REVIEW: CHAOS & CARNAGE 2024 (Cattle Decapitation, Carnifex, Rivers of Nihil, Humanity's Last Breath, The Zenith Passage, Face Yourself, Vitriol) at Brooklyn Monarch | 05.10.2024
Allow me to set the stage... It's 3:30 on a Friday afternoon in Brooklyn. We're halfway to summer but there's still a chill in the air. A line has formed outside of the Brooklyn Monarch and it’s growing steadily; so too is the drizzling rain. Yet, despite the cold and dreary weather, within that line of black-wardrobed metalheads there is warmth and excitement. And despite it being the middle of the afternoon, there is a late-night energy brewing.
Why, you might ask? Look no further than the 2024 edition of the Chaos & Carnage tour: Face Yourself, Vitriol, The Zenith Passage, Humanity's Last Breath, Rivers of Nihil, Carnifex, and Cattle Decapitation. We're talking one bill on one stage with all of those names; absolute insanity.
The promise of seven consecutive hours of live Metal served with a basket of chicken tenders from the counter in the back was a slice of Heaven for those who love to raise Hell. And what a day it was. Let me tell you all about it.
FACE YOURSELF
Face Yourself kicked off the marathon of metal firing on all cylinders. Despite frontwoman Yasmin Liverneaux Belkhodja's absence, Shadow of Intent's Ben Duerr made for an epic stand-in, the band sounding like a version of themselves instead of a shadow.
SONG OF THE SET: "RED"
VITRIOL
A true half hour of power was Vitriol's set as they wasted no time playing aces and melting faces. Watching vocalist and guitarist Kyle Rasmussen's solos up close from the photo pit was as hypnotizing as it was awe-inspiring.
SONG OF THE SET: "Shame and its Afterbirth"
THE ZENITH PASSAGE
The Zenith Passage was the band with which I was the least familiar going in, but coming out I have to say their set was one of my favorites of the night. "Divinertia" was a ride, man.
SONG OF THE SET: "Divinertia (Part I / Part II)"
HUMANITY'S LAST BREATH
My most anticipated set of the night, Humanity's Last Breath performed in darkness, bathed only in the brutality of their riffs. Frontman Filip Danielsson remained mysterious as he conducted the crowd with an artful hand and a booming voice.
SONG OF THE SET: "Instill"
RIVERS OF NIHIL
When it comes to my personal experience of seeing Rivers of Nihil live, the band is batting a thousand; they knocked it out of the park with their performance like they always do. Forever determined to and ultimately successful in leaving it all on the stage, the band lures you in with saxophone sirens then engulfs you in technical metal mastery.
SONG OF THE SET: ”The Sub-Orbital Blues”
CARNIFEX
Carnifex took no prisoners as they delivered a tidal wave of chaos and conjured one of the rowdiest pits of the night. I mean, how could the chugs of their riffs not make you want to slam into the person next to you?
SONG OF THE SET: "Torn in Two"
CATTLE DECAPITATION
This is the third time that I've seen (and covered!) Cattle Decapitation in less than one year, and it's not hyperbole to say that three times isn't enough. Watching Cattle Decapitation is like witnessing a sonic atom bomb in perpetual explosion; you can’t help but absorb the energy.
SONG OF THE SET: "A Photic Doom"