On April 7th, 2024- Thy Art Is Murder performed on their “GODLIKE” North America Tour at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina with special guests; Angelmaker, Signs of The Swarm , and Snuffed On Sight. I think this was the heaviest show I’ve gone to since I started photography and I was not prepared at all for the insane amount of mosh pits. This show felt like a constant mosh pit even if you weren’t actively in it!
Thy Art Is Murder
Snuffed On Sight
Snuffed On Sight opened up the night! I never heard of this band before; so seeing them live for the first time without any knowledge made the whole set more intense for me because I love going to shows and not knowing every band at first. I got to enjoy their live sound before listening to their studio sound which sometimes can be very different. This bad SET THE TONE for the whole night! I usually don’t really enjoy bands that sound like they don’t have lyrics when they perform, but this band changed my mind instantly. I was trying so hard to not jam out in the photo pit because they actually sounded really good! The massive mosh pit they had going told me they are very popular and that pit was DANGEROUS, but anytime I saw someone fall to the ground; everyone got them back up instantly!
Signs of The Swarm
Next was Signs of The Swarm; I saw this band twice last year! Once in Columbia, SC and the other time at Christmas Burns Red! Each time; this band leaves me speechless with their performance! The band is considered deathcore that formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2014 consisting of; David Simonich (Vocals) , Bobby Crow (Drums) , Michael Cassese (Bass) , and Carl Schulz (Guitar) I actually have two favorite songs by this band; “Amongst The Low & Empty” and “Senseless Order”. They released their newest album last year in July; “Amongst The Low & Empty” and actually my favorite song from that album is the top song on their spotify list with almost 3 million plays! Their set was very chaotic and honestly; I felt so dizzy throughout their set because there was so much going on and people being very cramped together which is amazing because we want to see this much engagement with the crowd! I just haven’t been to a show like this where there are constant mosh pits and everyone being arm to arm because they want to be as close as possible to the stage! I did get some water and felt a lot better and went right back in to get some crowd shots! I have to give it to David; I swear he is one the best vocalists I’ve heard in a long time. I might not be a huge fan of deathcore, but he is one of the reasons why I enjoy this genre a little more! There were countless crowd surfers throughout their set and not one person was dropped during it! And everyone made sure the surfers got over the barricade safely!
Angelmaker
Angelmaker was up next! I recently saw them in February when they were on tour with Veil of Maya! And they had the best set of the whole night. Having dual vocalists on stage brings a different meaning to intense and the word brutality. I remember that night in North Carolina because there were so many crowd surfers that the photographers actually had to leave the pit to prevent injuries. I gave props to all the security guards because they didn’t let anyone fall that night! So I was really excited for this show because my goal was to focus on the crowd during their set to capture those moments of fans enjoying the set! Let's talk about the band; Angelmaker consists of: Casey Tyson-Pearce (Vocals) ,Johnny Ciardullo (Rhythm Guitar) , Matt Perrin (Lead Guitar) , Mike Greenwood (Vocals) , Cole Rideout (Bass) , Steven Sanchez (Drums) , and Colton Bennett (Rhythm Guitar). They formed in 2011 in North Vancouver, British Columbia! At the moment; Angelmaker has 300k Spotify listeners with their newest single “Suffer Forever” released last year having over 600k plays! I am not going to lie; I haven’t listened to their music a lot, so it was difficult to figure out songs that were being performed during their set unless they spoke out with what song they were performing! I thought Signs Of The Swarm had a chaotic set; this band had me sweating because I mean everyone on the lower floor near the barricade were going absolutely insane. I tried to get crowd shots during their set, but they had a mosh pit from one side to another and it was impossible. When it calmed down; I was able to capture some shots! This band besides Signs Of The Swarm is now one of my favorite deathcore bands. No one can match the energy between both vocalists!
Thy Art Is Murder
It was time for Thy Art is Murder! I’ve been listening to this band since 2013 when the album “Hate” was released with my favorite song “Reign of Darkness” that currently has over 36 million spotify plays! That night was the first time I’ve seen this band live and I thought this venue was going to be left in shambles.Thy Art Is Murder is an Australian band that formed in 2006 in Blacktown, Sydney consisting of; Tyler Miller (Vocals) , Sean Delander (Rhythm Guitar) , Andy Marsh (Lead Guitar) , Kevin Butler (Bass) , and Jesse Beahler (Drums). When they formed in 2006; there were different members at the time and the only original member at this time is Sean Delander. In 2007; they released their first demo “This Hole Isn’t Deep Enough For The Twelve Of You” which gave the band traction in their local scene and that’s when they went on their first independent tour! Throughout the years; they performed with bands such as; Parkway Drive, Rings Of Saturn, and As Blood Runs Black which I believe are some of the heaviest bands in the scene besides Parkway Drive that's not as heavy. The lights during their set were not the best, but at the same time they are a metal band and that means darkness fits their style. Like I always state about deathcore and metal bands; It takes me a while to get into them. I’ve been listening to this band on and off for almost 11 years, but seeing them live finally changed my whole mindset. And when they removed the recent vocalist from the band due to his judgment on the transgender community; it made me love them even more. I am part of that community myself, so it's great when band members take action and remove toxicity from the group to prevent further issues down the road. We need to protect the scene and everyone in it, you never know what someone is going through and the comments the vocalist made could’ve easily triggered someone and caused harm. Their performance tonight and the amount of love and respect they received from the crowd was phenomenal because I know many people were upset about the vocalist change, but Miller did what he needed to do and stepped up to the plate! Make sure you listen to “GODLIKE” which was released last year!
This was by far the craziest show I’ve ever gone to besides Boundaries. I have never experienced constant mosh pits and it was impossible to maneuver in the crowd because everyone was head banging from start to finish and yeah; I got hit a couple of times! Between the venue being very HOT and everyone breathing all over each other; it felt like I was stuck in a sauna and couldn’t get out.
留言