April 16th, 2025
Concert Review
By Ben Lowman: Photographer/Writer
Irving Plaza in the city that never sleeps, New York City, is a venue that consistently gets high octane heavy shows and tonight was no different. With one of the most stacked deathcore lineups in recent history, Chelsea Grin rocked the city as well as support from Shadow of Intent, Signs of the Swarm and Disembodied Tyrant. The line outside the venue was wrapped around the entire building as people were eagerly anticipating the onslaught of heavy bands. Doors opened at 6:00 pm and even the clouds and drizzling rain did not deter fans from being there early to support each band throughout this Saturday night.
Disembodied Tyrant
Starting off the night at 7:00 pm with a crushing 25 minute set was up and comers Disembodied Tyrant. They opened their set with their new and chaotic single “8.6 BLACKOUT.” The packed room was purely ravenous for the talent of the band led by Blake Mullens. For a band only on their second tour ever, they were so incredibly tight and sounded so flawless, they could make anyone believe they have 20 years of touring under their belts.
The band continued their set with 2 songs from their second EP release of 2024, “The Tower: Part 1.” From the photo pit I could hear the crowd absolutely erupt from the band’s song “Aberrant Waltz,” a song that helped propel Disembodied Tyrant into the scene and into people’s playlists. The sheer talent oozing from Blake Mullens is astounding, as he flips back and forth between just laying down filthy vocals and picking up a guitar to help fill in the incredibly intricate and difficult the songwriting the band is becoming increasingly popular for.
Disembodied Tyrant then closed off their short but brutal set with two songs from their first EP release of 2024, “The Poetic Edda.” The title track features tourmate Ben Duerr of Shadow of Intent, and the song is what put the band on the map. They closed the set with “Winter” which is a striking deathcore take on Antonio Vivaldi’s classical piece “The Four Seasons.” Disembodied Tyrant began the high intensity night setting the standard extremely high for the rest of the lineup.
Band Members:
Blake Mullens – Vocals/Guitar
Dominic – Guitar
Lucas Koughan – Bass
Kevin Alexander – Drums
SETLIST:
8.6 BLACKOUT
Aberrant Waltz
Malphasian
The Poetic Edda
Winter
Signs of the Swarm
Continuing the night at 7:40 pm was the Pennsylvanian four-piece band Signs of the Swarm. Just over two years ago, Signs of the Swarm released their crushing album “Amongst the Low and Empty” which led them to incredible opportunities, such as opening for a tour with heavy hitters Carnifex in 2023 and their own headliner run in August and September 2024.
Starting the set off with their brutal new track “IWONTLETYOUDIE” it was clear the audience was in for a diabolical set, and that the venue security would have their hands full keeping crowd surfers safe. As the set continued, front man David Simonich invited the chaos in the crowd, egging them on with callouts that would energize anyone near the pit.
Backed by a powerful band, their incredibly heavy tracks such as “Tower of Torsos” and new unreleased song “Natural Selection” brought the brutality in the narrow room. You may have imagined Disembodied Tyrant being a hard act to follow, but Signs of the Swarm proved that the night was still young and that there was more brutality to come.
Band Members:
David J Simonich III – Vocals
Michael Cassese – Bass
Carl Schulz – Guitar
Bobby Crow – Drums
SETLIST:
IWONTLETYOUDIE
Tower of Torsos
Hymns Ov Invocation
Borrowed Time
Pray for Death
Natural Selection
Amongst the Low & Empty
Shadow of Intent
After two blood pumping 25 minute opening sets by Disembodied Tyrant and Signs of the Swarm, the energy in the room hit a peak in anticipation for special guests Shadow of Intent, beginning their 40 minute onslaught at 8:25 pm. It is hard to put into words how immensely talented Shadow of Intent are as a whole, from the intense drumming from cheery drummer Bryce Butler, to the bass and backing vocals of Andrew Monias, to the brilliant songwriting and riffs by Chris Wiseman and finally, the absolute behemoth of a vocalist that is Ben Duerr.
The band sprinkled their set with songs from their albums “Reclaimer,” “Melancholy,” and “Elegy” as well as tracks from their upcoming album “Imperium Delirium,” set for release on June 27th, 2025. Tracks played from the new album included “Flying the Black Flag” which has the symphonic elements and insane riff writing Shadow of Intent fans have come to know and love and the brand new “Feeding the Meatgrinder” featuring death metal royalty George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher of Cannibal Corpse.
Not only did the band deliver with arguably some of the best music in deathcore, their sound engineering was some of the best in the entire scene, and the crowd responded kindly with rowdy pits and 40 minutes of headbanging from anyone not involved in the pit.
Band Members:
Ben Duerr – Vocals
Chris Wiseman – Guitars/ Vocals
Andrew Monias – Bass/Backing Vocals
Bryce Butler – Drums
SETLIST:
We Descend…
The Horror Within
Intensified Genocide
The Migrant
Flying the Black Flag
Feeding the Meatgrinder
The Heretic Prevails
Blood in the Sands of Time
Barren and Breathless Macrocosm
Chelsea Grin
As the night raged on, the moment had finally came at 9:30 pm for the deathcore legends that need no introduction, Chelsea Grin. Before the band even came out, it was apparent how excited the crowd was to see Chelsea Grin, fronted by deathcore veteran Tom Barber. The lights dimmed and the crowd roared in excitement as the band entered the stage and opened their hour long headliner set with their classic 2018 song “Hostage.”
Chelsea Grin rocked New York City with a setlist that was sure to please both classic and new fans of the iconic group. With multiple songs included from their classic album “Desolation Of Eden” as well as a slew of newer songs from their albums “Suffer in Hell” and “Suffer in Heaven,” this was a set to remember for years to come. The charisma that Tom Barber holds over the crowd is immense, completely taking control over the bands’ set. This includes interaction with the crowd through speeches between songs, placing a Beanie Baby tossed by someone in the crowd onto his riser (pictured in the gallery) and coming down and having die hard fans on the barricade sing Chelsea Grin classic “Playing With Fire” with him. Even with the absolute powerhouse opening bill before them, Chelsea Grin proved that they are still one of the biggest deathcore forces to be reckoned with.
Band Members:
Tom Barber – Vocals
Stephen Ruff – Guitar
David Flinn – Bass
Baby J – Drums
SETLIST:
Hostage
Sing to the Grave
Cheyne Stokes
The Foolish One
Dead Rose
Across the Earth
Fathomless Maw
Orc March
Playing With Fire
Suffer in Hell, Suffer in Heaven
Soul Slave
The Isnis
My Damnation
Sonnet of the Wretched
Recreant
At the end of the night, the near 1,200 person crowd was simply exhausted yet satisfied by this legendary collection of deathcore bands. Whether someone attended solely for Chelsea Grin or the entire lineup, this was a lineup that will likely stand the test of time in the deathcore community. Disembodied Tyrant, Signs of the Swarm, Shadow of Intent and Chelsea Grin shook New York City to its core on a rainy Saturday night in April and everybody in attendance is certainly eager to see each of them again in the future.
Please feel free to check out each of these bands’ socials and support their future endeavors! Deathcore remains strong, let’s keep it that way!
Disembodied Tyrant:
Signs Of The Swarm:
Shadow Of Intent:
Chelsea Grin:
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