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DYING FETUS: Make them Beg For Death Tour November 9th, 2023

  • acewhitty
  • Dec 11, 2023
  • 10 min read

Updated: Feb 7, 2024

Venue: Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO









DYING FETUS

Support From:

Despised Icon

The Acacia Strain

Creeping Death

Gates to Hell


(VIP Meet and Greet Tickets Purchased, in depth review of that will be separate post.)









Sound/Style: Hardcore with slam, deathcore, and some blasty death metal elements.

5 Piece band with a vocalist, drummer, two guitarists and bass.


Gates To Hell has popped up in my Spotify a couple times after listening to bands like Kublai Khan TX, Ingrown, Judiciary, Jesus Piece... Nice riffs and heavy drumming. Immediately started an interesting dynamic of two-steppers vs pitters. Nice opening to get the crowd into it. Lots of energy within the crowd for the openers again which continues to show why bands love playing in Denver. Mix and sound wise, there wasn't anything wrong with their sound at all, nice clarity to tell the instruments apart. I was able to peak through the windows of the venue and hear the band warming up, what a monstrous guitar tone. Vocalist had a nice stage presence and unique but brutal low growl.

While breakdown centric/two songs and the hardcore genre in general isn't in my regular listening material these days, they are definitely in my "throwin' bows" playlist.

I'd see them again for sure. Will be interesting to see how gates to hell advances in popularity and genre, they for sure have a lot of talented musicians and "dont f with me" vibe that is needed to survive in the hardcore scene. A band to watch this year and years to come.

Seeing these boys at a smaller venue would probably warrant a broken nose.


Gates to Hell Live (Hate5six): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pblxqzb6wk

Gates to Hell - Human Extinction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElP98HCOizA


Battlejacket Y/N: No


 

-Sound/Style: Death Metal with a bit of thrash. Lots of groove!

5 Piece band with a vocalist, drummer, two guitarists and bass.


I was immediately excited to listen to this band's set as soon as I saw their stage banner go up. What a dope logo. Creeping death has all the classic elements of death metal, but they certainly do not blend in within the genre. With great drum fills and transitions, groovy, tight breakdowns, and brutal vocals.


Combing through their discography, I can tell already how this band has shaped their sound and evolved into a band that deserves to gain popularity quickly. One thing I appreciate is about the band is that while I can notice growth and variance in their sound, they do a great job at staying true to their sound. The vocalist has definitely found his foundation, within their newer songs he flexes his range a bit more than their old tunes. Great example of a band growing but not ditching their roots.


The vocalist did a great job keeping the crowd in it- Its been fun to dive into death metal and notice how bands vary with vocalists who play an instrument and those that don't.

Instrumentally they were tight and clear. The two guitarists would alternate soloing and jamming, and no energy was lost throughout the set. Within the guitarist's spin kicks and circle pit-inducing drums I found myself smiling and "stank facing" all set. Side note- I normally find the constant spin kicking or guitar spinning overdone and cringe...not with Creeping Death. It works.


With this, I loved their live guitar and bass tones. This band feels very cohesive they continued to pump out song after song and continuous energy. and like a machine. Very well balanced. Every member seemed to be having a helluva time performing and calling for pits.

Creeping death fits directly into my playlists and current listening right now, I'm really bummed I didn't stumble across them sooner.


Being close to getting married and wedding planning, I ran out of money to purchase any merch for these guys and I was bummed for sure. Will have to treat myself to support these guys very soon.


Spin these tracks by creeping death NOW!!...

Creeping Death - (those gallops though) Specter of War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniUcqEr6MY

Creeping Death - Boundless Domain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_F1WLd03VM

Creeping Death - Viitrfied Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z72yJyvu4FY

Creeping Death - Bloodlust Contamination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZdI_oaYwuA


Battle Jacket Addition: Y/N: Yea

 


Sound/Style: Deathcore with lots of hardcore elements. Maybe a tiny bit of metalcore.

5 Piece band with a vocalist, drummer, two guitarists and bass.


The crowd completely lost it when Acacia started.....Its been a minute since Ive seen a crowd lose their shit like they did. For perspective - (this will click with anyone familiar with the Summit in Denver) for this venue I like to hang out near the barriers protecting the sound booths, its a perfect spot for sound and its far enough away from the pit to not get sucked in (most of the time) but not far enough to lose the energy of the crowd or jump in the pit.

Anyway, for the entirety of their set, I was completely mushed into the barrier/friends that I attended the show with, the pit had grown that large. The crowd was liquid. Everyone around me yelled lyrics and headbanged to every song.


Because of this, in conjunction with being a tiny human, I couldn't enjoy the set as much as I wanted to. I can guarantee If I saw acacia at a different venue or from a balcony, I would've enjoyed it a lot more.


Sound wise, Acacia felt extremely loud and bright, I loved their stage presence and setup. Guitars and vocals ruled the set, ripping through my earplugs. (I have tinnitus, leave me alone) I could see why I heard so much from so many about acacia being so good live, and why they had such a large fanbase at the show. They came together as a cohesive force to be reckoned with. Great mix and sound.

The vocalist had a certain charisma about him, spraying water all over the crowd several times and shouting out "Denver hardcore" He also sounded crystal clear, you can tell he's super talented and been doing this for awhile. Energy, Energy, Energy.


Spin these songs by The Acacia Strain:

The Acacia Strain Hate5six Film: "You have 15 seconds to get somewhere safe" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAl3hKr2gQM

The Acacia Strain - Wormwood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u52u8yMdL0w

The Acacia Strain - Ramirez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-YOG4_cEEg


BattleJacket Addition: Y/N: maybe...

 

Sound/Style: Deathcore with beatdown and groove elements, not to mention pig squealie goodness. 6 piece band with two vocalists, two guitarists, bassist, and drummer.


I was very interested to see the crowds reaction to this band coming off the high that was The Acacia Strain. It took about a half of a song for the crowd to get re-engaged, and the pit broke out again. Despised Icon has some very fast, technical songs that could really struggle to be performed live...they did NOT disappoint.

The genre variety for this tour began to shine through again- as Despised Icon's distinctive dual vocal setup started commandeering the vibe. This vocalist duo brought lots of uniqueness with "callout " hardcore-esque vocals combined with pig squeals and deathcore elements. I really dig this digitally and it came through crystal clear live. While two vocalists moving around constantly and hyping each other up can be a bit distracting, they all shared the stage well and united as one, unique tone.

In my opinion, sometimes deathcore can get very "similar" and cookie-cutter to me from band to band.....thats why I like Despised so much, they add enough of their own uniqueness and flare to separate themselves from the genre, while remaining true with deathcore's core aspects.

Mix wise, again the sound engineer was on it, I could hear each instrument and aspect of them quite nicely. Great light show and nice setlist, I heard all the songs I wanted to hear by them. Theres one song by Despised that I frequent, titled "Purgatory." This is arguably their most popular song. While I dig the beginning and deathcore progression with slams and energy, I have always not been a huge fan of when bands put very high pitched pedal driven effects into breakdowns. (not a diss on despised, just. not my thing) Knowing this was coming live, I was interested to see how it sounded. I gotta say, I want the EXACT live version of what they did downloaded. I strongly preferred this live to digital. Brutal. Very tight sounding set. Despised is known for their drumming, there are some insane songs like MVP and Purgatory that are known for being extremely technical and fast. The drummer nailed it, not skipping any certain songs because of their speed or notoriety.


On a different note, the vibe from these guys was immaculate. You could tell these guys were having fun, not only with the crowd and environment, but with each other. Alot of smiles and joyous feelings as each breakdown came and went. One vocalist showed genuine gratitude when someone threw a joint on the stage. You could tell these guys were just genuinely appreciative of their supporters, new or current. It was really refreshing. Genuine dudes.


Overall, I was very excited to see despised icon, as they recently got back together and started touring again. I frequently spin them when I need a break from the pure death metal sound that I am obsessed with as of late. Highly recommend this band for anyone in the metal listening community. There is really no band like despised icon....!!!


Try these, enjoy!!!

Despised Icon - "MVP" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImRtCXexAsw: Starts off very fast and almost death metal, then gets groovy, hardcore and finishes with some fantastic breakdowns that are reminiscent of the beginning of the song.

Despised Icon - Purgatory: (Purggaatorrreeeeee) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsTdkJWvu3A

Despised Icon - In The Arms of Perdition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-cro_l8HLY

Despised Icon - A Fractured Hand (Official Live Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3b4ULQ-DAs

Despised Icon - The Aftermath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AECzwseIYwo


Battlejacket Addtion: Y/N: Yes! can't pass up repping such a unique band



 

Sound/Style: Classic. Brutal. Death Metal. Do not forget the grooves. 3 Piece band with a vocalist/guitarist vocalist/bassist, and drummer.


One of the biggest bands in their genre, the widely respected and controversial Dying Fetus has become one of my favorite bands. Dying Fetus is a new type of brutal for me, one that opened up a world of music that I am forever grateful for. Seeing them two times in one year is not enough...The way they write music makes you think they could never stop coming up with new material.


Anyway- after seeing them on the Chaos and Carnage tour earlier in the year, I decided to purchase the VIP package for their tour. Having only one meet and great experience prior to this that did not include soundcheck viewing, I excited to see how it differed and what viewing a soundcheck was all about.

Unfortunately, The venue must have miscommunicated with the tour managers, and our VIP experience was cut down pretty significantly, as we missed soundcheck.

We were both pretty bummed about this, as we arrived (per email directions) promptly at 4:30, and weren't let in until around 5:40. Our letdown was short-lived, as we were finally let into the venue to meet the members of fetus. Instead of hearing their soundcheck, we were given extra time to hang out with the band before doors opened. Id say we chatted with them until around 6:10 ish. What great, down to earth dudes. All of them for sure had a great attitude about spending more time with their VIPs. All of them were in no rush, signing everything the fans brought. All of our pretty outward frustrations with the situation dissipated completely.

Included in the VIP package was a signed poster, photo opp, manicure set, (random but awesome) canvas bag, and a headband. Having missed the soundcheck really sucked, but like mentioned earlier the guys were so nice that it didn't matter.


Now to their performance.

The amount of stank face I witnessed when the groovy, brutal breakdowns would arrive to first time listeners' ears was golden to witness. Lots of the crowd that appeared sweaty and worn out from the acacia strain hysteria I could tell were witnessing Dying Fetus for the first time.


As a self taught and half assed-guitarist, John Gallagher's riffs and the fact that he can play them live in conjunction with doing harsh vocals makes me want to quit playing guitar all together. John's signature style is one of my favorites in all music, lightning fast leads that include tapping and sweeps combined with absolutely skull crushing rhythm riffs before breakdowns that catch you off guard. The rhythm changes that he possesses make for the most brutal and groovy songs ever written. he is truly ingenious with his writing. Live tone matches up with his studio sound as well, I was not disappointed by the clarity of his guitar mix. Next we have bass. My god the tone. Brutal stuff from Sean Beasley. Also, all of the stuff I said about John in the previous paragraph can be applied to Sean. He plays right there along John, for a devastating effect. he like john also alternates harsh vocals and playing- often sweep picking and playing on the neck of his bass. It is truly magnificant to witness. What ties this together? usually two or three more members, but no, not for fetus. All they need is the king that is Trey Williams. I absolutely loved the way he sounded, all aspects of the drums came through nicely, not just the double bass. His precision with drumming ties all elements of fetus togehter nicely, as buildups to rhythm changes and crushing breakdowns all need drums that exepmplify the rest of the band and not take away from it. The main thing that I enjoy the most about dying fetus is how they can mix lightning fast death metal blasts one second, and grooving, slamming diverse breakdowns and grooves the next..Trey williams encapsulates these with his drums.

Talent Talent Talent!


Dying fetus is one of the tighest live bands I've ever witnessed. Their speed, brutality and technicality certainly comes through live. They also create an awesome environment, playing oldies while their equipment is being set up. Before this I've never seen a pit to The Village People's "YMCA" before.


Listen. NOW:

Dying Fetus - In the Trenches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEW70UJIpfA (IMO one of the best breakdowns of all time)

Dying Fetus - Grotesque Impalement Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK8dbiyGydc (great example of Fetus' live power and tightness)

Dying Fetus - Fixated on Devastation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-79b3VblUyw


These are my personal faves, I could post their entire discography if you want...


Battlejacket Addition Y/N: Uhh...Yeah...


 

Set of the night goes to Dying Fetus. Secondly I gotta go Creeping Death, then Acacia Strain, Despised Icon, and Gates of Hell.

Diverse tour, great environment. Enough said!


-Thanks for reading!

 
 
 

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