One of the heaviest tours of the year made its stop at Brooklyn Paramount on Thursday, as deathcore powerhouses Lorna Shore were joined by Paleface Swiss and Signs of the Swarm to deliver an evening of maximum brutality.
SIGNS OF THE SWARM
With a lineup like this tour, there’s really no warm-up act. When Signs of the Swarm took the stage at Brooklyn Paramount, they got right to business as the venue descended into chaos at the flip of a switch. The stage lights were kept low, offset by a disorienting wall of strobes behind the band, stunning your eyes while Signs of the Swarm’s riffs pounded your eardrums. Photographing them was like having a photo shoot with lightning doubling as the lighting.
The band showcased material from their latest release, To Rid Myself of Truth, including the epically brutal lead single, “HELLMUSTFEARME”. As either a genuine mistake or a clever way to rile up the pit, vocalist David Simonich commented on the size of the crowd “in Buffalo” before quickly correcting himself. Fans were already riled up enough as it was, but they still managed to up the ante and show the band what Brooklyn is made of.
PALEFACE SWISS
Whoever was running the house music between sets was on a serious dubstep kick, and the crowd was feeling it. The volume swelled before suddenly cutting out as the lights dropped, sending the room into a frenzy.
Then Paleface Swiss took the stage in near-total darkness, standing motionless in their positions before vocalist Marc “Zelli” Zellweger slowly raised his mic and delivered the opening screams of I Am a Cursed One. From there, the band unleashed pure fury, and the crowd gave it right back. I often call out crowd surfing in my reviews, but it’s not hyperbole to say this was one of the wildest displays of nonstop crowd surfers I’ve ever seen during a set.
“I wrote this song during a dark time in my life last year,” Zellweger said while introducing “Everything Is Fine”, the closing track from the band’s Wilted EP, released earlier this year. “But guess what? It’s even worse now!” he continued. Given the state of the world, and the United States in particular, that felt like a sentiment nearly everyone in the crowd could relate to. The track also highlighted the strength of Zellweger’s clean vocals, which stood out even more considering they were among the only clean vocals heard all night (aside from a brief moment during Lorna Shore’s “Pain Remains.”)
LORNA SHORE
Opening with “Oblivion” from their newest album, I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me, Lorna Shore delivered hellfire while bathed in blue light. The band operated like a well-oiled machine, showing no signs of wear despite being just one show away from wrapping their grueling month-long tour. More importantly, they played with a level of passion that felt anything but routine.
Perhaps part of that energy came from being only a bridge or tunnel away from home in New Jersey, where they’ll wrap the tour tonight in Montclair. Vocalist Will Ramos’s desperate cries of “take me home” during “Glenwood” felt more triumphant in that context. Lorna Shore’s raw energy, combined with the towering visuals of their stage production, elevated the intensity and emotional weight of songs that already pack a hell of a punch. It was every bit as epic as it was heavy, with guitarist Adam De Micco’s solos sounding genuinely otherworldly.
It’s been fascinating to watch Lorna Shore’s trajectory over the past few years, from deathcore standouts to genuine metal heavyweights. As the band has grown, so has my appreciation for them. I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me was one of my most anticipated releases of last year, and it more than lived up to expectations. Hearing those songs live for the first time was immensely satisfying, and the band gave nearly equal attention to the newer material and its breakout predecessor, Pain Remains.
Lorna Shore closed the evening with “To the Hellfire”, and Ramos’ signature pig squeals and inhuman snarls were met with cheers before the song had even finished, though the cheers continued long after it did.
