Melodic Death Metal | DCHeavyMetal.com

Lorna Shore ticket give away

We’re gonna do things a little differently this to so read carefully! The deathcore superstars Lorna Shore are coming to the Theater at the MGM National Harbor casino on Sunday, September 21st and best of all we’re going to give away a pair of tickets to this very show to a lucky DCHM fan! I’ve noticed that some of you have struggled to figure out how to leave post comments in the new WordPress comment system so for this contest you can enter by either leaving a comment telling me your favorite song by any band playing this show on my Instagram post here OR you can leave a comment on this post as usual, making sure to include an email address so I can contact you. If you want to double your chances of winning you can even enter in both places. Then this Friday at 12pm noon the contest will close and a winner will be selected from all valid entries using Random.org! If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours then another winner will be selected. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can purchase tickets here.

Lorna Shore‘s 2022 break out album Pain Remains solidified them as a heavyweight of the deathcore genre and just last Friday they released their follow up album, I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me. This tour also features support from Detroit based The Black Dahlia Murder, already legends of the melodic death metal genre. Also playing is Shadow of Intent a New England based deathcore band with symphonic leanings, and the opening band is PeelingFlesh, a slam death band from Oklahoma. Now check out these videos from each band and leave a comment on this post or Instagram (here) to enter to win your pair of tickets to this sick show!

Lorna Shore – Glenwood

The Black Dahlia Murder – Panic Hysteric

Shadow of Intent – Mechanical Chaos

PeelingFlesh – Midnight

September 16, 2025
Categories: Contests, Death Metal, Deathcore, Melodic Death Metal, Slam Death, Theater at MGM National Harbor . Tags: Death Metal, Deathcore, Lorna Shore, PeelingFlesh, Shadow of Intent, Slam Death, TBDM, The Black Dahlia Murder . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 8 Comments

New local suggestions for Bandcamp Friday

Looking for some brand spankin’ new local (and local-ish) metal releases for Bandcamp Friday (which is today)? Is it already after Bandcamp Friday but you still want to hear some new local metal? If you answered yes to either of these then keep on reading:

Sulfuric Hatred – s/t
Liam McMahon, lead guitarist of local thrashers Ninth Realm, and Alexander Jones, the vocalist of Undeath, team up on this intense black/death release that came out in December.

Nazar – First Curses 2024 Demo
This demo is the first release from a new local thrash metal band that includes members of Ilsa, Genocide Pact and Goetia.

Soul Erosion – Demo 2024
This SoCal death metal band just released their debut demo which includes Tommy Wall on bass, who you’ll know from Undeath and a bunch of local bands like Tomb Warden, Brainpan, Low Flesh and others.

At the Plates – Omnivore
NoVA based At the Plates released their second full length of culinary themed melo-death served up fresh with a side of punny song titles.

February 2, 2024
Categories: Death Metal, Local Band Info, Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: At the Plates, Bandcamp Friday, Death Metal, Nazar, Soul Erosion, Sulfuric Hatred . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Darkest Hour benefit for the Black Cat

When the COVID-19 pandemic came to town in March it shut down all of the area’s live shows, including metal shows. However at 7pm this Saturday, September 26th, Darkest Hour will be streaming a performance that was just recorded at the Black Cat! The show itself won’t be live because there are many guest performers involved who had to be recorded playing from their own locations since it isn’t safe to fly them in right now. However there will be a live chat during the stream where fans can interact with the band and guest musicians in real time as everyone watches the stream. The audio has also been professionally mixed and mastered so the sound quality will be closer in quality to a live album than a regular livestream. On top of all that, everyone that buys a ticket will get an invite to the virtual afterparty on Zoom with Darkest Hour members and some of special guests after the performance ends!

Tickets to watch the stream (which includes access to the Zoom afterparty) are available from Veeps.com (here) for $10 or at the same link you can buy a bundle that comes with an exclusive shirt (shown below) made just for this performance for $35.

I spoke with Darkest Hour guitarist and founding member Mike Schleibaum and he told me that this event ties in with the band’s 25th anniversary (which was on Wednesday, 9/23). Along with some of the band’s most popular songs, the setlist will include some of their oldest songs performed with guest appearances by former band members. Other performing guests include Doc Coyle (Bad Wolves, God Forbid), Mark Heylmun (Suicide Silence), Buz McGrath (Unearth), Fella Di Cicco (Dreamshade) and more! Mike Schleibaum went on to say, “all of the Darkest Hour parts were shot on the Black Cat stage with multiple cameras.” When pressed about exactly how much of the ticket price went to the venue, Mike said, “100% of ticket sales go to the Black Cat. So when you buy a $10 ticket they get all of the $10. There’s also going to be a donation feature while the performance is streaming so people watching can also donate that way.”

This isn’t a live stream but it sounds like they’ve really upped the production value for this using multiple cameras, top notch sound quality and out of area guest musicians to make this closer to something you’d see on a band’s live DVD release. And while I’ve watch several band live streams they do kind of all seem like you’re just watching a rehearsal with poor sound quality. This event sounds like a great way to do something bigger for the fans, celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary, and donate to one of Washington DC’s live music institutions. If you can’t watch it when it starts or you just want to replay the show, a ticket purchase will grant you access to it for 24 hours. You can check the event’s Facebook page here for info and once again you can get tickets here.

The Veeps stream layout with the chat shown on the right

Here’s some videos Darkest Hour put out that you can get even more info from:

September 25, 2020
Categories: Black Cat, Coronavirus Quarantine Days, Local Band Info, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, Shameless Promotion, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Benefit Show, Black Cat, Buz McGrath, Darkest Hour, Doc Coyle, Fella Di Cicco, Livestream, Mark Heylmun . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Battlecross to headline benefit show at Atlas Brew Works

Bring A Guitar To The Bar Fundraiser

In September 2016 our area’s metal scene was shocked to find out about the sudden passing of Witt Black, guitarist for local metal band Yesterday’s Saints. The Witt Black Music Foundation was formed in August 2017 by his bandmates and siblings in memory of Witt, and this show is a fundraiser for his namesake’s charity. You’re encouraged to bring a gently used guitar to donate, or donate money as well, to the third annual Bring A Guitar To The Bar fundraiser at Atlas Brew Works this Saturday, October 12th. All ticket proceeds will go to the charity as well, which gives guitar lessons to at-risk kids who might not otherwise be able to afford lessons or an instrument. Students that complete the first round of lessons get to keep their guitar. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization so you can get a tax credit for your donation as well. If you can’t make the event you can still donate a guitar to the foundation here or you can simply make a monetary donation here.

This isn’t just a charity event though, it’s also a metal show! Battlecross is a melodic death metal band from Detroit and they’re coming down to play this benefit show. Not only that but they’ll be auctioning off guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala’s Jeff Hanneman ESP JH-600 Eclipse guitar with proceeds going to the foundation! You can see Deraniyagala playing it in the band’s video for “Never Coming Back” at the end of this post, he’s the guitarist on the right. Also performing at the benefit will be Eyes Of The Nile, a local Iron Maiden tribute band fronted by Iris Divine vocalist Navid Rashid. Local metal band Gloom will be returning to Atlas for the benefit as well. They are one of the bands that played the first metal show ever at Atlas Brew Works back in December of 2016! Virginia based metal band No Tomorrow will be kicking things off for this show as well. All in all, this is a great line up at a great event at a great brewery for a great cause! More details about the event can be found on the Facebook event page here.

October 9, 2019
Categories: Atlas Brew Works, Local Band Info, Melodic Death Metal, Shameless Promotion, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Atlas Brew Works, Battlecross, Benefit Show, Bring A Guitar To The Bar, Charity, Eyes Of The Nile, Gloom, Iron Maiden, No Tomorrow, The Witt Black Music Foundation . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Behemoth ticket give away

Behemoth at Fillmore Silver Spring

Poland’s masters of the dark arts, Behemoth, return to the Fillmore Silver Spring on Friday, November 2nd, with a killer line up that includes At The Gates and Wolves In The Throne Room. We’re so excited about this show here at DCHM that we’re going to give away a free pair of tickets to one of you lucky readers. To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me which of the three bands playing you’re most excited to see. On Wednesday, October 17th at 5pm EST the contest will close and a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries. The winner will get two free tickets the show! Be sure to enter using an email address you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that, I hate spam too. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Live Nation for $29.50 here.

Behemoth just released a new album, I Loved You at Your Darkest, on Nuclear Blast Records this month. Now, after a successful summer performing as one of the support acts for Slayer’s farewell tour in North America, they’re returning to the US for a proper headlining tour. At The Gates is one of the most important bands from the famous Swedish Gothenburg death metal scene. They will probably always be most remembered for their masterpiece album Slaughter of the Soul but they also put out a new album this year, To Drink from the Night Itself. The opening band is probably the most influential US black metal band, Wolves In The Throne Room. They’re from Washington state and are one of the bands that helped make atmospheric black metal popular with a wider audience. Now go check out the videos below by these bands and leave a comment telling me which one you’re most excited to see at the Fillmore Silver Spring on November 2nd!

Behemoth – Wolves ov Siberia

At The Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself

Wolves In The Throne Room – Born From The Serpent’s Eye

October 15, 2018
Categories: Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Contests, Fillmore Silver Spring, Gothenburg Sweden, Melodic Death Metal . Tags: At The Gates, Behemoth, Fillmore Silver Spring, WITTR, Wolves In The Throne Room . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 50 Comments

In Flames ticket give away

In Flames at the Fillmore Silver Spring

Regardless of how you feel about the election results this week I think we can all agree it’s been a long and stressful election and we all could stand to blow off some steam. On Monday, November 14th, we’ll get the chance to do just that when the Swedish melo death masters In Flames perform at the Fillmore Silver Spring! We’re going to be giving away a pair of tickets to this very show to one of you lucky DCHM readers, whether you have an “I Voted” sticker or not! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite metal band from Sweden is. It can be a Gothenburg band like In Flames or anyone else from Ghost to Entombed to Amon Amarth. At 5pm EST this Friday, November 11th, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to win the tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Live Nation for $29.50 here.

In Flames is probably the most famous of the melodic death metal bands that rose out of the Gothenburg, Sweden, area in the 90s. They’re have a new album out this Friday, titled Battles, and this show will be a great chance to hear some of those brand new songs live! Also on the Forged In Fire Tour is Hellyeah! from Dallas, Texas. Formed by Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul and former Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray, the band has made a name for themselves in their own right. The opener of the show is a new band from Pennsylvania called From Ashes To New. Their debut album came out in February this year and charted at #53 on Billboard. Now check out these videos by the bands playing as you leave a comment below telling me what your favorite metal band from Sweden is!

In Flames – The End