When I tell you I couldn’t be happier to have witnessed the utter chaos that was brought upon Hangar 1819 with this tour. The amount of talent on this bill is crazy enough, but the energy that was brought by the crowd in the venue was even crazier. Let’s recap with a show review.

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A Wake In Providence

All members are as follows:

Current

• D’Andre Tyre : Guitars, Vocals
• Jordan Felion : Guitars 
• Adam Mercer : Vocals 
• Jessie McEnneny : Drums 

Past

• Demetrio Lopez : Bass 
• Jon Denton : Drums 
• Adam Echevarrias : Guitars 
• Chris Gonzalez : Vocals 
• Alex Vinamagua : Guitars 
• Josh Freeman : Guitars 
• Frank Altieri : Bass 
• Tom Smith Jr. : Guitars 
• Owen Hayes : Bass 
• Brandon Ricardo : Drums 
• Anthony Dipietro : Drums 
• Will Ramos : Vocals 

A Wake In Providence hails all the way from Staten Island, New York. From 2010 to 2015 were their formative years. They take a symphonic deathcore approach to their sound. In 2012, they released their independent EP titled Serpents. They later released a second EP titled Insidious. In 2016, they introduced the one and only Will Ramos as their vocalist. During his time as vocalist, they signed with record label Outterloop Records. They re-recorded the EP Insidious, featuring a new song (“Ov Hell”), as well as the song “Pyscho”, and released the re-recording as an album called Insidious: Phase II. It is stated that this is what led the band to really take off.

Their set list for the night was as follows:

• Godkiller
• Mournful Benediction
• Agonofinis
• Pareidolia

They were the first band of the night and I was beyond ready to get started. I was to the left hand side of the stage when the first song started. When the vocalist came onto the stage, everyone started cheering. When the band started playing, I got to witness some truly brutal vocals. The crowd was especially ready, too, as they were all banging their heads to the songs. I personally have not listened to this band before now, but they’ve absolutely gained a new fan.

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156/ Silence

All members are as follows:

• Jack Murray
• Jimmy Howell
• Ryan Wilkinson
• Kyle O’Connell
• Maxwell Bradshaw

156/Silence is a metalcore band reigning from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band formed in 2015 and was originally supposed to be just a side project from all of the members main projects, but that quickly changed. In 2017, they produced their debut single, “Turmoil,” and then their first full length album in 2018, named Undercover Scumbag. During the release of their second full length album, they signed to Sharptone Records. During their tour with Signs of the Swarm, they’ve released their fourth full length album named People Watching. It involves more synths and more cleans, taking inspiration from the 2000s metalcore, but it’s still extremely brutal.

The setlist for the night was as follows:

• Character Development
• Better Written Villan
• Product Placement
• If Pleasures Gone
• Wants I Need
• Conflict of Interest

When 156/Silence came onto the stage, I prepared by getting into my spot on the right hand side of the stage. Even before the band walked onto the stage, people were cheering and ready to mosh. As soon as the band started, people started moshing. The vocalist, yet again, had a great stage presence. He was jumping around and getting the crowd hyped up. I remember thinking to myself, “this is a band who knows how to get the crowd excited.”

I personally haven’t listened to this band before, but have been meaning to for the fact that they came to my local venue before and I heard how brutal that show was. When I also heard about how there was a solid balance of synths, cleans, and brutal breakdowns, I absolutely had to check them out. They did not disappoint.

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Ov Sulfur

All members are as follows:

• Ricky Hoover
• Chase Wilson
• Cory Walker
• Parker Adsit
• Taylor Adsit

Ov Sulfur is a fairly new deathcore band that comes from Las Vegas, Nevada. For a fairly new band that was formed in the year Covid was taking over (2020), they’ve already accomplished a good bit. The vocalist, Ricky, came back into music after a long hiatus, and came back strong and swinging when making this band. They’re currently sitting at 128,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and rising. In just four years, they’ve managed to get signed to century media, as well as hop onto one of the hottest tours to date: Decade Of The Swarm. While their first single release was in 2021 titled “Behind the Hand of God,” their debut album The Burden Ov Faith was released in 2023.

Ov Sulfer takes on a blackened approach to their sound as vocalist Ricky Hoover has a distaste for religion. With that being stated, the distaste for religion brings forth some of the utmost brutal breakdowns and themes for their songs. I personally haven’t heard of this band before this tour announcement, but when I heard them for the first time, I became an instant fan of their work.

The setlist for the night was as follows:

• Untruth
• Stained in Rot
• Befouler
• Death of Circumstance
• Earthen
• Wide Open
• Behind the hand of God

When they came onto the stage, I got pretty excited because I’ve been listening to this band for a couple months now and have become a fan of them. During “Stained in Rot,” I made sure to crowd surf because its my favorite song by them. I wasn’t the only one who crowd surfed either; this person in a wheelchair crowd surfed as well! He then stayed on the stage to hang out with the vocalist while the vocalist sang with him. Sure enough, the crowd was having fun during this set as people were definitely moving.

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Cane Hill

All members are as follows:

Current

• Elijah Witt
• James Barnett
• Ryan Henriquez
• Devin Clark

Past

• Colt Dimaio
• Bemo Barnett

Cane Hill is a metalcore band that reigns all the way from New Orleans, Louisiana, with 2011-2015 as their earlier formation of the band. After being involved in the scene for quite some time, members Elijah, James, Bemo, and Colt emerged with the name Cane Hill and decided to bring forth groundbreaking music to the scene. Fun Fact: the name Cane Hill derives from a psychiatric hospital of that name overseas in the U.K. On October 8 in 2014, they not only released their debut single “Sunday School,” but they signed with the record label Rise Records and released a music video to accompany it. They toured with Stick to your Guns, Bless The Fall, Emarosa and Oceans Ate Alaska from October 20-November 22 in 2015. They then released their debut self titled EP, which shook everyone who listened and paved the way for their success.

They bring a nu metal, metalcore sound to the table. The inspirations for their sound, as quoted from Rock Revolt Mag, are Slipknot, Alice in Chains, Pantera, and Megadeath along with some indie hip hop. I remember when I first heard Cane Hill in 2019. I was with an ex-boyfriend at the time and he showed me them. It was an instant love for the band. I’m a big fan of their older stuff like the album “Smile” and their self-titled album.

The setlist for the night was as follows:

• The Midnight Sun
• Power of the High
• Blood and Honey
• Kill Me
• Fade
• Permanence in Sleep
• Drag Me Down
• A Form of Protest
• Too Far Gone

I was waiting patiently for Cane Hill, and when they came on, I got into my position started shooting. Yet again, the person in the wheelchair crowd surfed, but this time, when he reached the stage, the vocalist crouched down and the person took the microphone and started singing with him! Cane Hill was a bucket list of mine to see just for the sole reason that I’ve been listening to them for so long. People were absolutely enjoying themselves during Cane Hill, moving, singing the lyrics to the songs. The lighting they had was phenomenal for photos, too. I was so excited when I caught the guitarist doing a kick. I absolutely can’t wait to see them in concert again.

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Signs of the Swarm

All members are as follows:

Current

• David Simonich
• Bobby Crow
• Michael Cassese
• Carl Schulz

Past

• CJ McCreery
• Collin Barker
• Rodney Fabiann
• Jimmy Pino
• Cory Smarsh
• Jacob Toy
• Jeff Russo

Signs of the Swarm is a deathcore band that reigns from Pittsburgh. Like the tour name, this band has been around for a decade; 2014, was when the band first formed. At the time, CJ McCreery was the vocalist. Their debut album released in 2016, named Senseless Order was self recorded and had a mixture of reviews, but it absolutely caught the eye of the record label “Unique Leader Records” and allowed them to sign later that year. In 2017, they released a second album, The Disfigurement of Existence, which was their first release with Unique Leader Records and it was an absolute hit with fans. It introduced the influences of black metal and hardcore which would then shape the sound of the band moving forward in the future. The release was preceded by the single “Final Phase” featuring Dickie Allen.

In 2018, CJ McCreery left the band and then a new era emerged as David became the permanent vocalist for SOTS. During the pandemic, they released two singles, titled “Pernicious” and “The Collection.” “The Collection” featured Kublai Khan’s Matt Honeycutt and Molotov Solutions Nick Arthur. Thereafter, they released “Absolvere,” and then embarked on a release tour for it with bands Born of Osiris, Shadow of Intent, Worm Shepard, and Ov Sulfur in September 2021. The year 2022 was a great for them as they played Chaos and Carnage with headliners Suicide Silence and Carnifex, alongside Lorna Shore, Upon A Burning Body, Angelmaker, and Distant. After Chaos and Carnage, they signed with Century Media, ending their six year relationship with Unique Leader. May of 2023, they released the single “Tower of Torsos,” and then in July 2023, they released what I think is their best album yet, Amongst The Low and Empty.

The Setlist for the night was as follows:

• Amongst The Low and Empty
• Tower of Torsos
• Pray For Death
• Borrowed Time
• Between Fire and Stone
• Shackles Like Talons
• DREAMKILLER
• Mouth Sewn Prophets
• Cowards Deathbed
• Tempting Death
• Totem/Death Whistle
• IWONTLETYOUDIE
• Cesspool Of Ignorance

As Signs of the Swarm came on, I knew that things were about to get rowdy. I crowd surfed again during “Tower of Torsos,” as that is my favorite song by them at the moment. This was my second time seeing them and also photographing them, and I’ve loved each show they’ve put on, especially because of the energy they have on stage. The way that David, the vocalist, delivers is unbeatable. I vividly remember multiple people moshing, crowd killing, and crowd surfing during their set. Yet again, the person with the wheelchair crowd surfed. He was probably my favorite part of each set that he did that.

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In conclusion, Metalcore and Deathcore, as a whole, are amazing genres. There’s a reason they call it “Deathcore Dollars” and “Metalcore Money.” Deathcore and Metalcore have been on the come up for the past decade or so and it’s starting to grow relatively mainstream now in my honest opinion, which I think is an amazing thing because that means the music is just that good. I’ve been listening to both genres for years and have listened and seen the evolution of each genre. To say it’s gotten diverse in both of its sounds is an understatement. I don’t understand the stigma behind them being “overplayed” or “not heavy.” Sure, the bands that are playing the genre aren’t as heavy as Cannibal Corpse or any niche death metal band, but the genres are their own thing and they’re still heavy in their own way; and yeah, maybe they are played a lot, but is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. Bands like Signs of the Swarm are the epitome of what success looks like in this industry.