Last week was an absolute week of death, which is why it was the time of our lives. From the main stages at Gramercy Theater, Irving Plaza and the Palladium Times Square to the underground shows at The Kingsland and Lucky 13 Saloon, intense riffs, blast beats and guttural growls echoed through the 5 boroughs to deliver a pulverizing essence of darkness that decimated through the week. The moshing that occurred stemmed from the sounds of legends in the genre of Death Metal to the underground who continue to bring new life to death. All together, these artists not only brought intensity, but true inspiration on how we triumph and overcome the darkness in which is expressed through their sound. 

It all started Tues, 4/ 11 at Gramercy Theater, headlined by the Tampa Florida death metal legends Morbid Angel, with support from Revocation, Vitriol and Crypta.

The openers of this show showcased the most brutal offerings of Napalm Records, Century Media Records and Metal Blade Records. Crypta from Brazil on their first North American Tour, served as the ultimate opener as they took the high pitched screams and intense riffs from their album Echoes of the Soul and echoed through the sold out Gramercy Theater.

All 4 of these death metal goddesses brought sheer intensity and chaos that served as the ultimate entrance into engaging into this bill of brutality. Vitriol followed making a triumphant return to NYC after 3 long years since they decimated Brooklyn with Vader in 2020.

Vitriol is another fantastic band on Century Media’s upcoming death metal roster along with Hideous Divinity, Frozen Soul, and Lorna Shore. The sound of their goosebump inducing pitch harmonics combined with pulverizing riffs and growls created the ultimate halfway point to this epic bill.

Then we get the almighty Revocation, which had a different appearance than we have normally seen. Dave Davidson had to leave his guitar behind as he suffered from what he claimed as a “Woopsie Daisey”. With only one arm available, Dave Davidson has to pull a James Hetfield and take the roll of just doing vocals, and he absolutely slayed it. Dave Davidson proved to be just as good as a traditional frontman just doing vocals as we have seen him rock in Jackson guitar on stage. Dave Davidson further proved himself to be the James Hetfield of Death Metal. Having one guitarist did not hinder their sound or performance at all, but we do look forward to seeing Dave in his ultimate killer form again as we wish him a fast healing.

Finally, we get Morbid Angel, the legends. Morbid Angel managed to bring a ton of atmosphere during their sets by simply going pedal to the metal and not doing much in between songs. When Morbid Angel plays, you are in their world rather than a theater. It was simple, catchy and epic all at the same time. With a setlist full of classis and new songs, it goes to show that Morbid Angel has a ton of Gas left in the tank. This served as the ultimate beginning to what would later come this week.

On 4/12, the underground thrived at the Kingsland as Wormwich pulverized the small stage with darkness and blasphemy and chaos with a killer lineup of some of the finest underground, serving as the perfect pregame for what the next day would offer.

4/13 brought us not 1, not 2 but 3 amazing shows for the realm of death metal with legends and newcomers. The legends, Carcass brought brutality to Irving Plazawith thrash legends Municipal Waste and Sacred Reich and the killer newcomers in Death Metal, Creeping Death.

The Brooklyn Monarch got the ultimate taste of New Orleans heaviness with Eyehategod and Goatwhore.

Times Square was left a smoldering crater as the Chaos and Carnage Tour brought exactly that to the center of the city.

Chaos and Carnage has been a tour we have looked forward to every year with their lineups of death metal and dethcore, and this years lineup brought the best of both worlds.

Upcoming death metal warriors Sanguisugabogg brought violence and constant intensity with their low growls, riffs and laughter with their sense of humor as they and tour mates Born of Osiris roasted each other on social media. Sanguisugabogg already has delivered one of the greatest death metal albums of the year with Homicidal Ecstasy, and to hear it live was just as incredible of an experience on our ears when that album comes on.

Belgian legends Aborted would follow with their sheer sound of technical death and crazy brutal death metal that decimated through the weak as they spanned their catalogue over their incredibly long career.

Born of Osiris took the stage with their progressive and technical excellence that managed to turn The Palladium into an realm of space and time. They kept the momentum of the whole show going with their brutality while also being able to serenade us with melodies and emotion. Dying fetus was able to shatter all those harmonies as the legendary death metal trio decimated through the weak as the riffs, beats, growls and lights flowed through the palladium like fine wine

The end this night of brutality, the legends of Dethcore Suicide Silence managed to seal the nail in the coffin of this night of sheer decimation.

Friday on 4/14, Ny underground masters such as Immortal Suffering, Torturous Inception and more managed to destroy the streets of Park Slope Brooklyn as they delivered a decimating set at Lucky 13 Saloon.

4/16 was the ultimate conclusion of this week of death metal bloodshed. We were not only celebrating the genre, but the life of a legend within it, Trevor Scott Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder. Opening this epic bill at Irving Plaza were not 1, not 2, but three amazing newcomers in the world of death metal and hardcore with Phobophilic, Fuming Mouth and Frozen Soul. These three amazing acts also demonstrated that death metal is in great hands. We had a nice touch of diversity with upstate hardcore legends Terror serving as the ultimate pre game getting more people on the stage than off of it. At last, we get The Black Dahlia Murder.

The last time we saw these epic legends were at this very venue at Irving Plaza which was also Trevor’s last show. This didn’t feel like a memorial or any somber send off. This was a celebration of the life of Trevor and the genre itself. As Brian Eschbach took the role of lead vocals as they rest of the band slayed it, the whole audience raised their hands, fists and horns as we banged our heads to one of the best death metal bands of the 21^st century, showing that like the genre itself, the band is far from finished.

This wasn’t just a demonstration of the epic sound of death metal and the people in it, but also a demonstration that nothing can stop us. Morbid Angel, Revocation and Crypta had to endure a terrifying tragedy of a tornado striking their show in IL earlier in the month causing the death of one fan and the injuries to many others, and yet despite this uncertainty they persevered as the fans helped the pay for any damages or losses from the storm. Dave of Revocation broke his wrist and yet he still pushed through to scream his heart out. The Black Dahlia Murder lost their best friend and one of the most talented frontman in history and yet they still pushed forward demonstrating that the show must go on, and they brought it with horns and laughter.

The genre of death and darkness brings us anything but. These bands continued to bring new life as well as maintaining the life of a genre that is indestructible. This is demonstrated by the rockers we see on the stage, the crew that works behind the stage and the fans infront of the stage.