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The Hell We Create Tour: Pittsburgh Show Review

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On the frigid and damp evening of March 7th The Hell We Create tour came to the infamous Mr. Smalls Theater in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Fit For A King, Alfa Wolf, Northlane, and Kingdom of Giants preformed to a sold out crowd in the former church turned concert venue.

The show began with one of the bands you should really be keeping an eye of in the next few months and years. The California based metalcore band Kingdom of Giants. They put on a great show which was full of energy and did their job of getting the crowd ready for a night of intense metal.

Filling the second slot is a band, that in my opinion stole the show.  Haling from the other side of the planet, Alpha Wolf who calls Brisbane, Australia home took over the stage with a confidence a swagger of bands much their senior. The energy and stage presence was intense from this band. Vocalist Lochie entertained the crowd with his vocal prowess and screaming and between songs offered some commentary about the band’s time in America.

Following was another act from the land-down-under, Northlane. The band was missing a guitar player this night for personal reasons, but were still able to perform an incredibly tight and dance worthy set. The ten song set opened with the tracks “Clarity” and “Plenty”, both from the bands Obsidian release. They rounded out their time with the songs “Bloodlines” and “Talking Heads” from their 2019 album Alien

At 9:30pm, the 650+ people in attendance were eager for the the headliner, Tyler TX natives, Fit For A King. Touring in support of their 7th album, The Hell We Create which has been met with both critical acclaim and incredible fan reaction.

The band burst onto the stage with the title track “The Hell We Create” as the crowd sang along in unison to the melodic “Whoa-oh” until the blistering drum fill lead up to vocalist Ryan Kirby shaking the walls and the foundation of the venue with his scream of “THIS IS THE HELL WE CREATE!” Much moshing and crowd surfing ensued.

Without missing a beat they dove right into track two of the newest album “The End (The Other Side)”. The set got heavier and more intense as they played through “Deathgrip”, “Vendetta”,  “Reaper”, and “Backbreaker”.

After preforming “Reaching Out”, drummer, Trey Ceyala took the spotlight as he preformed a brilliant solo.

Fit For A King played a full 16 songs with an absolutely stunning live show full of energy, enthusiasm and pure metal expertise. High jumps and throwing the bass around became commonplace.

The night was also special as it was bassist “Tuck’s” birthday.  A sing a long for him broke out and the band jammed through some more songs. They thanked Pittsburgh for all the great shows here and closed with “God of Fire” from 2020’s The Path album. 

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Concert Reviews

The Nothing That Is Tour

George Archibald

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Another fall evening in the Burgh, the air was crisp and cool, setting the mood for a great night for metal. The Roxian in McKees Rock, PA, hosted The Nothing That Is Tour tonight, featuring Fit For An Autopsy. Bodysnatcher, Distant, Sylosisand, and Judiciary. Fit For An Autopsy brought some of the heaviest and nastiest together to throw down for all of you. An eclectic banding of hardcore and deathcore acts that are making waves in the metal community. 

Judiciary kicked things off, their music a blend of hardcore, thrash, and punk. Their songs had thrash riffs with hardcore rhythms and breakdowns, with an occasional solo thrown in. With horns raised in the air, the crowd gave these Texas natives a well-received welcome. This band was a great start to the night, bringing the energy in the room up quickly. 

Sylosis came out to a fury. Their vocalist ripped at the crowd from the start, asking for a circle pit as they kicked off. This band had moshers and crowd surfers amped up as waves of bodies started coming over the front barricade. Throughout the set, the energy never let up, as this band kept pushing the crowd. This energy came to a high when their newest single, “The Path,” was performed. High-paced hardcore mayhem throughout the set, this band had a vast amount of tricks in their bag, from solos to even groove to bring to the party.

At the midpoint of the show, Distant took the stage. This band is over-the-top heavy, riding low-tuned grooves into devastating breakdowns. The vocalist has a wide range, from high-pitched screams and growls to bottom-of-the-barrel gutturals. Distant announced their newest album, Tsukuyomi: The Origin, is a week away from coming out. Which kicked off the single “Torturous Symphony.” At this point, no one was standing still on the floor as moshers were on the move. Bodies colliding into each other until the band finally stopped, at this point the crowd was completely warmed up.

Deathcore veterans Bodysnatcher took the stage next to show Pittsburgh how to throw down. This band rides a low groove while keeping the energy high, accompanied by the unrelenting low growls of vocalist Kyle Medina. The band kicked off with “King of Rats” and went right into “Dead Rabbit.” The floor was swimming with bodies as the band raged on. Other standout songs were “Take Me to Hell” and “Black of My Eyes” before closing out on “Murder8.”

Headliners Fit For An Autopsy took the stage with a fury, kicking off with “Lower Purpose” into “A Higher Level of Hate” for a nasty one-two punch out of the gate. Seasoned veterans now in their careers, the band looked very polished and primed. FFAA just released their newest album, The Nothing That Is. The band played through several hits, “Black Mammoth”, “The Sea of Tragic Beasts”, and “Hellions”, before diving back into their latest album with “Hostage”. The crowd stayed up and moving through the set as Fit For an Autopsy is a Pittsburgh favorite, having visited the city several times during their tenure. 

The Nothing That Is tour showcases some of the heaviest bands touring right now. Fit For An Autopsy have updated their live show and look ready to take the world fresh off the new album. If you are looking to release some steam or to hear some new music, The Nothing That Is tour will not disappoint.

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Concert Reviews

STRYPER ON A SUNDAY. YES PLEASE

Ron

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STRYPER was just in Baltimore the other day on the 40 years of Stryper tour. Playing 2 sets spanning those 40 years. I’ve only ever seen Stryper play at M3 so it was amazing to get to see a full on set then another full on set right after. 

For the 1st set we got the 1984-1990 set which included songs like “Loud N Clear”, “Soldiers under Command” and “To Hell with the Devil”. 

The second set we got 1986, 2004-2024 with songs like “No More Hell to Pay”, “This i Pray” and ending the night with “Sing along Song”. 

It was a great night for Music and sadly more then likely the last show at RamsHead Live I’ll be ever to attend as the are closing their doors (hopefully will be open again with a new venture) but the show was amazing to see Stryper play on the stage. Such great guys and a great band. I love that Stryper is fully engaged with the fans and the show is always amazing. I love that they put their religious beliefs 100% on display but the show never feels preachy or judgmental. If you get a chance to see Stryper play in your city I fully recommend it such a great time and a great band to see play live.    

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Concert Reviews

King Diamond brought the Halloween party to Silver Spring MD

Ron

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King Diamond who’s on tour now with Overkill and Night Demon.

Overkill always puts on a great show and shows that face pace thrash metal is still kick ass. Led by NJ’s Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth Overkill has that distinctive sound with Bobby’s high pitched and raspy vocals. With songs like “Scorched”, “ Rotten to the Core” and “Hello From the Gutter”, Overkill got the crowd into a frenzy and warmed up the stage before the king. 

You know it’s gonna be a good night when it’s 3 days before Halloween and you get to see a kick ass set from King Diamond. King Diamond who’s 68 right now still commands that stage and sounds amazing with his insanely falsettos. The stage show at a King Diamond show is always such a great sight to see. With a multilayer setup of stairs and little pieces of elaborate set all over it’s such a great view and perfect setting to watch a King Diamond set. 

The set list was amazing too we got to hear songs from such a great career like “A Mansion in the Darkness”, “Halloween “, “Spider Lilly”, “Welcome Home”, and “Eye of the Witch” and of course ending the night with “Abagail”. 

If you’re a fan of King Diamond or just a fan of great music that adds that Halloween haunted asylum themed stage performances then you need to go out and check this tour now. King Diamond never disappoints and always puts on one hell of a show. 

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