The Black Dahlia Murder Decimated New York City

The Black Dahlia Murder and Dying Fetus have been making North America serve them on their Beg To Serve 2024 tour and New York City was the destructive duo's next victim. The show took place at Irving Plaza and Spite, AngelMaker, and Vomit Forth served as special guests.

Fans lined up around the block waiting to get inside. After some time of letting the fans in, buying merch or drinks and getting settled in, Vomit Forth got the show on the road. If you're not familiar with Vomit Forth they are a Connecticut-based death metal band that was formed in 2017 and consist of Kane Gelaznik (vocals), Ricky Brayall (guitars), Tyler Bidwell (bass) and Nick Herrmann (drums). The band is currently signed to Century Media Records and are known for their lyrics of graphic themes like gore and human sacrifice. Vomit Forth brought the violence to New York City. With destructive breakdowns, demonic vocals from Gelaznik, the crowd was incited to mosh, two step and crowd surf with a gigantic wall of death to close their set.

Vomit Forth got the crowd riled up and AngelMaker was about to take it to the next level. Hailing from Vancouver, BC, Canada, AngelMaker has been making brutal deathcore since 2011. The band has seven members, consisting of Casey Tyson–Pearce (co-vocals), Ian Bearer (Ex. Rings of Saturn) (co-vocals), Colton Bennett (guitar), Johnny Ciardullo (guitar), Matt Perrin (third guitar), Cole Rideout (bass) and Steven Sanchez (Ex. The Last Ten Seconds of Life) (drums). AngelMaker aims to develop a sound that is both brutal and dangerous; by mixing traditional death metal with brutal deathcore and even experimenting with elements of black metal and hardcore music. The band has toured with notable acts in the past like Bodysnatcher, Veil of Maya, Shadow of Intent, even the current kings of deathcore, Lorna Shore. It was impressive how they were able to fit all seven members on that small stage but they did it however it left no room to move around. Bearer and Pearce's vocals complimented each other smoothly while also being brutal. I've always been a fan of Bearer's vocals since his Rings of Saturn days and I knew he was gonna add value to the band when I found out he was joining them. Both Bearer and Pearce got up on the barricade for the last song "Leech" and had the crowd scream the words back to them with some grabbing the mics for themselves. A few more screams, and breakdowns, and AngelMaker's set came to a chaotic close and left the fans ready for what's next.

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The night showed no signs of slowing down, and the fans were far from tired. It was haflway through the night and it was time for a cult to form; a Spite cult to be exact. A notable name in today's metalcore/deathcore scene, Spite hase been tearing the scene up since forming in 2014 and always look for ways to push the boundaries of metal with each album they release. The band is currently signed to Rise and are made up of Darius Tehrani (vocals), Alex Tehrani (guitar), Ben Bamford (bass), and Travis Regnier (drums). Spite kept the momentum going that Vomit Fort and AngelMaker started. Their set saw intense crowd surfing and violent moshing. The band played material from every album they had put out and there was something for everyone at the show. Darius Tehrani is one of the most talented vocalists in the scene as he was screaming his rage out for the entire set. Spite's sheer intensity and crushing breakdowns left New York City ready for the co-headliners to take the stage next.

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It was time for the headliners and the first one up was the legendary Dying Fetus. Hailing from Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Dying Fetus is a death metal/deathcore trio that was formed in 1991. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes over the years but is now made up of John Gallagher (vocals/guitar), Sean Beasley (vocals/bass), and Trey Williams (drums). The band is currently signed to Relapse Records and has released a total of nine studio albums with the most recent one Make Them Beg for Death being released on September 8th of last year.

Whenever Dying Fetus takes the stage, they always prove why they are one of the most brutal bands out there today. With their unique blend of deathcore and death metal, Dying Fetus creates aggressive music that left the pit leaving no survivors. They showed this immediately on their first three songs "From Womb to Waste", "Unbridled Fury" and "Weaken the Structure". Both Gallagher and Beasley were trading off vocals with Gallagher showcasing deep gutturals while Beasley displayed a more traditional style of death metal vocals but also produced gutturals at times. These vocals were complimented by extreme riffs and ferocious blast beats by Williams. Despite being a death metal band, Dying Fetus have always been idolized by the hardcore community and have attracted the hardcore dancers and two-steppers to their shows.

With two songs left, the audio of a crying baby was played on the PA and Gallagher told New York that they loved them so much that they wanted to make a baby with them. Fans knew immediately what was coming next and the band got into "Grotesque Impalement". For the first few seconds of the song a crew member came out in an inflatable baby costume and was jumping around the entire stage which was hilarious. The pit formed one big circle pit and took one last chance to crowd surf as Dying Fetus closed their set out with "Subjected to a Beating".

After a long, violent night, it was time for the one and only; The Black Dahlia Murder. The Black Dahlia Murder is a melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan that was formed in 2001. The band is signed to Metal Blade Records and consists of Brian Eschbach (vocals), Brandon Ellis (guitar), Ryan Knight (guitar), Max Lavelle (bass), and Alan Cassidy (drums). The band has released a total of ten studio albums with eight of them charting the US Billboard 200. Their name comes from the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short which was called Black Dahlia.

The Black Dahlia Murder played a multitude of fan favorite songs but also touched on songs from their most recent album Servitude which was released on September 27th. This was shown early on in the set when the band started off with "Evening Ephemeral" and "Panic Hysteric" and then went two records back and played "Kings of the Nightworld" from their 2017 album Nightbringers. The fans wasted no time and started moshing and crowd surfing. The band has been in goods hands since Eschbach has taken charge as their lead vocalist. Since their inception, Eschbach has been the band's rhythm guitarist up until 2022 where he took over vocal duties after the passing of Trevor Strnad. Servitude marks the band's first album with Eschbach on vocals. Eschbach has been very successful in carrying on Trevor's legacy but also establish his own identity as a vocalist. Despite only doing it for two years now, he has been able to provide powerful and dynamic screams and monstrous growls that are guaranteed to make Trevor proud. His transition to lead vocals paved the way for the return of Knight on rhythm guitar. Knight was the band's lead guitarist from 2009 to 2016 and was then replaced by Ellis. Despite that, Knight had his share of playing lead guitar solos. Seeing both Knight and his replacement Ellis play their solos was an experience and complimented each other perfectly.

The Black Dahlia Murder played other notable fan favorites like "Deathmask Divine", "Sunless Empire", "Unallowed" and "Nightbringers". The crowd radiated off the band's energy and kept the pit wide open, leaving room for moshing, dancing and even circle pits. The band has been touring in support of their latest album Servitude. Servitude marks the band's first album since the passing of Strnad and shows the band's resiliency to continue on despite their tragic loss. Eschbach describe the concept of the album as "a meteor that fucks up the whole planet, but there's still people living" which is symbolical in this case as the band continues to push on despite losing their close friend. Other songs the band played off the new release included "Aftermath", "Mammoths Head" and "Utopia Black". The crowd welcomed the new songs with wide open arms and even knew the lyrics as some in the crowd were screaming them out loud. The Black Dahlia Murder put on a show that the fans won't forget, like they always do. Despite everything they have been through, they channel all of that into their music and continue to put out the energy and the heaviness the band has been known for. Even though he is no longer with us, we all felt Strnad's energy with us at the show and The Black Dahlia Murder will continue to carry his legacy for the rest of their careers.