Show Review: Dying Fetus, Dead Walk the Earth, Nightfire & Thrown Into Oncoming Traffic, April 15th in Wilmington, DE

As promised, ladies and djentlemen (see what I did there). There's a lot to cover here, so I'll just get right to it.

Friday night was a pretty crazy night for me, and it all started with some pretty horrific traffic at the beginning of our pilgrimage. Luckily, we left for the show early, so we still got to the good old Mojo 13 with plenty of time to spare, and spent the majority of the remaining daylight toking and chatting about all things metal. Then after a brief delay, we heard Thrown Into Oncoming Traffic setting up and sound checking, so we headed in and secured our spots on the floor. Just like last time, these guys played a very strong set, but they drew the short stick of being the opening band that played to less than twenty people, excluding the people from the bar. The few people that were there watching them (myself and my friends included) thoroughly enjoyed their set, and one or two weak attempts at starting a two-person pit were made, but in the end most of us just stood there and admired the band's impressive musicianship and energy. I really hope Thrown Into Oncoming Traffic sticks to it and ends up getting better spots on big shows like this, they've definitely got the right stuff going on.

Up next was the mediocre-at-best Maryland deathcore outfit Debbie Does Dallas, and while they definitely weren't the worst 'core band I've seen in my days, my friends and I still only watched the later portion of their set. On the other hand, after those guys wrapped up, Nightfire started setting up, and then it was a completely different story. If you guys aren't familiar with them, they're an unsigned tech death band from Newark, Delaware, and they're one of the tightest bands in that area by far. They sound very similar to And Time Begins-era Decrepit Birth, and they always put on a very impressive live show. As soon as they started their set, the crowd immediately woke up and strong pits were started every few minutes. The band mirrored the crowd's energy nicely with plenty of head banging, windmilling and horn throwing, making the whole experience feel like it was in a big city venue rather than a tiny bar in the suburbs of Delaware. By the end of their set, everyone was finally in really high spirits, most likely due to the fact that, by a stroke of luck and the good graces of the venue owner, the band got to play a slightly extended set. Be sure to leave them some love on their Facebook if you're looking for some quality underground tech death. Vocalist James Dorton and drummer Jesse Beahler are also in Her Virgin Womb, another damn good local act, so that's cool too.

Up next was the band that I'm pretty sure everyone was there to see besides Fetus: the always entertaining Dead Walk the Earth. I'll be honest, most of their set was a blur to me, but that's because I was particularly ripped for it, and I spent the whole thirty minutes headbanging nonstop. Probably not the smartest move, I know, but surprisingly it didn't seem to do as much damage to me as going that hard for that long usually does (giggity), and everyone else appeared to be having as much fun as I was, so in the end it was all good. I really wish I could remember any of their song titles, because Dead Walk the Earth has some really badass material up their sleeves; not just fast or brutal, but both, and well-written at the same time. But all you need to know is that if you're looking for a really good local show, Dead Walk the Earth is a must-see at least once. Just make sure you bring protective pads.

After DWTE exhausted us all, we were all in desperate need of a smoke/fresh air break, so I must admit we also missed all of Pale Existence and Withered's sets. It's not that we didn't like either of the bands, but we needed to conserve our energy for Dying Fetus, and all three of us probably would have collapsed from heat stroke if we had stayed inside the whole time, so we took our time regaining our strength. However, after an hour or so and two bowls, we headed back inside with renewed vigor and eagerly waited for the last band.

When Dying Fetus finally took the stage, at first it didn't seem like there were as many people there as I had imagined, but as soon as they started playing I quickly realized that that was just because nobody was moving yet. A massive pit was formed immediately, and it was kept up for pretty much the remainder of the night. The energy level did end up dying down a bit towards the end, but that was just because everyone was just so worn out by then. The band sounded absolutely massive, even with the limited space and equipment, and they tore through the best songs from all throughout their discography, including "One Shot One Kill", "Your Treachery Will Die With You", "Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)" and a medley of "Pissing In the Mainstream" and "Kill Your Mother Rape Your Dog". They played for at least an hour and a half, before finally calling it a night well after midnight. By the end of the night, everyone was deaf and had sore throats, I ended up with a grapefruit-sized bruise on my right elbow (courtesy of Dead Walk the Earth's wall of death), and two friends of mine even ended up getting bones broken. DWTE's own Dr. Satan broke his arm in two places moshing for Dying Fetus, and later on I found out the same thing happened to another friend of mine, except she broke her foot. My hat's off to you, Andrew and Carole, in retrospect I got off light. Real light.

So once again, Mojo 13 came through and delivered the kind of shows that haven't been seen since the days of the underground. That place was absolutely leveled by the time we headed for home, and everyone had a great time. Hopefully there will be many more shows like this to come.

-BK

Show Review- Dead Walk the Earth, Her Virgin Womb, I Am the Trireme and Thrown Into Oncoming Traffic- February 26th in Wilmington, Delaware

You know what, fuck this whole "no articles during the weekends" thing. We're not Metalsucks, I'm feeling quasi-productive for once, and last night's show was too damn good to just sit on, so from now on I say if something's worth writing about, I'm not gonna wait until Monday to put it up. On that note, let's get it on.

Last night, I went to a little place called Mojo 13 out in the suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware to catch a bunch of cool local bands. I'll confess I wasn't expecting much, because the whole lineup was just local bands, no big names. Recently this tiny venue has somehow been booking surprisingly big bands to play there (I've seen Goatwhore and Cattle Decapitation there, and Dying Fetus is scheduled to make an appearance in a couple months), but this time it was just the local heroes playing for all their friends and local supporters. Basically, I knew the bands would play great, but I wasn't sure a whole lot of people would show up or if they would be energetic. Little did I know this would end up becoming one of the best local shows I've ever been to, possibly second only to Internal Fear's farewell show last month.

Things were looking a little slow when Atlantic City deathgrinders Thrown Into Oncoming Traffic took the stage, but as soon as they started playing they had everyone's undivided attention. Despite there only being about a dozen people watching them, they played their lightning-fast, impressively technical songs with all the energy and enthusiasm of a band playing to a sold-out venue. They were short one guitar player, but everything still sounded just fine, and the vocalist's between-song bantering kept everyone laughing and in good spirits, so nobody made any fuss about it. The only real disappointment was the lack of any moshing, but that could just be attributed to the "first band of the night" curse that seems to plague just about every local show that ever happens. If you're looking for some really good, fast, experimental deathgrind, be sure to check these guys out. They're not your average Jersey band, that's for sure.

Next up was the Philadelphia/southern New Jersey based melodic blackened death outfit I Am the Trireme. Now I'll admit, I'm slightly biased towards these guys, since I've been friends with them for a good couple years now, back when they were just another slightly above-average deathcore band. They've always been pretty good, and have taken more influence from bands like Abigail Williams and Enfold Darkness than Winds of Plague or the various other poser outfits out there, but over the last year or so they've completely abandoned the 'core aspect all together, replacing the breakdowns and pig squeals with blast beats, powerful synth orchestration and unapologetic blasphemous themes. They may be young, but make no mistake, these guys hate Jesus with every fiber of their being and aren't afraid to show it, but they also have plenty of fun doing it. More people started to show up and show interest in them about halfway through their set, so the energy level was definitely turned up a notch, but they really sealed the deal when they got the first pits of the night going. If you get the chance, be sure to pick up a copy of their new EP Unholy Divination, which I will be reviewing later in the week. If their live show is any indication, it's going to raise some eyebrows.

Next on the list was a band that has actually made something of a name for themselves, especially in this area: Her Virgin Womb. They've only been together for a few years, but in that time they've put out a very good EP, The Methods of Killing, and have played with several big name death metal bands. They're not exactly super popular, but they're definitely the most widely-known band on this bill. As such, I was surprised to see that there had been a significant lineup change, with a new guitarist and vocalist being brought on board. Her Virgin Womb has always had a very distinct sound, like a mixture of old school death metal and slam, and I was interested to see how this new lineup would affect their sound. As soon as they started playing, it was obvious that this wasn't the same Her Virgin Womb that I'd come to know, but I actually mean that in a good way. This band has always been really good, but the newer, younger lineup they have now made them sound like a more modern death metal band. No disrespect to their old members, but the change really seems to have revitalized them, and that's saying something, because nobody thought they needed to be revitalized in the first place. The crowd mirrored their newly found energy with consistent moshing, lots of headbanging, and a few people even tried to coax them into an encore after their last song. Sadly there was no encore, but they did play a great set, and I'm looking forward to plenty more good shows with this new lineup.

After Her Virgin Womb, I decided to step outside for some fresh air, and as a result I pretty much missed the next band's entire set, but from what I heard they sounded pretty decent. I believe the phrase I jokingly used while talking to Alec Pezzano (guitarist for I Am the Trireme) was "They sound like Crowbar, except like eighty years younger and with a better vocalist", so there you go.

The last band of the night (at least while I was there, there might have been one more afterwards) was Dead Walk the Earth, whose vocalist is none other than Andrew Derosier, aka Dr. Satan, aka the guy who we did our first interview with. Until last night I had only seen a few YouTube videos of Dead Walk the Earth's shows, so I didn't quite know what to expect. However, I did know that Andrew is a very charismatic, energetic frontman, so no matter what the music sounded like or how many people were there, he would make it fun for everyone else. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about any of this, because as soon as they started playing their first song, the place turned into a madhouse. There were huge pits, brutal riffs and slams, hilarious between-song jokes and bantering, and at one point a random old man showed up to watch the show (and I suspect to get as close to a couple really hot girls standing next to him as he could). I can't be sure, but I believe he was somebody in the band's grandfather or something, but either way he was very good-natured about everything that was going on, even though to say he was out of his element would be the understatement of the century. His presence gave the whole set a sort of surreal comic relief; no one had the slightest clue what the fuck he was doing there, but we all just went with it and laughed, just like he was just going with it by being there. After a while the band finally wrapped it up to enthusiastic applause and cheers, and I decided to head home before the splitting headaches and exhaustion could take their toll on me.

Speaking of wrapping up, before I do just that with this review, I'd just like to ask a question, to no one in particular: why the hell are there so many smoking hot girls in Delaware??? Seriously, this is like the fourth time I've gone to a show there and noticed a relative abundance of extremely attractive girls, they must be putting something in the water down there. Hit me up girls, I'm a nice guy I promise. I'm telling you guys, you wouldn't think it, but Delaware really is the place to go for good metal shows. The bands are great, the venues are very minimalistic and laid back, and the guy-girl ratio is almost a perfect fifty-fifty, and the girls all seem to be mad sexy, or at least really funny and cool. Be sure to check out all the bands I've mentioned, and if you're in the area both Thrown Into Oncoming Traffic and Dead Walk the Earth will be playing with Dying Fetus at this same venue on Friday, April 15th. That is by far the biggest band Mojo 13 has ever gotten to play there, it's going to be the show to end all shows. Take care guys, see you soon.

-BK