When this specific tour was announced, I knew I had to act fast and apply to cover this show. ALL of these bands on the lineup are top notch, killer, and just plain out BRUTAL. If ANYONE loves a good “Death Metal” lineup, its me. let’s run it back and go over what I, and many others, experienced.

Extermination Dismemberment

Members are as follows

• Vladislav Martirosov
• Viktor Kanashevich
• Arseny Kovalchuk
• Alexander Kazakov

The Belarussian brutal slamming death metal band was formed in the year 2009 in Minsk, Belarus. In 2010, their debut album, Butcher Basement, was released under the Ukrainian label “Imbecil Entertainment Records.” Three years afterwards, they released Serial Urbicide. It would be another ten years before another release was made, and after some lineup changes, they returned with Dehumanization Protocol. In 2024, they did a revamp of their album Butcher Basement. As of currently, the brutal Belarussian, slamming death metal band has 70,000 monthly listeners and they’re continuing to climb, dominating the slam genre with their deep, guttural, and primal sound.

Having seen and photographed this band before, I’ve been a fan for a while. The first song I actually ever listened to was their devourment cover song “Babykiller”—after that I was HOOKED. The last time I saw this band, I made sure I was active in the pit.

The setlist for the night is as follows:

• Disembowled Engorgement
• Gutted Face
• Serial Urbicide
• Protonemesis
• Corpsepit
• Terror Domination
• Omnivore

When the lights dimmed and the guitars started playing, already knowing the type of pits this band brings, I was ready for whatever happened. Sold-out show equals a lot of brutal pit moments and crowd-surfers—that’s exactly what happened during this bands set. So many bodies were moving as a result of the chugging riffs that were being played. As per usual, I had to get involved and I was the first to crowd-surf. I even made sure to crowd-surf with my gear to get a cool shot.

Peeling Flesh

Members are as follows

• Damonteal Harris
• Jason Parrish
• Mychal Soto
• Joe Pelleter
• Austin Hirom

Native to the state of Oklahoma, Peeling Flesh is a slamming death metal band. Their music features themes of gore, thuggery, and murder as referenced from “Metal Archives.”

Having formed in the year of 2021, they’ve accomplished a lot in such a short amount of time. They’ve put out numerous EPs, singles, a couple of splits, compilations, and a full-length album. Not only have they produced a ton of music in that amount of time, but they’ve also signed the record label Unique Leader Records. “Bathtub Execution” was their first single back in June of 2021, then they put out their debut EP, Slamaholics Mixtape, in September of 2021. 2022, they released another EP, Human Pudding, in June. The next year was even busier with PF Radio in January, singles “Nefarious Moongrass” and “Ghetto as Hell” in July, and in September they released—what I feel is one of their best EPs—Slamaholics Vol 2. In 2024, they released their full length album, The G Code. Since this bands debut, they’ve gained a MASSIVE amount of traction, sitting at 235,000 monthly listeners on Spotify; They’re one of the biggest slam bands currently.

I’ve been a fan of them since 2023 and saw them once before when they were on their tour with Jesus Piece and Sanguisugabogg. I stage dove during “Make a Move” and I landed on my knee, forcing me to sit out the rest of the show. One of the members saw me and offered me a free t-shirt—I thought that said numbers about how much they cared about their fans

The setlist for the night is as follows:

• Nefarious Moongrass
• The Fu**ening
• Mr Nasty Time
• 12 Gauge Autopsy
• Matar A Palos
• Bodega Bloodbath
• Midnight
• Simptro
• Perc3000
• FFWAS

This time, I needed to brace myself for anything. As SOON as they started, there was movement—crowd-killers in the pit, crowd-surfers, drinks flying even, pure chaos. Unlike last time, I made sure to NOT get hurt during their set. I did, however, crowd-surf with my gear. If there’s one thing though that I love about Peeling Flesh concerts—there’s always some brutal stuff happening, and that’s what slamming death metal is all about; brutality.

Ingested

Members are as follows

• Sean Hynes
• Lyn Jeffs
• Josh Davies
• Thomas OMalley
• Andrew Virrueta

Ingested is a death metal-deathcore band hailing all the way from England. Formed in 2006, they’ve created quite the name for themselves. They’ve made a number of albums, released some EPs and singles, all while having one of the most brutal sounds I’ve heard in a while. After signing to Candlelight Records, they released their debut album, Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering. In 2010, they went on their first European tour. 2011, they released their second album, The Surreption Via Siege of Amida, and an EP followed in 2013, called Revered by No One, Feared by All. After then signing with Century Media, they released their album The Architect of Extinction. 2015, they made the trek all the way over to the U.S. for the very first time on “The Devastation of the Nation” tour.

Despite their lengthy career, I only discovered them through this tour, and they did NOT disappoint. The first song I listened to was their latest, “Altar of Flesh.” Then I dove into one of their earlier songs from 2014, “The Divine Right of Kings“—and I absolutely fell in love. I’ve become a fan quite quickly after doing so.

The setlist for the night is as follows:

• Titanomachy
• Endgame
• Altar of Flesh
• Impending Dominance
• Invidious
• Contorted Perception
• Copremesis
• Skinned and Fu**ed

This was my first time seeing Ingested in person, but, from what I listened to beforehand, I was prepared for instant chaos with this band. It was just that too—people flying into each other, drinks flying off from the balcony above, bodies in the air crowd-surfing. After the first three songs, I made sure to get myself into the air immediately. Hearing the breakdowns and brutal sound that these guys have, in person, is something you just must experience for yourself. I’ll absolutely be seeing these guys in concert again and continue to listen to their brutal music.

Aborted

Members are as follows:

• Sven de Caluwe
• Ian Jekelis
• Ken Bedene
• Daniel Konradsson

Aborted is a death metal-grindcore band that’s considered one of the pioneers for Death metal. They hail all the way from Belgium and originally had an all Belgium lineup, but, over the years, some changes were made internally. They are now considered an international band, having members from not only Belgium but Iceland and the United States. The band’s name was chosen to ensure they would appear first in record store racks when listeners peruse CDs. Formed in 1995, it took a few years before they broke through, releasing a demo tape named “The Necrotorous Chronicles.” After some performances, the band was signed to the record label, Uxicon Records. They’re now signed to Century Media Records and have worked extremely hard to cultivate an unrestrained, technical, grinding brutal sound that has become a hallmark of the band, all while gaining the amount of listeners they have. They stand at 162,000 monthly listeners.

I personally hadn’t listened to Aborted before this tour was announced, I was drawn in by the openers, but I put their music on shuffle to familiarize myself beforehand and quickly became a fan of them—which comes to no surprise as I have so much love for Death Metal, especially for groups formed in the 90s. I started with their album Engineering The Dead, and from front to back, this album is just pure grinding brutality

The setlist for the night is as follows:

• Deadbringer
• Retrogore
• Brotherhood of Sleep
• The Origin of Disease
• Infinte Terror
• Deep Red
• From A Tepid Whiff
• The Shape of Hate
• Insect of Politics
• The Saw and the Carnage Done
• Hecatomb

Aborted’s set was last but ABSOLUTLEY not least. When they came onto the stage, the crowd erupted into cheers for them. Then, the madness began once more—countless crowd-surfers at once, some nearly knocking me out. That didn’t stop me from getting into the air once more for the night and taking a photo from up there.

The band also did this fun little segment in between songs and pulled two contestants from the crowd to answer some lighthearted questions. After that, it was back to the regularly scheduled show and sheer chaos—drinks yet again flying from the balcony, people crowd-killing each other, circle pits. You name it—Aborted had it happen during their set.

As I’ve delved deeper into some of the most extreme brutal metal, I notice something that stays consistent when I listen to bands like Aborted, Peeling Flesh, Ingested or Extermination Dismemberment—it’s the absolute unity of like-minded people, who like to come together, enjoy heavy breakdowns, and beat the absolute pulp out of each other to it, but with love. You don’t get that energy anywhere else outside of the metal community and I think it’s neat. Whether it’s big-name acts to more local bands, the spirit still remains prevalent. Support your local and national music scenes—they’re a treasure.