Photos and Review by Steven Paugh – paughsteven1@gmail.com
For some, Zumba can be a great way to get off the couch and get some exercise into their day. It provides a way to trick your brain into doing so by just going along with the music. The audience of the Chaos and Carnage tour decided to do just that, and go on a six hour long set of pure cardio set to the most high energy, gut punching metal they could find. Mosh pits, circle pits, crowd surfing, walls of death, and “Murder Ball” were on the exercise regiment for Thursdays show, and it all culminated into the workout many in attendance were looking for.
The Chaos and Carnage tour brought the talents of Slay Squad, Crown Magnetar, Sanguisugabogg, Aborted, Born of Osiris, Dying Fetus, and Suicide Silence right to the faces of Covington this past 4/20. The Madison Theater created a very intimate setting for the bands due to its smaller size compared to something like MegaCorp Pavilion. Meaning the smoke of the snuck-in joints could properly fill everyone’s lungs, and it made for some great back and forth between the bands and the audience. A bigger venue could definitely make a bigger mosh pit, but I genuinely feel like an essence would be lost that was in the atmosphere created at Thursdays show. A huge shout out to the headliners for treating the smaller stages of the world no different than the festival stages they’ve dominated before.
The support shown for the smaller bands at the beginning of the show was awe inspiring. The show started at 4:30 and yet there was still a great crowd there to support Slay Squad. Who made for the perfect opening act with their high energy front men, killer riffs, and one of the few metal bands I’ve seen live that make great use of their DJ. The rest of the opening acts kept the energy going with a very steep uphill climb. Crown Magnetar brought a very aggressive, sharp, and in your face presence that told you you better be ready or else. Sanguisugabogg then took the stage with their own way of running a show. As if the crowd wasn’t already pumped to peak, with two songs left in their set, they incorporated a football into the mosh pit for a game they call “Murder Ball”. To put it simply, whoever has the ball at the end of their set got free merch. That’s all anyone needed to hear before a massive dog pile was sweeping the floor of the Madison. In the end, the victor was applauded and walked away unharmed from the all-in-good-fun brawl.
The only act I feel sympathy for is Aborted. A game of “Murder Ball” is a tough act to follow. The audience was still very receptive of the band and their brutal stage presence, but you could see they were starting to feel the burn and needed to dial it back a bit. But it was nothing a “wall of death” orchestrated by the singer couldn’t fix. For those unaware, a wall of death is where the audience is split down the middle, face each other, and on the command of the singer, collide into each other in the middle initiating a mosh pit to write home about nearly every time.
Born of Osiris made for an interesting act in the show. They are definitely doing their own thing within the genres that were being presented, but something about their act made them feel out of place. It could have been the placement of their act in the lineup considering I feel their sound is not as extreme live. Don’t get me wrong, they put on a great performance and have a great use of ambience, but I feel they could’ve been earlier in the show in terms of the flow of energy.
Dying Fetus has a type of presence and sound that matches the level of shock their name carries. From start to finish the crowd seemed to be in a constant state of movement. People being thrown, tossed, carried, all seemingly at the same speed of the music. The only memorable break in their set was a moment where all the lights went dark and the recording of a crying baby played. To which the singer eventually came back to the mic to say “Fuck that baby”. Then, as if it never stopped, the carnage in the crowd started again. Dying Fetus finished their set with a perfect lead in to Suicide Silence.
The crowd work and personality of front man Eddie Hermida made for a perfect closer to the show. Bringing the right amount of heart warming sentiment and blood curdling screams. He emphasized the importance of what those who had been there since 4:30 had done; come out to see the smaller bands and “keep this shit alive”. So a special shout out to the Madison Theater for accepting a rather frantic crowd, and for those waiting at the doors before lunch had even let out. It’s those commitments and choices that keep scenes and shows like these going and growing.
