There are heavy metal concerts, and then there are nights when inflatable dinosaurs are flying overhead, beach balls are bouncing across the audience, a skeleton-masked performer is helping unleash absolute chaos, and a goblin is commanding a sold-out theater. On Saturday, November 7, Nekrogoblikon brought their 20th anniversary tour to Denver’s Oriental Theater, delivering one of the most entertaining and wonderfully ridiculous metal shows I’ve photographed this year.
Joined by Party Cannon, Signs of the Swarm, and Aborted, Nekrogoblikon assembled a lineup that brought together four distinct approaches to extreme metal. The show was completely sold out, and the combination of punishing music, elaborate characters, and an audience ready to embrace every bit of absurdity created an atmosphere that did not let up whatsoever throughout the night.
Opening the evening was Scotland’s Party Cannon, a band whose colorful visual identity and absurd sense of humor stand in deliberate contrast to their exceptionally heavy music. Their combination of brutal death metal and slam has earned them a reputation for turning some of metal’s most aggressive sounds into something that feels almost celebratory.
There’s something particularly entertaining about a band that can deliver music as crushing as “Weird, But Not Illegal” while approaching the entire experience with such an obvious sense of humor. Their newer material, including “Thirst Trap,” continues that same combination of technical aggression and complete ridiculousness. Party Cannon was a fitting introduction to a night where heaviness and comedy would repeatedly collide.
Signs of the Swarm followed with a considerably darker approach. The Pittsburgh deathcore band brought a different kind of intensity to the theater, replacing Party Cannon’s playful presentation with densely layered guitars, crushing breakdowns, and some of the most punishing vocal textures in contemporary extreme metal.
The group’s music is built around dramatic shifts in rhythm and overwhelming heaviness, but there’s considerable precision beneath the aggression. Songs such as “Amongst the Low & Empty” and “DREAMKILLER” demonstrate the intricate arrangements that distinguish the band from more conventional deathcore acts.
In a lineup filled with theatrical personalities, Signs of the Swarm relied on the sheer impact of their musicianship. Their performance was ferocious, giving the evening a genuinely intimidating edge before the next band pushed the technical intensity even further.
Belgian death metal veterans Aborted took the stage next, bringing decades of experience and an exceptionally aggressive approach to technical death metal. Fronted by Sven de Caluwé, the band’s sound combines relentless percussion, intricate guitar work, and an uncompromising vocal delivery.
Aborted’s material, including “Dreadbringer” and “Retrogore,” reflects a band that has spent years refining the balance between technical precision and outright brutality. Their performance provided a formidable contrast to the more comedic elements of the evening, demonstrating how much musical range existed within this seemingly chaotic lineup.
Celebrating two decades together, Nekrogoblikon has built one of the most recognizable identities in modern metal. Their combination of melodic death metal, electronic keyboards, theatrical storytelling, and intentionally ridiculous imagery has created a musical universe that feels entirely their own.
And at the center of that universe is, naturally, a goblin.
John Goblikon’s presence onstage remains one of the band’s defining features. Alongside vocalist Dickie Allen, the character brings a theatrical personality to music that would already be impressive on its own. The contrast between a fully realized goblin character and the band’s aggressive instrumentation is absurd, but that commitment to the concept is exactly why it works.
Musically, Nekrogoblikon is far more sophisticated than their appearance might initially suggest. Their catalog moves between crushing riffs, intricate melodic arrangements, elaborate keyboard passages, and surprisingly infectious choruses. Tracks like “The Many Faces of Dr. Hubert Malbec” and “This Is It” illustrate how effectively the band combines technical musicianship with an unmistakable sense of humor.
At the Oriental Theater, that combination translated into an exceptionally fun live experience. Between the costumed performers, inflatable dinosaurs, and beach balls flying through the room, the audience was surrounded by reminders that metal doesn’t have to take itself seriously to deliver an outstanding performance.
What impressed me was how naturally the band’s theatrical elements worked alongside the music. Nekrogoblikon never seemed dependent on the costumes or comedy to make the performance interesting. The musicianship was strong enough to stand independently, while the elaborate presentation elevated the experience into something considerably more memorable.
The sold-out crowd seemed completely invested in that balance. The energy throughout the venue was wild, and there was an unmistakable sense that everyone had come prepared to participate in whatever ridiculous spectacle the bands had planned. It was the kind of show where trying to explain the atmosphere afterward hardly does it justice.
Twenty years into their career, Nekrogoblikon has found a way to remain distinctive in a genre filled with bands competing to be heavier, faster, and more technically impressive. Rather than abandoning those elements, they’ve built an identity around combining them with humor, storytelling, and theatrical performance. Their anniversary tour celebrates that unusual approach while demonstrating how well it continues to connect with audiences.
The supporting lineup was equally important to the evening’s success. Party Cannon brought absurdity and crushing slam, Signs of the Swarm delivered relentless modern deathcore, and Aborted provided an exceptional display of technical death metal. Each band brought something different, making the progression toward Nekrogoblikon’s headline set entertaining from beginning to end.
I’ve photographed plenty of intense metal shows, but few have been quite this entertaining. The music was heavy, the performances were wildly animated, and the atmosphere inside the Oriental Theater was fantastic. Nekrogoblikon’s 20th anniversary celebration was a reminder that some of the best concerts are the ones that embrace both extraordinary musicianship and a little insanity.
Concert photography by Zack Hartman Photography for The Concert Chronicles.
Explore the music: Party Cannon | Signs of the Swarm | Aborted | Nekrogoblikon
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