Chesapeake, VA – My first time at Riffhouse Pub for 2025 caps off a rainy Friday night with a threesome of death and black metal bands, Virginia Beach’s nature themed black metal band Lichen, Virginia Beach’s gothic black metal project Vampyric Sword and Fredericksburg, Virginia’s black metal outfit Archael.
I was excited to check out this show because I haven’t seen my friends in Lichen and Vampyric Sword face to face in some time. Despite the pandemic being over for over two years, it still seems like hanging out with friends is more hit and miss than it was in the past.
It has been at least two years since I last saw Lichen live and they kicked off the evening with a set that set the pace for the evening. What I like about Lichen is their songs are about nature and similar topics as opposed to the typical black metal tropes. The green stage lighting sets them apart from other bands and gives the audience the idea that their experience with Lichen would be different than other bands. I really missed these guys and if you haven’t seen them, you are missing out.
Vampyric Sword is a side project of Bryan Bosch of Serpentshrine and the direction for this project is very different, think a cross between Belphegor and Fleshgod Apocalypse both in appearance and sound. Black metal with some theatrics to me is always a good thing. If you haven’t seen Vampyric Sword live, you need to check them out.
I have been attending and photographing metal shows in Virginia since 2009 and I am still trying to figure out how I missed Archael. Listening to them perform, I picked up sounds of Mayhem and Behemoth which I do like a lot. I definitely need to give more of their stuff a spin. If you haven’t seen them live, check them out.
Show Date: 4.11.2025
