What a mischief night New York had. Lorna Shore/The Black Dahlia Murder/Shadow of Intent/Peeling Flesh (all bands RULED, obviously), burned down in what can only be described as a Svetovid-tier conclusion to a monster bash of an album tour for Lorna Shore because, hey, that’s what you do when you’re a rising metal band spellbinding America. It’s absolutely perfect to finish the trek on the night before Halloween at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The swarm of black shirts supporting Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Ice Nine Kills, and Type O Negative was 100% decked out in their Spirit Halloween everyday metal-head costumes, including concert tees and sleeve tattoos. Still, those turned up as Scooby Doo, the Easter bunny, plus even a couple of demented cousins of Art the Clown in the covenant definitely helped bring this first round of Halloween up to 560%. We were more than ready to smash down the walls of the auditorium. This devil’s night was going to be a great one, first bestowed by thirty slamming minutes of Peeling Flesh-style deathly hardcore metal.
Here comes the bare bones brutality. Peeling Flesh was first up to chip away a night of chills and thrills with a half-hour of booming music. And the Oklahoma crew came to party: the throng that showed up early discovered what is objectively full tilt aggression and groove-rooted retaliation as soon as the band locked-down upon MSG, on the razor sharp opener of 12 Gauge Autopsy to blatantly send their roaring fans on the floor into the skin shaving winds of the pit, as Scooby Doo, Kenny from South Park, and other psyched up two-steppers crashed along with the punishing tunes, and, manifestly, showed the onlookers, proud chaos, captured by distinguished lineup of their roaring vocalist named Damonteal Harris alongside the dual axe attack of Jason Parrish and Mychal Soto. Joe Pelleter held down the rhythmic guillotine on the drums to split the skulls of the audience on songs like DVPB and Midnight. These four fresh faces of modern barbarity are experts at conjuring primal explosions and growling distortion—a sound defined in the blueprint of old-school death metal by Internal Bleeding, who brought the term “slam” to a worldwide fanbase in 1992, and further lionized by Peeling Flesh. Crushing the crowd one more time side by side with F.F.W.A.S., they wouldn’t do it anywhere else to assist in rounding out the end of the tour, other than at MSG. Slammy-slams-slams all around from Peeling Flesh to energize the stage for Shadow of Intent to contribute to our shattered eardrums.
Peeling Flesh
Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau
Shrouded in chiaroscuro, lit by shades of various color combinations anchored by the light of a greenish glow, and unleashing their transcending glitz upon Manhattan — Shadow of Intent, the supernova four-piece was up next to hypnotize the phantom mass of MSG to ring in chaos control. Technical without the laser focus of music theory, seared by agility, and fearless in spacing out the symphonic side of death metal, Shadow of Intent wasted no time purging NY via their 30 minutes on stage, instructing crowdsurfing and keeping the pulse of the pit moving. One of the most prominent aspects of Shadow of Intent’s sound is its resistance to being confined by typical death metal arias. Prioritizing mechanized demolition and passion over devotion to a single extreme-metal style, Shadow of Intent elaborates on an approach that yields a clear interpretation of hardcore-influenced death metal. Burning the auditorium fueled by seven synchronized shots of cosmic slaughter, Shaow of Intent is a powerful burst of wickedness, outlined by guitarist Chris Wiseman, bassist Andrew Monias, drummer Bryce Butler, and joined on tour by Adam Mercer (formerly of A Wake in Providence), coming in clutch to honor the hyperspace screams on the mic. At the same time, vocalist Ben Duerr was absent on this run to be home for the birth of his child. From the imprisoning opener of Prepare to Die, sinking their claws into the mob of metal-heads through Vehement Draconian Vengeance and Infinity of Horrors, adding-on a tried and true wall of death in the middle of their set, seeing this band live is nothing short of an experience – a fine example in suspense, liberation, and organized mania to deliver a striking mix of Master Chief-approved dark, heavy compositions, offering fans a glimpse into the pocket universe of Shadow of Intent. With the final presentation of The Heretic Prevails, they dazed an at present larger gathering of New York’s best dressed for the Black Dahlia Murder to rip them phantom limb to limb.
Shadow of Intent
Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau
The Black Dahlia Murder, at this point in their vicious career, is unlike any revitalized band you’ve seen live on stage as of late. Channeling blasphemy, horror, and melodic death metal through the public address system of a now barely upright Theater at Madison Square Garden, and, according to some of the citizens of New York chanting, and rightly so, the first name of our fallen brother, Trevor Strnad during the intro tape of Richard Struss’s Sonnenaufgang, that began forty chilling minutes of haunting sounds as soon as TBDM swung hard in parallel with What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse, a biting tribute to the Castlevania franchise and a perfect number to usher in the most metal holiday of the year – Halloween. The creative efforts of Ryan Knight and Wes Hauch joining the band live to complete the snarling guitar duo, moreover Alan Cassidy beating up the drums joined by Max Lavelle clanking on the bass never set out to play it safe since the ensemble’s co-founder, Brian Eschbach moved from guitar to vocals, and is leaning hard into being a reassuring frontman to carry on the charismatic presence of their fallen vocalist in Trevor that was larger than life. With ten tracks of haunting headbangers and excelled by frightmare-drenched storytelling like Nightbringers and Cursed Creator, the Black Dahlia Murder beclouded a fainting display of merciless playback, that in this new era of the troupe is fresh-sounding, as well as a host of mad motherfuckers on the floor amping up the surging amount of crowdsurfing and moshing.
Heavy and utterly grim, their nightmare before Halloween captured this company of musicians in full devil trigger mode—raw and driving—the Black Dahlia Murder unfolded their violent sonic palette in all its gruesome glory — resulting in one banger cut after another. The spacious general admission section was melting. The once-comfy seated sections then rotted. The well-maintained stage filled up by a beautiful backline sounded desolate, and these Motor City madmen evidently broke down the interior. Of course, no set of theirs would be complete without the Big Apple devotees flexing their muscles to summon an appearance from the Statutory Ape during the namesake song written for the monkeyman of the night in full primal mode to capitalize on the spirit of Halloween for all of the boys and ghouls in attendance. Who could blame him, really? In essence, seeing the Black Dahlia Murder is a remarkable demonstration of knocking out an ever-black affinity for taunting yet flattering swiftness that defines their furious sound to fans around the world. A powerful return to step up the never-ending speed of this quartet that can easily hex a modern-day edge and a Stephen King-like imagination. They put everything they have into their performances —a comeback that could only be sustained by four masters of their artistry, alongside their NY supporters. The afflicting time spent with Brian and company ended an astonishing and incredible tour in the basement of the world-famous MSG, accompanied by Deathmask Divine, before Lorna Shore finally reigned blackened brimstone upon Gotham City.
The Black Dahlia Murder
Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau
At long last, it was time at 9:05 for the inferno of Lorna Shore to end their I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me tour just right in the self-proclaimed pizza capital of the world, and the home of Madison Square Garden, to spin the arena’s theater space around a final time for an hour and twenty fiery minutes. Metal’s newest eruption is accelerating up the ranks, the latest band of a specialized genre of heaviness, from club-level support to theater headliners. Lorna Shore brought their overdriven A-game to their New York brethren. Uniquely, for a remnant of some new antagonization but flowing in traditional, blackened steel, this flared up quintet is now concretized by Andrew O’Connor and Adam De Micco bringing the shred, Mike Yager close to Austin Archey as a sweltering rhythm section, and truly the man summoning Arch-viles from his possessed larynx named Will Ramos. Drawing on the foundations of black metal and metalcore – like Abigail Williams and Whitechapel – the band’s crossbreed of styles in an amphitheater setting culminates as a beastly megazord at the core of one thing: the performance. Live, Lorna Shore is all about breakdowns, chaos, and heat. When they lashed out with Oblivion, their all-new staging of giant screens felt like we stepped into a relentless trial by fire. Lorna Shore unites audio and visual synergy – both in their music mixing in their optical expression, where the technical and the creative aspects stands in contrast to copping out to using AI-driven elements and spotlights the productions’ balance of dynamic lighting and space-altering projections without looking cringy that no amount of complete set footage viewed in 2160p/4K on YouTube or high quality Instagram and TikTok reel can do justice to compared to seeing it live. Lorna Shore matched the magnitude of their visuals, combining intense music with artistic ambition where you don’t find yourself watching the moving pictures more than the band, cemented in songs such as Unbreakable, Into the Earth, and To the Hellfire, further amplified by the baneful things Will Ramons does to his windpipes when in full goblin mode.
The New Jersey-bred headliners charged through a punchy twelve-song set with the velocity of a Shanghai Maglev, ebbing and flowing when it’s necessary. Will Ramos was disguised as a God of War NPC, teasing a horde forthwith to split the room apart, widening the mosh pit and giving the venue’s security a severe case of whiplash during songs like Sun//Eater (with Nick Chance) and Prison of Flesh. Major props to SFX artist Kelly Harris for transforming Will into a chill sage, sending someone on a sidequest to get ye flask. Obvious directions are NORTH, SOUTH, and DENNIS. That is what happens when you go all out to finish a tour for all of the ethereal participants to kick off their Hello-freakend. Maximum BREEEEEEE is achieved through the entire band performing as a venomous unit across Lorna Shore’s musical spectrum, with a high level of professionalism from Andrew, Adam, Mike, and Austin, incorporating melodic sections of tuneful black metal.
Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau
This lineup’s live performances function as a relentless collision of hardcore detonation and New Jersey swagger. Armed to the teeth with scorching riffs, all-out pummeling grooves, and a restless energy, this hell of a five-piece easily captures the bedlam and insistence of a seismic form of HxC. Across a Lorna Shore show, this combination balances raw aggression with infectious bounce, making for an execution that feels both assertive and exhilarating. New Jersey has a rich history of heavy music, from the Misfits to Overkill to Cognitive. We know Lorna Shore fits right into that lineage, but now it has its own identity in the big leagues, thanks to its fans’ support. Lorna Shore is proof that the Garden State still breeds some of the heaviest music. Lorna Shore capped off a milestone tour for all of the trick or treaters in the skyscraping land of cawfee and ayyy I’m walkin’ here to fire off the final three days of spooky season 2025 by way of the acidic downpour of their iconic Pain Remains trilogy: Dancing Like Flames, After All I’ve Done, I’ll Disappear, and In a Sea of Fire at MSG because we all know that Halloween begins with seven days of fang-tastic times of socially acceptable cosplay that concludes with Dia de los Muertos.
Lorna Shore is a triumphant testament of sprawling symphonic dethcore — the amount of relentless touring and Spotify streams has spread their relentless vibes in the States and overseas. Lorna Shore is not here to spin around in spandex or provide mow-do-mow, mowdow, mow-dow-do-mow guitar solos. They are here to burn a lyceum down into ashes, bringing their unique style of ultra-heavy beats to headbangers who love this style of metal. Following this endurance run of dates, I’m sure that the band now sets its sights on global domination.
This event showcased everyone’s signature balance between aggression and atmosphere, weaving gross, sepulchral vocals through pillars of blazing riffs and shackling ambiance. Turning a famous amphitheater into debris and keeping the ticket prices surprisingly low, you can always count on Lorna Shore, the Black Dahlia Murder, Shadow of Intent, and Peeling Flesh to cause major ruination. Now that this landmark billing’s parade of grinding metal is over, every band has definitively sucker punched their mark into the extreme music scenes of the world. All of which is to say, the action was in all four directions for the tour’s last hurrah in New York, bookended by this all-star lineup performing in front of one of the most enormous legions of the entire U.S headline circuit. And we had a good time assisting them in burning the rest of the gas in the tank after a six-marathon run through some of America’s most prominent theaters. The end of 2025 is creeping in fast. The holidays are looming, the pumpkins are rotting, and the concert calendar from November to December is looking good with the road dogs at the end, like Blind Guardian and Cattle Decapitation. You might not be able to catch all four of these bands under one roof again anytime soon, but if you love this kind of music as much as I do, don’t let the scariest part of seeing these acts on their own tours be missing out. If you know what’s good for you and your weekly pay, snag some tickets for a fierce and unfiltered night of Richter scale demolishing slams, irreverent screams from the bowels of the underworld to stir up some serious Cacodemons, and a plethora of mosh-worthy jams to skull bash you right in the cranium.
Lorna Shore
Photo Credit: Mathieu Bredeau
All Photos taken by Mathieu Bredeau.
