Blast Distribution which they have released all three studio albums under. The band is currently on tour supporting their third studio album Cursed which was released on January 3rd. The album retains the band's signature deathcore style but also shows them going into a more nu metalcore style.

The lights went out, signaling the start of the show and the opening intro to Cursed, “un pobre niño murió” played on the PA which was enough to get some early moshing in. New York will mosh to anything, even to the feedback of a guitar plugged into the amp, telling you from personal experience. Each member made their way onto the stage one by one and then the music started. It was a few seconds of aggressive riffs and blast beats before Zelli took center stage and yelled to the crowd “HATRED!”, the opening line to the first song off of the new album, “Hatred”. The show had begun and the moshers wasted no time, swinging arms in every single direction with little to no regard of who was around them. Zelli was screaming his aggression out in every single word whether it was harsh vocals or demonic gutturals and switched to rapid fire when the song called for it. The song ended with a violent breakdown that made the pit purge whatever hatred they had in them. Lehmann wasn’t impressed and demanded more from New York, knowing full well they would give the band 110%. They did just that on the next song “Suppressing Times”, from the 2022 album Fear & Dagger. The fans knew every single word to this one and screamed it with Zelli if they weren’t dancing and two-stepping to Lehmann’s metallic riffs. It was here where fans started to crowd surf as well and there were so many, I got stuck in the corner for most of the song but it was still exhilarating seeing all those surfers having the time of their life and shoutout to security for catching them all despite the tiny room they had. By the time “Suppressing Times” reached its breakdown, Zelli ordered the pit to split side to side and let a scream out that led right into the downtempo, rap-versed breakdown. He let out one last scream, bringing the song to a close. After unleashing more aggression on “My Blood On Your Hands”, Zelli took a few minutes to talk to the crowd. He thanked everyone for coming out and for selling Gramercy out. New York was not supposed to be a stop on this tour but because of high demand, they added one stop at Gramercy Theater about a month later after the initial tour announcement and New York selling it out proved that they made the right choice.

Zelli didn't waste anymore time talking and told the crowd to open it up while Lehmann called for a circle pit on the next song “Youth Decay”. Right in the middle of the song, Lehmann played a mindblowing guitar solo that made it impossible to take my eyes off of him. After ripping through “...and with hope you'll be damned”, Zelli wanted some crowd participation on the next one and had them repeat after him the words, “F*CK MY LIFE UP! F*CK MY SOUL! F*CK MY WHOLE LIFE UP!” and they shouted those words instantly. They proceeded to follow those instructions when the song, “Nail to the Tooth” dropped. In case you were wondering too, the mosh pit hasn’t let up one single bit either. Zelli climbed up to the barricade and ordered everyone to get to him as he screamed the “F my life up” words to those at the front. Zelli took time after the song to talk to the crowd and asked them if they have seen Paleface Swiss before? The first time Paleface Swiss played in New York was in March 2023 where they opened up for Bodysnatcher in Brooklyn. This was the band’s first time playing in the US and the American fans gave them all a nice warm welcome. They then came back that same year in September playing a sold out headlining show in Brooklyn. I was at both shows and their performances at both were mindblowing but I think their headlining show at The Meadows beats it because there was no barrier and that provided many opportunities to stage dive. This show however, became a very close second. After welcoming all the newcomers and hoping to see them when they headlined Madison Square Garden (jokes), he told a story about the band’s origins and explained how Nasty was the reason they got their first big break as a band how Stick To Your Guns got the band’s first summer show in Germany a few years back and thanked both bands for believing in them.

It was time for the next song and Zelli called for a wall of death on this next song, having the room split into two like Moses and The Red Sea, all the way to the entrance in the back. The two sides collided into each other right when the band got into the next song, and my personal favorite, “The Gallow”, a standalone single the band released in 2023. This song packs a punch, with aggressive rap verses, rough clean chrouses, a pig squeal and a shredding guitar solo, “The Gallow” delivers an intense experience. The crowd was singing the words to the chorus with Zelli unleashed some violent moshing during the song’s devastating closing breakdown. After the song, Zelli shared a kiss with Cassi which we all cheered loudly for and Zelli told anyone who had a problem with that to leave. Hate is, by no means, accepted in metal and will never be welcomed and it's good to remind every one of that from time to time. Be yourself and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In a night filled with violence and energy, the band took a break on the next one, “Enough?”, at least that was what it looked like at first. The first half of the song’s performance was Zelli rapping to the crowd with Lehmann backing it up with some guitars. I got to tell you, Zelli is becoming one of my favorite vocalists in the scene because of his incredible talent. He can produce powerful growls, aggressive and harsh mid screams all while switching to nice clean singing and rapid fire rapping and makes it look too easy. This rap break didn't last long and in an instant, the intensity picked back up and the mosh pit didn't think twice to do the same. Now the real break began and the band walked off stage, but Lehmann stayed and entertained the crowd with an airy guitar solo that got everyone’s attention. Cassi climbed back up to his drums and played a little tribal beat that amplified Lehmann’s already thrilling performance. The solo didn't last long and it led right into “Don't You Ever Stop” where Zelli showcased more deep growls. After slowing it down just a little bit and singing through “Rivers of Sorrow”, Zelli gave a heartfelt speech about mental health and to be kind to one another. The band then played an impromptu instrumental jam while Zelli introduced all members of the band as well as their touring crew. The band then delivered a crushing performance of “Please End Me” to close their main set out. Zelli dedicated the song to New York’s beatdown scene and demanded the pit to give them everything they got and once again, the floor became a dangerous place to be at as the pit opened up all the way to the back and caused devastation on the brutal downtempo breakdown.

After a few more “ONE MORE SONG” chants from the crowd, the intro track to Fear & Dagger, “666”, played on the PA and led right into the next song off of the same album, “Pain”. Fans knew the song was coming when Zelli screamed the opening line “FEEL THE PAIN”. This was followed by the band playing with belligerent speed up until the breakdown. The fans continued to mosh even though they have probably exhausted all of their energy. When that slow breakdown hits, you can’t help yourself and just have to throw down. The air raid siren that played during the breakdown didn't help either as it made the pit more of a warzone than it already was. Paleface Swiss had one more song left in the tank and it was called “Love Burns”. Zelli kept screaming away while Cassi was pounding it on the drums. The fans kept getting off their feet and two stepping while also chanting with the band, “LOVE BURNS!” The moshing had stopped by the end but everyone was singing along with the band for the rest of the performance. The band finished their performance and let the fans sing the rest of the song, bringing Paleface Swiss’ incredible sold out show to an end.

Paleface Swiss is one of those bands that you don't find everyday. From going deathcore to nu metal to even beatdown hardcore, the band brings something new to the table every day whether it's live or in the studio. When you see them live, you can't help yourself to not get loose. This was my third time seeing the band live and I knew it would not be a disappointment. I am so glad they added a New York date on this run and hope they will come back sooner rather than later. If you haven't seen them yet, I highly suggest you do so go and check out the dates and see if they are coming to your area and snag those tickets!! Make sure to check out their new album, Cursed too while you are at it!

Tour dates and tickets are available here.

Buy/Stream Cursed here.