Gig review: Belphegor @ Brooklyn Monarch

Is anyone here a fan of extreme metal? For those of us who thrive on attending the most intense concerts, this winter season seemed unusually quiet, with few notable shows—until now. The long-anticipated extreme metal event featuring Belphegor, Incantation, Hate, and Narcotic Wasteland finally arrived, signaling an electrifying start to the year for the genre’s enthusiasts. This decent into Satan’s malicious realm will totally be worth the four and half hour onslaught, considering they basically set the punishment high and moonsaulted New York throughout the snarling tour opener at the Brooklyn Monarch. Aside from the powerful turn out, I occasionally am reminded of how much could absolutely go awry during the process of locking in and putting the show together for the first night of a tour. All that time waiting in a line that went around the block as the grim and frostbitten winds of February blew across our backs while the acoustics took a minute to behave with the venue was sluggish – then the time for DRINKING TIME arrived an hour later at 7:00 for the gathering of black shirts donning their metal winter gear of leather and demin showing off the centerpiece backpatch of Electric Wizard or Gorgoroth entered the venue to warm up with some spirits and to soon get drenched in the Southern death metal venom of Narcotic Wasteland.

If a Hantengu-sized packaged tour like this is anything to go by, fellow miscreants, like any fairly known band kicking things off, have a chimera named Narcotic Wasteland. If you show up early, you will be left dazed by their unrelenting barbarity, and this effect is intricately tied to the band’s composition and musical history. While their technical proficiency is undeniable, what sets Narcotic Wasteland apart critically is their capacity to weave complex themes of addiction, corruption, and societal decay into their aggressive sonic architecture. Instead of relying solely on technical showmanship, the band integrates their lyrical content and performance style to present a cohesive narrative that challenges and unsettles listeners, prompting reflection as much as excitement. Dallas Toler-Wade, formerly of Nile, uses his musical experience not merely for virtuosity but to lend authenticity and weight to the band’s thematic concerns. Kenji Tsunami and Austin Vicars contribute more than instrumental excellence; their interplay adds layers of texture that underscore the urgency of the group’s social commentary. Their set, including tracks like Morality and the Wasp, and Keeping Up with the Jones, and a nod to Toler-Wade’s roots via a cover of Lashed to the Slave Stick, not only thrilled but provoked the crowd to engage both sonically and intellectually. Through these elements, Narcotic Wasteland demonstrates a rare ability to balance technical ferocity with substantive critique, establishing themselves as more than just a compelling live act, but as key contributors to the ongoing evolution of extreme metal’s artistic conversations.

Not far from the group bulldozing a clear path for the event, an assembly of fans who arrived early signaled that Narcotic Wasteland is, without debate, a perfect opener for an acidic tour of this magnitude. As I looked around, a vivid Williamsburg crowd had gathered in place of what is usually a light start to a metal show; the now-growing metalized cluster did not fail to summon its support. For the duration of their set, Narcotic Wasteland performed the kind of riff-filled, crushing heft that makes you want to morph into the mosh pit or simply watch the execution. With awareness of Narcotic Wasteland beginning to build, the brainchild of Dallas Toler-Wade is receiving more attention, with support at gigs and on social media. A key factor in the deserved praise they are receiving is the band’s continued approach to unceasing touring, particularly their unified professionalism. Narcotic Wasteland performed Introspective Nightmares to conclude an intense selection of powerful songs, energizing the crowd and seamlessly setting the stage for the arrival of Hate from Poland.

Narcotic Wasteland

Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau

The intensity ramped up with Hate taking the stage, marking a standout moment in the night’s already fierce lineup. Helmed by the dark voice / twisted fretwork of Adam the First Sinner, the malice-filled leads from Domin, Tiermes’ bellowing bottom end, and bringing the thunderous night shade for Belphegor is Nar-Sil. This soul-stealing quartet makes sense for this dense kind of showcase that is now becoming a spectacle for such elaborate music. What distinguishes Hate’s musical style is their synthesis of blackened death metal elements: the band fuses rapid, tremolo-picked guitar passages with precise blast beats and atmospheric layers, creating an ominous and relentless soundscape. Their compositional approach features stark dynamic shifts, moving fluidly between rhythmically aggressive verses and haunting melodic interludes that heighten the ritualistic atmosphere of their set. Hate accomplishes a lot during a timeslot before Incantation, in which a striking thirty-five minutes represent an enchanted take on such sacrilegious tones. Built around the theme of keeping the bullshit short and the songs long, the foursome crafted the setlist, anchored by six wraith-summoning bangers, into a dark-metallic, spicy burst, plotted by compelling Polish talent. Through distorted warhorns like Sovereign Sanctity and The Wolf Queen, Hate gives a hundred thousand percent into maintaining a league of their own—a masterclass in Warsaw wrath, this band is another one showing up early to support.

Taking on the warpaint harshness of Behemoth and Immortal, Hate transformed the Brooklyn Monarch into a kvlt-like transmigration, without playing too much into the makeup; instead, allowing their chilling musicality to sound off for itself, even if some theatrics, like triggered fog machines spontaneously hazing the venue, were a nice aesthetic touch. They are intentionally moving the night forward as more onlookers roll in, demanding some less chaotic participation but instead to remain intrigued of such a rare stateside appearance not counting being booked for exclusive experiences like the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise – but you can bang your head or shift a circle pit into a high gear – nothing is stopping you from whatever you paid for your price of admission! Assuring the final six minutes of their arcane might with Iphigenia, Hate is set to take their hellraisers on a journey through Masovian blackened relentlessness, chilling the stage for some Americanized blasphemy by Incantation!

Hate

Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau

While more of a jeans and t-shirt type of demonism like Narcotic Wasteland, Brooklyn faced an encounter of another kind, representing fiendish melodies when the titanic Incantation set out to accomplish a forty-minute pummeling, all in the spirit of no frills death metal, in front of a horde hungry for more unholy spiciness. The band aided in the ongoing demolition. Starting with Golgotha, Incantation had no one relaxing. The instant their riffs landed, bodies pressed closer to the stage, a wave of fists and hair surging forward as the pit erupted into motion. The foursome fueled this raw chaos with a bloodthirsty sense of consistent domination, channeling frantic heaviness that hit with enough force to make you snap your neck clean off your vertebrae.

The main mammoth of Incantation, John McEntee, engaged the audience with his distinctive riffs and visceral vocal delivery, core elements of the band’s performance identity since 1989. On this tour, he is joined by former Havok guitarist Reece Scruggs, whose collaborative energy adds a new dynamic to the live sound. Completing the lineup are bassist Chuck Sherwood, whose return brings depth to the rhythm section, and drummer Charlie Koryn, whose precision amplifies the intensity. Incantation’s set featured ten carefully chosen tracks, with prominent highlights including Blissful Bloodshower and The Ibex Moon, representing key moments from the band’s extensive history. Their performance was marked by powerful transitions between relentless speed and crushing heaviness, creating a palpable impact on the audience. The size and enthusiasm of the Brooklyn crowd were met with Incantation’s formidable delivery, each song intensifying the venue’s atmosphere. The climactic performance of Impending Diabolical Conquest exemplified their ability to energize and prepare the audience for the final headline act, firmly establishing the significance of Incantation’s presence as Belphegor’s direct support.

Incantation

Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau

Just as the metal fanatics and casuals were increasing their bar tabs, the black winds of metal appeared to be threatening the final sabbath of this four-way Diablo. Pre-performance was calling for the legion of the Brooklyn Monarch to take it in, as Belphegor promised quite a bit of intense concentration, and a grand return to New York—an hour plus ritual featuring eleven hellish metal hymns—finally in effect In the glow between crimson and freeze-dried lighting, between bloodcurdling throats and mean mugging corpsepainted faces, Belphegor’s ungodly time emerged in front of their disciples with The Procession / Baphoment—the inferno unleashed. With this becoming Genenna’s final lap, Belphegor presented a grandiose start to their grand prix that felt more like a ritual of dark magic than a performance. The four demonic diplomats thread the flowing metal and uncompromising might, gathering the beholders into moments where chaos is not obscured but orbits your periphery. For the founding Riftstalker lapsing sick riffs and flesh-tearing screams, Helmuth, in alliance with guitarist Wolfgang Rothbauer, to realize a song’s black juju, all with cutting direction in the tempo of the damned from bassist Chris Bonos interlocking with Hate’s percussionist Nar-Sil, to bring Helmuth’s dark arts into a live setting.

In parallel, Belphegor constantly builds upon their live evil, with nearly everyone entranced while some moshed or had security catching their bodies – from the older commanding tunes of technical blackfire such as The Devil’s Son and Lucifer Incestus to a few new romps through the abyss by way of Sanctus Diaboli Confidimus and Scarlet Beast – Leviathan, this ensemble brought some of the most intense and exploratory theatrics which I won’t spoil within the boundaries of a club-level venue. It seems unlikely that anyone who has been on their feet for a long stretch would become annoyed by the overarching strains of compact tonage, because this concert does require a lot of gleeful patience in this grouping of bands. Reflecting on the evening, it is evident that Belphegor’s ability to craft a realm of their own not only completed the event, but also elevated the experience by merging intensity with artistry. The band’s continuous momentum and refusal to lean excessively on theatrics produced a soundscape that felt both refreshing and immediate—evoking the primal aura of the genre’s early pioneers like Venom and Gorgoroth.

Accomplishing sixty-five showstopping minutes of anarchic sounds of violence with the appropriately titled Belphegor – Hell’s Ambassador, Belphegor themselves knocked out the first of many nights for one of the nastiest treks of the year to initiate the rising of the one and devour your souls. All four dynamic troupes are sure to receive their high attendance thanks to the ferocity and their unfiltered, unflinching approaches to black and death metal from Belphegor, Incantation, Hate, and Narcotic Wasteland: no fakery, no nonsense, just a Captain Falcon-style falcon punch to the gut. The Praise the Beast North American Tour is part feral, part endurance feat, part bursts of moshing – but more than anything, it’s a visceral reason for you to round up your friends, your lovers, and everyone in between to gallop into the Year of the Horse haaaarrrrd with some tickets if this seventh circle of hell comes to your town!