Chaos and Carnage Tour 2024 Review

The Chaos and Carnage Tour has always been one of the most brutal tours! This year featured an interesting mix of bands. You have seriously heavy bands such as Humanity’s Last Breath, brutal acts such as Vitriol, techy and proggy bands like The Zenith Passage and Rivers of Nihil, and Cattle Decapitation as the solid headliner.

I missed Face Yourself since it was an early show, but I arrived just in time for Vitriol. Vitriol has been a band I’ve been digging more lately because you can hear the raw emotion in their music, which comes out in their performance. This performance was just as intense as all the other times I’ve seen them live. Even for an early show, they attracted a decent-sized and energetic crowd. There was plenty of moshing, even though it was so hot that day (the show was outside).

They played songs from the newest album, Suffer & Become, such as “Shame and Its Afterbirth,” and material from the previous album, To Bathe From the Throat of Cowardice, such as “Victim.”

Seeing guitarist Daniel Martinez play with them was also awesome since he’s becoming one of my favorite guitar players. This band is touring a lot, so I’m sure I’ll catch them again soon!

Next up was The Zenith Passage. I liked their new album, but tech death bands tend to be a bit boring live. That’s understandable since they’re putting more emphasis on playing their instruments. But some bands in the genre still have a lot of energy, so I was curious to see Zenith Passage’s performance.

First, it was awesome seeing former Faceless vocalist Derek Rydquist live. He has been one of my favorite vocalists for years and is perfect for this band. Every member played perfectly, specifically guitarists Justin McKinney and Christopher Beattie—the solos they unleashed were insane.

As I said, tech death bands tend to stand there and play their instruments. That’s how Zenith Passage was, and I was starting to get bored after the first song or so. I honestly think Vitriol should have played after them. They also largely played material from the new album; while I understand why, I would have liked to have heard more material from the Solipsist album. But it’s awesome seeing this band doing a lot more tours.

Next was Humanity’s Last Breath. I had never heard of this band before, but my photographer loves them, so I was excited to check them out. They’re a Swedish band, and I read that this tour was their first in the US.

This band, by far, hit the hardest on this tour. They’re super groovy but also sound like absolute monsters. The band had a captivating stage presence and kept the momentum throughout the performance. I was hypnotized throughout their entire set. Plus, they had arguably the most violent crowd of the night. Since they got such a positive reception, I’m sure they’ll be back in the US.

Next up was Rivers of Nihil. I’ve seen them live a ton, and they always impress me. It was also nice seeing bassist and vocalist Adam Biggs again; when I saw Rivers at the last show, Adam had to leave the tour early for personal reasons.

I like that Rivers is more than just a metal band. Their music is almost like a transformative experience, and I think Rivers is expanding our horizons of what we know about metal. This experience also comes out in their live show, which is why they never disappoint.

They played a lot of new material, opening up with the song “Sub-Orbital Blues.” Singer and guitarist Andy Thomas was a little off-key initially, but he fixed his pitch quickly and performed well the rest of the set. They also played material from the masterpiece, Where Owls Know My Name, and even had a saxophone player on stage.

I should mention some of the literal machines in this band. Watching Biggs shred on bass and do vocals was mind-blowing. Jared Klein is also a monster of a drummer and big congrats to him for landing a DDrum endorsement.

Next up was Carnifex. Out of all the bands from the deathcore era, Carnifex has stayed the most consistent. Other than a new guitar player, they’ve had the same lineup for almost 20 years, and Scott Lewis’ vocals still sound as killer as they did when I first discovered this band years ago. They played new material at the show, and it sounds just as brutal as their earlier stuff. Many bands from this era either broke up or changed their sound or lineup completely, and it blows my mind that Carnifex never gets recognized for their consistency.

Every time I see Carnifex, they’re super tight live. Every member has an excellent stage presence and plays each song perfectly. And while I think Humanity’s Last Breath had the most violent pit, the crowd also went insane for Carnifex. As I said, they played new material and classics such as “Lie to My Face.” With how much Carnifex tours, I’m sure I’ll catch their show again.

The last band was the almighty Cattle Decapitation! I’ve seen this band live so many times, and they’re great guys. However, I had to work the next day and left during their set. I still stayed long enough to check them out. It’s important to note that bassist Oli Pinard wasn’t with them on this tour. They had Diego Soria of Broken Hope filling in for him, and he killed it.

As I said previously, this band always kills it live. Their stage presence was insane, but vocalist Travis Ryan always steals the show. I have yet to find a more expressive vocalist than him. They played some of my favorite songs, such as “Your Disposal,” but I wish they would play more songs from older albums like To Serve Man.

This is by far one of the hardest-hitting tours of the year. This tour had a good mix of bands, and Cattle Decapitation was the perfect headliner. While the tour featured acts that are always solid, such as Vitriol and Rivers of Nihil, some bands were better than others. Still, every band that played was super tight. I can’t wait until next year to see what onslaught the Chaos and Carnage Tour will bring!