Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit experienced an exceptionally heavy night of deathcore when Chelsea Grin arrived with Carnifex, OV Sulfur, and Left to Suffer.
Left to Suffer was the first band up to start the night. They began with the bass-heavy and guitar-pitched harmonics song “Loathe.” They brought the crowd to life as the room started to fill up for the night. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, the band is comprised of Taylor Barber on vocals, Christian Nowatzki on bass, Jacob Gordon on guitar, Peter Higgs on guitar, and Levi Dunn on drums. Throughout their six-song set, the crowd was already very active and ready to let out some mid-week frustrations.
The second band of the night was OV Sulfur from Las Vegas, Nevada. They had a distinctive sound that set them apart from many of the other bands on the lineup with a few clean vocals. They also played a six-song set but the energy levels were turned all the way up for the whole time. The band members include vocalist Ricky Hoover, guitarists Chase Wilson and Cory Walker, bassist Taylor Adsit, and drummer Parker Adsit. Their last song of the night, “Earthen,” was a great example of their sound variations and left the crowd amped up for the next band.
Up next was Carnifex from San Diego, California. Formed in 2005, the band is made up of two remaining founding members, vocalist Scott Ian Lewis and drummer Shawn Cameron. Other members are Neal Tiemann on lead guitar, Cory Arford on rhythm guitar, and Fred Calderon on bass. Their sound can be best described as fast and heavy with low growly vocals. This is the exact sound the crowd was looking for that night when they headed into the venue.
They started the night with two songs from their 2016 album Slow Death, “Dark Heart Ceremony” and “Drown Me in Blood.” They continued with two songs from the 2014 album Die Without Hope then two from the 2021 album Graveside Confessions. Just before their seventh song, they paused to let everyone know that there was a “new album out October 6, I know October is a long way away” and gave the crowd a chance to hear a new song “Torn in Two” from that upcoming album. As they started wrapping up the set, they played two songs from the 2007 album Dead in My Arms followed up with “Hell Chose Me” from the 2010 album of the same name.
The last band to wrap up the intense evening was Chelsea Grin. They have been together since 2007 and have seen many lineup changes over the years. Their current bassist, David Flinn, joined in 2009. Their guitarist, Stephen Rutishauser, joined in 2015. Their current vocalist, Tom Barber, formally of Lorna Shore, joined in 2018. The current touring support drummer, Nathan Pearson, was added in 2022 while Pablo Viveros is on hiatus.
To start the set, they opened with two songs from the 2022 album, Suffer in Hell, “Suffer in Hell, Suffer in Heaven” and “The Isnis.” While the fans had moshed hard and crowd surfed heavily during the first three bands, it was obvious that they had saved some energy for Chelsea Grin. The loud and vicious sounds that came from the band was the only motivation needed to find that energy. They kept up this energy until they had a brief pause between songs to catch their breath.
During the break, Tom said, “I think it’s time we start questioning our f*cking government. This song is about that f*cking distaste. It is called ‘Fathomless Maw.’” With just four songs left, the crowd was getting tired but dug deep to find the energy to mosh hard. One fan was overheard telling the sound crew, “Not that it normally sounds bad in here but tonight was the best that this venue has ever sounded.” The fan was referring to the extremely heavy bass and drum sounds that were rattling the roof of the downstairs room, also known as The Shelter, which was particularly noticeable.
After the last song of the night, “Crewcabanger,” the crowd screamed for one more song. Tom decided to take a moment with the crowd. He started with “Stop screaming at me! I’m going to tell you this real quick and it is better than another song.” He sat down and told the crowd to let him “old man you guys right quick. Do you ever have a day where it feels real sh*tty… Like all the time, maybe sometimes. Let me tell you this right now, those moments are moments. They are not forever moments.” He told everyone to remember to get along with all the people they got along with in the room that night. It was a reminder to be kind and compassionate to others. While some think that death metal is always dark and/or scary, it is also important to take note that many in the metal scene are still kind and compassionate people. Tom showed he is one such person when he chatted with the audience.
CHELSEA GRIN
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CARNIFEX
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OV SULFUR
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