For this Easter weekend’s adventures, on Saturday, April 19th, 2025, an army of metal heads in Los Angeles attended the Chaos and Carnage Tour featuring seven bands, mostly of the death metal variety. What keeps the audience interested is that this lineup comes in all flavors of different sub-genres. Approximately six hours of live death metal with a brushing of symphonic goth metal and progressive extreme metal makes for a long but pretty solid Saturday adventure. When the first band starts at 4:30 pm and the last band ends around 10:30 pm, it’s anyone’s guess how it will all go down.
On this evening of the Chaos and Carnage Tour, they opened with three American bands, starting with Texas-originated brutal death and hard-core group Corpse Pile. Next up was Connecticut-based Death metal band Vomit Forth, and the third band was New York death metal, ironically called Undeath. Sometimes less bands is more on these kinds of adventures, but those in it for the long haul were glad they arrived early. As for the four bands on the main course, Dying Fetus headlined with support from Cradle Of Filth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Ne Obliviscaris.
Undeath
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
This lineup features a great mix of unique heavy metal bands, and Australian progressive extreme metal band Ne Obliviscaris started off the fab four of the night. The two male vocalists have such a unique dynamic from harsh to clean, and Tim Charles, with his violin, sounds absolutely beautiful together. The violin acts as a third voice and the structured alternating works well in the songs. Since 2023, James Dorton has been touring with Ne Obliviscaris as a fill in for Marc “Xenoyr” Campbell, who has recently left the band. While Xenoyr was magical to watch next to Tim Charles, the new official harsh vocalist, James Dorton, has the chops to nail it. The slightly concerning and slightly comical moments were when Dorton would walk off the stage when it wasn’t his turn to sing. It just broke up the dynamic with Charles, and made it a little awkward when Dorton would return to the stage to command the audience. Even if he were to stand up there like a statue, it would have set the scene better. Ne Obliviscaris is such a unique extreme progressive metal band that can go from heavy to serene seamlessly. It was a really great set despite only being about thirty-five minutes long. Despite a major vocalist lineup change, this band is still a joy to watch and hear.
Ne Obliviscaris
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
Moving on to a special Italian Symphonic death metal band, Fleshgod Apocalypse, the night was still young, and the crowd was ready for it. They recently released a great new album, Opera, and seeing some of these songs performed live was definitely a treat. The female operatic vocals from Veronica Bordacchini, Francesco Ferrini on the organ, who always has his back to the audience, and the wildly tough stage presence of the main vocalist, Francesco Paoli, set the mood perfectly. At the Wiltern venue, the sound can sometimes not be as clear as in a better equipped acoustic setting, but the chaos and carnage of Fleshgod Apocalypse reigned on. Once again, this band is very unique in its mixing of symphonic and death, becoming an alternative dynamic to that of Ne Obliviscaris. Even though they were all about promoting their new album on this tour, they still managed to play a song from quite a few other albums. This band is visually entertaining just in the stage presence of all parts together on stage. Being in the pit for this set would have been the best experience.
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
What can possibly take hold of the audience after Italian Symphonic death metal? England-based Cradle Of Filth can, of course. Dani Filth’s vocal range is absolutely wild, and absolutely perfect in pitch. They always put the drummer in a plexiglass box, the keyboards are always a plentiful addition, and this set on this evening was absolutely mind blowing in the best way. They were the first band to put up a giant backdrop with their logo and artwork on this occasion. There really is not much to say other than how much praise this band deserves for keeping it real on stage all these years.
Cradle of Filth
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
For the headlining act, old-school brutal death metal band Dying Fetus, as a three-piece, commanded a larger stage than perhaps fans are used to seeing them on. Sometimes, a more intimate stage can be more effective for these types of death metal artists; regardless, they give a larger-than-life show. They seem to get more brutal and more technical every year. It’s been a good ride watching this band gain more and more momentum over the years. Playing songs like “Wrong One To Fuck With” and “One Shot, One Kill,” Dying Fetus was able to whip the audience into submission. Around 10:30 pm the show slowed to a brutal end, and for a long show at the Wiltern, it all ran quite smoothly. All these bands are still making new headway, and the future is anyone’s gain. Until next time, stay metal!
Dying Fetus
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
