Chesapeake, VA – Connecticut Black metal legends Profanatica brought a brutal, once in a lifetime lineup to a sold-out crowd at Riffhouse Pub with support from Cleveland, Ohio’s death metal veterans Nunslaughter, New York City’s black/post metal band Tombs, regional support from Richmond, VA’s death metal warhorses Battlemaster and Hampton Roads’ black metal group HISS.
This was my first show for the year, 2024 is getting off to a slow start and I wasn’t going to miss this show!!! The only band on this lineup I have seen before is Battlemaster and I haven’t seen them in almost six years, so I was stoked!!!!
Kicking off the night was HISS, a band that was a side project of members of the black metal outfit Oakmoon. When they moved out of the area, Samuel Fox and friends stepped in and reformed the band. Their style to me sounds like a cross between sludge, doom and black metal. This is the first time I have seen them live and they sounded good and I hope to catch them again soon.
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The last time I saw Battlemaster was a show put on in the parking lot of GWARbar which included RAWG (GWAR without makeup) in 2019. Nothing much has changed in that time, they kick ass live!!! Their set consisted mostly of songs from their October 2023 album “Greedgripped & Spellspoilt”.
Battlemaster SETLIST
Plunderdrunk
Bespectored Blackflame Coronation
Dungeoncrawl
The Decadence Of My Master’s Chores
Elite Spectral Attache
The Gourmand’s Appetite
Extradeath
Black Challenge
Tombs was for several of us a real surprise. The band reminds me of Cloak in their no-nonsense approach to playing a show, come out and melt faces!!! Their set consisted mostly of songs from their November 20, 2020 album “Under Sullen Skies”. I would definitely like to throw down with them again!!!
Tombs SETLIST
Obsidian
Bone Furnace
Ex Oblivion
Monarchy of Shadows
The World Is Made of Fire
The Hunger
Secrets of the Black Sun
Mordum
I didn’t know what to expect from Nunslaughter, I figured they would be like most death metal bands, songs that are about four to six minutes long with the lyrical fodder associated with the genre. What the crowd got was a death/black metal band that played songs that would compete with grindcore and crossover bands for their length and speed. Some of the song titles would get a rise out of people who are not into metal like “Smell the Burning Churches” and “I Saw Your God Die”. At one point Don of the Dead asked the crowd “Are there any Christians here?” as a lead into the song “I Hate Christians”. To top it off the band mugs for photos and generally has a good time with the crowd. Whatever you think of Nunslaughter’s music, you cannot say that they are not entertaining. Nunslaughter brings the fun to death metal and is a must see.
Nunslaughter SETLIST
Cerebus
Looking Into the Abyss
Raid the Convent
Fuck the Bastard
I Saw Your God Die
Cataclysm
Ouija
Three Nails, One Liar
The Crowned and Conquering Hag
Banished
Red Is the Color of Ripping Death
Death by the Dead
God
Mother, Cunt, Whore
She Lives by Night
I Hate Christians
Satanic Slut
Smell the Burning Churches
I stepped away from the stage for a couple of minutes and the next thing I know the entire front of the stage is filled with people wanting to see Profanatica up close and personal. While it didn’t affect my ability to listen to them, it made getting photos of them a challenge. The drum kit was right up front and Destroyer of the Holy Hymen (guitar) and The True Perversion of the Heavenly Father (bass) played on either side of Mayhemic
Slaughter of the Heavens (drums and vocals). They were dressed in black robes and had black makeup around their eyes so they looked as if they were dead. For those of you who like your black metal brutal, Profanatica is the band to see. I was surprised by the circle pit that formed during their set but it seems that other cities that they played have pits as well.
The tour runs through March 3rd with the last stop in Brooklyn, New York at the Market Hotel. Do not snooze on this tour package, if you get a chance to see them, GO!!!!!
Show Date: Friday, February 16, 2024
