Another Round Bar and Grill – Richmond, VA

I’m not used to being here on a Tuesday, but wouldn’t miss this show for anything! Mid-week Metal is a special occasion and needs to be done as often as possible. Only having three bands allowed for an earlier finish time so there was not as big a concern for getting to work the next morning, not that I have to worry about that anyway. The key thing to remember about a weeknight show is that it is always worth the extra bit of tired and justifies another half pot of coffee the next day.

Sacrificial Betrayal

Band Members:

  • Tom Fuller – Vocals
  • Aaron Setliff – Guitars
  • Morgan Murphy – Guitars
  • Nate Murphy – Bass
  • Brian Fisher – Drums

Setlist:

  1. Killer
  2. Violence Captivates
  3. Gorilla
  4. Pathbreaker
  5. Slaughterhouse
  6. Coffin Confessor
  7. In Death We Unite
  8. Internal Decapitation

Once again, these guys have taken their songs, practiced them relentlessly, then executed them onstage to great effect. Aaron’s lady does not brag about him. She lets his guitar work speak for itself. Morgan and Nate have partners who are very vocal about their great looks, especially the hair. Shout out to the ladies who love their musicians and take particular pride in bragging about them! Brian and Tom just show out every time they hit the stage. Whether you go for the music or to look at the eye candy on stage, you get exactly what you want from this band.

The set keeps getting tighter and the crowd interaction gets better. This time, we got a conga line going with the three guitars and a few fans. Is it a little weird? Yes. Is it fun as hell? Damn straight. These guys are going on tour soon and will finally be taking this show to new places. They have done a couple of smaller tours in the past, but not with the show this well-honed. I am willing to bet they will come home needing to order a new round of merchandise and with some new fans.

Part of what made this show so much fun was that they knew, and had played with, Casket Robbery before in Tennessee. Sacrificial Betrayal knew they needed to bring the heat to kick this show off, not that they ever give anything less than their all when showcasing their songs. They set the bar and let the other bands know it was going to be a great night by getting everything going at top speed from the first note. Never miss a chance to see this band live. It will always be worth it.

Nights Of Malice

Band Members:

  • Brendan McGrath – Vocals
  • Josh Kuhn – Guitars/Backing Vocals
  • Xavier Quiles – Guitars
  • Rick Smith – Bass
  • Joe Capasso – Drums

Setlist:

  1. The Unbegotten
  2. Depths Beyond Reach
  3. Crimson Sand
  4. Serpentine Visages
  5. No Quarter Given
  6. A Myriad Misfortunes

Ocean County, New Jersey sent one of their more interesting bands to represent on this night of Metal. Fusing Death Metal, Deathcore, and Tech Death Metal, they bring a lot of energy to the stage. The songs full of killer tones and they know how to build a song so it is not just a bunch of notes, but more of a series of phrases that are meant to ebb and flow through more than one sub-genre. The guitars were both 7-string and the bass was a 5-string, the vocals were mostly harsh and the drums were intense, full of blast beats and incredibly technical patterning.

There was a lot of lead and fill work on the guitars giving the songs a nice complex sound that more than once shifted phrasing in an almost Progressive Metal style without actually sounding Progressive. Again, sometimes Tech Metal can skirt through more than one sub-genre. The transitions from one section of a song to another were always spot on, using the technical proficiency of the drum/bass team to hit a change point with absolute precision. Even though I did not truly catch Prog Metal in the songs, this is a band that could go there with no effort. The skill is present, but I think they prefer to stay in the Tech Metal realm instead. I could be wrong, but that is one you’d have to ask the band about. I just talk about what I hear.

The band had great energy and an even better time. The fans were moshing and hardcoring around the floor. I enjoyed the massive breakdowns they threw in, adding yet another element to the overall sound. They raised the bar just that much farther, bringing some out of state newness to the show. It was truly a Night Of Malice and the crowd was properly brutalized with sonic deliciousness.

Casket Robbery

Band Members:

  • Megan Orvold – Vocals
  • Cory Scheider – Guitars/Backing Vocals
  • Bryan Bykowski – Bass
  • Austin Vicars – Drums

Setlist:

  1. The Hidden… The Hideous
  2. Don’t Forget The Eyes
  3. Blood Bathory
  4. Worm Food
  5. Post-Mortem
  6. Pockets Lined With Flowers
  7. Reanimate
  8. The Lacryphagist
  9. Bone Mother
  10. Return To The Sky

So, I must give a massive nod to Megan. I got the chance to chat with her before the show and it turns out she is familiar with many bands and people that I am a major fan of, so I kind of went “fanboy” with her. I’m very grateful she was nice enough to listen to me prattle on without getting too terribly bored. I also spent some time speaking with the rest of the band, but they were busier running around, so did not get to chat them up quite as much.

Casket Robbery is primarily Deathcore/Death Metal according to their own opinion. I would add Technical Metal and Thrash Metal to that and give them credit for Extreme and Progressive Metal elements as well. The vocals are all harsh and quite brutal. Megan has a voice made for this style of singing and you can watch her and see she practices to protect herself while hitting those killer notes/tones. Cory was hard to keep up with. He spent a lot of time thrashing around the stage, often bent double while shredding through riffs, leads, fills, and solos.

While watching this particular band, I noticed the bass and drums are tied together at a high rate of speed. The drumming is highly technical and borderline Progressive Metal throughout the entire show. The bass links in with the snare drum for the most part as the double bass is too fast for four fingers to properly pace. The key thing to note about this is the drum/bass combo allows for the guitar to spend a lot more time noodling through leads and fills. The bass ends up taking on the role of riff master. This gives the band the feel of having two guitars and a bass while only having one of each. I find that to be one of the more impressive aspects of Casket Robbery.

This whole show was freaking awesome. Casket Robbery wrapped the night up in a neat little bow, topping the show off with delicate brutality and bringing the energy to a fever pitch as they closed the night. My only real issue with the entire event is that I bought a pound of the Casket Robbery coffee blend (Reanimate) and did not gain the ability to growl like Megan. I was incredibly wide awake, but not any more talented. Great sound, great energy, and great people. Another Round did it again!