The 'Nihility Across North America' Tour Touches Down At The Observatory On March 3rd

- advertisement -

All Photos By Shane Lee/@VulgarDisplayOfGaming_

As I awoke in Denny's parking lot Sunday morning, feeling the effects of the rager from the previous night, it took me a bit to realize I was in Santa Ana and the last night of the NIHILITY ACROSS NORTH AMERICA was about to take place. At one the few great and legit venues in Orange County, CA, The Observatory in Santa Ana, formerly The Galaxy - is one of the best venues to catch a Metal show. Having seen so many great shows here, this is one I definitely added to that list. Polish Death Metal greats DECAPITATED have returned with a new Finnish vocalist Eemeli Bodde who along with James Stewart and bassist Pawel Pasek, helped original member Vogg keep the legacy of their intensely extreme sound alive that he, Kieltyka brothers Waclaw and SickDrummer Witold aka Vitek (RIP) created.

Along for the ride was New York legends INCANTATION who made this bill feel like an old school death metal show from the 90's, or at least the early 2000's. Also on the roster was local Power-Metal Thrashers EXMORTUS and Washington D.C. with the "C" standing for "Core", DARKEST HOUR. This package had made a successful run in the past month.

The theme of this tour revolved around the celebration of 2 iconic records, DECAPITATED's Nihility (2002) and INCANTATION's Mortal Throne Of Nazarene (1994), both which would be played in their entirety, a continuous and welcomed trend for bands who've stood the test of time. Both their respective sophomore records, these 2 records only strengthened each band's reputations in their era. Reminding everyone that Poland Death Metal is a force to be reckoned with, and the early evolution was showing promise and not going away anytime soon.

Starting out the night and adding some youth to this bill was Whittier's (CA) EXMORTUS. Their first full-length In Hatred's Flame, which was released in 2008, showed some of Los Angeles' ferocity that L.A. had going on, representing Thrash Metal. Described as 'Neo-Classical' with the shred-fest that lead singer (and only original member) Jadran "Conan" Gonzalez puts on, a guitar clinic with a heavy dash of Power Metal full of constant energy and break-neck headbanging. With the pit showing signs of life early on in the night, EXMORTUS belted out a half-hour of cuts from Slave To The Sword, Ride Forth and their latest release from 2023, Necrophany.

Next up was DARKEST HOUR, whose first full-length release takes them back to 2000, with EP's as early as the late 90's and were out promoting their newest release Perpetual Terminal (MNRK Heavy). For about 40 minutes, they piled through cuts from this and 5 other albums (of their 10 total). As they were a bit of the odd-man out, a different style then the other bands, the crowd wasn't as hyped as how they were with the previous opener. It didn't sway DH. They kept their composure and still put on an energetic show.

Singer, guitarist John McEntee and INCANTATION are legends. He at 55 years and since 1989, helped pioneer the New York Death Metal scene. The second album for which this tour was inspired by, Mortal Throne of Nazarene (later of which would be re-released as Throne of Apocalypse) was a pinnacle follow up album to their full length debut. To hear this iconic album played live, an album that I had heard in my teen years in high school as my curiosity of Death Metal continued to grow, is an extreme pleasure as you bear witness to how great INCANTATION managed to bring this live experience. Though only an hour and 8 songs, every spaced out note has you falling deeper into their never ending abyss of mastery. The sludge, funeral-doom and bomb-blast vibrations coming off that stage rumble you to your core. Ever so thankful and was vocal about it this night, John McEntee understands and highly appreciates this moment in time and the great line-up he has backing him up, as they continue the INCANTATION legacy despite the departure of long-time drummer Kyle Severn but on this tour, Charlie Koryn (ASCENDED DEAD, live drummer for MORBID ANGEL) really helps nail down the cross.

DECAPITATED has had it rough since the accident in 2007 that took the lives of Vitek and Covan, who is paralyzed and bound to a wheelchair. With a hiatus that followed and necessary change in personnel, the future seemed bleak but Vogg steamrolled on and with this new found power in vocalist Eemeli Bodde and SickDrummer James Stewart, who also had a stint with another great Polish Death Metal band, VADER. On the final night of the NIHILITY ACROSS NORTH AMERICA tour, for what I'd say was a highly anticipated show for 2025, as the re-invigorated line-up would celebrate the sophomore release Nihility which is widely known for the song "Spheres Of Madness", a drummer's delight, which they ripped into later in the set with some added free-form jamming added. Closing out this set with their awesome cover of NAPALM DEATH's "Suffer The Children", they performed songs from their recent release 2022 Cancer Culture (Nuclear Blast),. While it seemed their style was taking a new and for some, an unfavored direction (less death, more melodic groove) after 2006's Organic Hallucinosis, Cancer Culture seemed to bring them back to favored form, hitting us with 3 from this album and 2017's Anticult. Such a power-filled set, sounding so tight and on-point, this new re-vision of the Polish Death Metal greats has me already anticipating their next album.

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Shane Lee/@VulgarDisplayOfGaming_