Photo Credit: Tom Mis
Fans lined up early (and many begged for a spare ticket) to the sold-out Dying Wish show at The Meadows in Brooklyn, NY, for an evening of cathartic aggression and chaotic breakdowns. The poster for the tour promised a lot – “Come And Be Killed by Dying Wish” – and just short of actual death, the band delivered on all fronts. Hot on the heels of their second full-length album, Symptoms of Survival, Dying Wish feels unstoppable, and this show absolutely reflected that.
Roman Candle opened the show with some old-school screamo/skrams, a relatively new band on the scene with a sound straight out of 1999 DC, save for the modern double bass drumming. Despite having only one EP to their name, the band already had a crop of young fans up front ready to grab the mic. Throwing a band like this onto an otherwise pit-heavy lineup might seem risky for those who haven’t yet discovered this band or appreciate the style. However, it was the perfect entry point into the night’s chaos. The band understood the audience they were in front of, and the bodies started flying.
Roman Candle
Photo Credit: Tom Mis
SharpTone Records labelmates Foreign Hands might have the gain dialed back a bit, but not the intensity. With a melodic sound akin to SeeYouSpaceCowboy and, of course, WristMeetsRazor, their set was both emotive and uncontained. For anyone confused by Roman Candle, the pit opened up before the band played a single note, clearing up any misconceptions that this was the kind of show you could push and shove each other at. Tyler Norris serves as one of the most exciting vocalists in the scene right now, and he’ll make another appearance later on. Foreign Hands is by far the most musically delicate band on the bill, which really worked in their favor. Though they have a decent following, they fit right in with the Dying Wish crowd.
Foreign Hands
Photo Credit: Tom Mis
Direct support came from Boundaries, who immensely enjoyed completely riling up the crowd. It was immediately obvious that a portion of this crowd was coming out for Boundaries. This CT-based metalcore band trimmed any and all fat from their setlist, seemingly designed to let the audience relentlessly punish themselves and each other in the pit. Though harsh vocals dominated the set, the audience jumped at every opportunity to grab the mic for a clean bit.
Boundaries
Photo Credit: Tom Mis
And the evening’s crown jewel, Dying Wish, finally took to the stage around 9 pm. With a set split pretty evenly between Fragments of a Bitter Memory and Symptoms of Survival, with some older tracks thrown in for good measure, the band exuded both precision and chaos on stage. Vocalist Emma Boster acted as ringleader through the set and provided most of the aforementioned chaos, seemingly unable to stand still for more than a few seconds at a time. As a regular at this venue, I’ve seen this room at its craziest – Vomit Forth’s wall of death comes to mind – and the crowd tonight was just as wild. The Meadows is the mid-sized room of the three that make up the Brooklyn Monarch, and they’ve already seemed to already outgrow it. Dying Wish filled the entire stage with their presence.
The new tracks, including the title, absolutely hit live. The response was overwhelmingly positive despite the fact that the new record has barely been out for a week at this point, and not everyone has given it a proper listen yet. The night’s highlight, however, came mid-set in the form of “Cowards Feed, Cowards Bleed” – less than two minutes of pure groove and one of the band’s best scream-along tracks. Even those who couldn’t keep up with the intricate lyrics could certainly keep up with the final line of the song, which is simply “PAIN.” Feeling the room come together on this last line was the release that everyone in the audience was looking for, and found together. This was immediately followed up by “Hollowed by Affliction,” bringing Tyler Norris to the stage to reprise his guest spot on the album. If the room wasn’t moving enough, the band shot footage for an upcoming music video at tonight’s show. If the band bothered to shoot footage at other shows, they can safely scrap it – Brooklyn lit up and left it all in the pit.
It’s easy to view Dying Wish and other so-called “revivalcore” bands in the shadow of their predecessors, but Dying Wish is casting their own over the scene.
Dying Wish
Photo Credit: Tom Mis
