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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Brian Altman

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