Photography & review by Anthony Petrizzo
Dying Fetus brings the 'Make Them Beg for Death Tour' to Brooklyn, NY. The legendary Death metal band based out of Maryland brought one of the heaviest, most destructive tour packages seen in a long time through Warsaw Music Hall out in Brooklyn, NY. The tour contained bands Gates to Hell, Creeping Death, Despised Icon and The Acacia Strain. This tour is every core kids to every metal heads dream tour!
To kick off the night, guests are introduced to Gates to Hell opening the show with a huge bang. Based out of Louisville, Kentucky they started off the show head banging and brought the heavy; giving fans a taste of what was to come as the night went on. The band consists of vocalist Ryan Storey, bassist Dustin Cantrell, guitarists Seth Lewis, Stephen Price, and Eli Hanson, and lastly drummer Jared Barron.
As a whole, the band gives the crowd a mixture of death metal infused with metalcore breakdowns was a super refreshing sound to hear once again. One thing I would like to point out besides the heavy riffs this band has to offer, the instrumentals kind of remind me of another hardcore band known as Knocked Loose and the short length songs. The moshpit went absolutely insane and for an opening band, there were a bunch of people swinging their arms in the pit, causing immense chaos.
Compared to their studio recorded albums, their sound live is absolutely astonishing and I would definitely recommend checking their discography out on music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. This was my first time seeing this band perform live and I hope to see them again for a future tour.
Next to take the stage is another death metal band, known as Creeping Death. They gave fans an old school death metal sound to the the stage of Warsaw. Based out of Denton, Texas Creeping death has been on the rise since 2015 and they have one hell of a sound. Members consist of Reese Alavi on vocals Trey Pemberton and A.J. Ross III on guitars, Eric "Rico" Mejia on bass, and lastly Lincoln Mullins on the drums. Creeping Death has been around for nearly a decade and has released a singles with death core legend: Corpsegrinder. Back in June of this year, this band has recently put out a new album titled "Boundless Domain" which is a nine track record.
On the 'Make Them Beg For Death' tour, Creeping Death has opened up the set with "Boundless Domain" which is the first song in the album track 'Boundless Domain'. This was the perfect song to open their set with. The beginning starts off with a slow introduction, giving fans chills down their spine; which then proceeds to speed up in tempo. Alavi's vocals remind me so much of George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. One thing that stood out to me was the guitars that took action. Ross' lead guitar skills in soloing is absolutely insane. As the breakdown was about to hit, everybody across the barricade were headbanging and allowing their hair to spin like a windmill; which I found hilarious but so fascinating.
As they continued with their seven song setlist, they performed one of their top streamed songs which features George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher titled: "Intestinal Wrap". Besides the song quality, fans know that they are in for a surprise just hearing the name of the song. Even if the song did not feature the artist, the song as a whole reminds me of a Cannibal Corpse song. People kept swaying their heads and I honestly feel bad for the headaches they probably faced afterwards.
Ross' shredding skills and talented licks make the night even more pleasant. All the member's are extremely talented; ranging from the low screams, heavy technical guitar riffs and solos, blast beat drums and heavy breakdowns. There was absolutely no end to the mosh pit during this set; people kept pretending they were in some sort of martial arts class. Creeping Death is definitely a band to keep an eye out for any single time they come out on tour.
Next up were one of the "Co-Stars" themselves, heavy metal legends The Acacia Strain. Originally formed in 2001 in Massachusetts, this band has had a huge influence on the current history of death metal. Members consist of Vincent Bennett on vocals, Kevin Boutot on drums, Devin Shidaker on lead guitars, Griffin Landa on bass, and Tom "The Hammer" Smith on rhythm guitars.
As soon as they made an appearance onto the stage, fans were all screaming and chanting their names as they were about to perform the first song of the night. The band started off their set with "Is this really happening?" which was released back in May of this year from their latest album titled 'Step Into The Light'. I noticed everybody at the barricade getting squished because of how many mosh pits were formed. This is my first time entering Warsaw and since it is a smaller venue, a majority of the general admission was the mosh pit.
The Acacia Strain have such a large unique sound they started all those years back. The Acacia Strain hit the stage with huge energy like they always do. Bone crushing breakdowns and huge choruses known by all who love this band and genre of music. Bennett delivers huge vocals, backed with crushing guitars and bass and top of the blast beat drumming.
As we make our way closer to the end of the night, fans are welcomed by the godfathers and creator of the genre we all know as Deathcore known as Despised Icon. This band has formed back in 2002 and are based from Montreal, Canada. Members consist of dual vocalists Steve Marois and Alex Erian, Alex Pelletier on drums, Ben Landreville on guitars, Sebastien Piché on bass. Despised Icon has not toured the United states since their album release tour for 'Purgatory' back in 2019, but I am pleased to see them back on the road.
The dual vocalists Marois and Erian delivered massive amounts of energy as the rest of the band delivered bone crushing heavy old school death core we all come to know and love from this band. This past year the band has been around for twenty one years and you would never know they been around this long. On stage they have a ton of energy constantly running around, head banging as if they are still a fresh new band. The band has been noted and acknowledge for Pelletier's talent on his technique of blast beats on the drums. I haven't seen so many people in a mosh pit get hit across the face. I am shocked nobody has left that show with a broken bone because of how chaotic everything got.
Finally... it's the time everybody has been desperately dying to see. Now onto the main act of the 'Make Them Beg for Death' Tour Dying Fetus! Originating in Maryland, Dying fetus has begun their music career back in 1991. With only three members, the band consists of guitarist and vocalist John Gallagher, bassist Sean Beasly and drummer Trey Williams. This past September, the band just put out a new album titled "Make Them Beg For Death". This tour is to help promote and celebrate the brand new release. You can stream the album here
Dying Fetus is an extremely well known band to the death metal community. The band is mostly known for the low guttural screams, insane blast beat kicks on the drums, and catchy guitar riffs. Dying Fetus has started off their set with one of their most well known songs titled "Fixed on Devastation" which was released back in 2017 on their album titled 'Wrong One to Fuck With'. The flashing lights that took place at the start of the song with the early solo introduction that took place gave fans such a thrill of excitement. I am unsure how with the fast tempo, Gallagher was able to keep up with the insanely fast guitar licks and doing vocals at the same time.
From the photo pit and wearing my ear plugs, I was able to clearly hear the fans screaming the worlds and banging their heads like there was no tomorrow. Throughout the show, I was viewing the crowd interaction and all I can say is WOW! I was still surprised the pit had an insane amount of energy after throwing elbows and doing karate spins the whole night. It definitely took me by surprise and did leave me in shock, but what can I say? I'm not too surprised because it's DYING FETUS!!
It is quite amazing how well Dying Fetus' sound quality sounds in a live performance. The gutturals in the vocals that take place in this band sounds like it is all coming out from the devil's mouth. The technicality in guitars and alternation of tempo is too insane for my ears to handle, but overall still one of the best shows I've attended.
Throughout their musical career, Dying Fetus has built up a huge legacy for themselves in the American death metal scene and it shows why. I would definitely recommend checking them out if you have not already done so.
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