Article & Photos by: Linda Carlson

Cincinnati, OH – What a night!  Five metal bands on The Black Dahlia Murder‘s Verminous Tour performed at Bogart’s, each bringing its own sense of drama to a large crowd that was ready to head bang, mosh, circle pit and rage.

Phobophilic was the first band on stage.  From Fargo, North Dakota, this death metal band brought deep, growling vocals with a heavy tone.

Next on stage was Fuming Mouth, offering death metal power from Massachusetts, with Mark Whelan (vocals, guitar, bass), Andrew Budwey (guitar), and Cayle Sain (drums).  The band was minus a performer for the night, and the band thanked “Pat” for covering bass.

Two down, three to go!  Frozen Soul, with Chad Green (vocals), Michael Munday (guitar), Sam Mobley (bass), Chris Bonner (guitar), and Matt Dennard (drums), pushed the crowd to mosh, and the pit opened wider as fans obliged.

Terror, a hardcore band from Los Angeles, was ready to whip the crowd into a fury.  Lead singer Scott Vogel repeatedly encouraged the crowd to get rowdy.  Declaring that he hated the barrier fencing at the front of the crowd, Vogel shouted for fans to “reverse stage dive,” bringing fans to crowd-surf to the front, and in at least one case, jump onto the stage.  The venue’s security was beefed up in front of the stage to take care of the rush.  The mosh pit was in full force for Terror, as well.

Needless to say, the fans were hyper-energized for The Black Dahlia Murder’s headlining performance.  This Michigan band was formed in 2001 by Trevor Strnad and Brian Eschbach, and the two had remained with the band through various lineup changes until 2022, when Strnad tragically passed away.  Eschbach stepped up to lead vocalist and remains the sole founding member of the band.  The current lineup is rounded out by Max Lavelle (bass), Alan Cassidy (drums), Brandon Ellis (guitar) and Ryan Knight (guitar).

The band’s catalog of nine albums offers serious depth of material.  Through green mist and eerie lighting, and band delivered death metal rage to an audience seeking release, leading with “Verminous,” the title track of their latest album.

Verminous
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Kings of the Nightworld
Sunless Empire
Carbonized in Cruciform
Child of Night
Statutory Ape
On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood
Everything Went Black
Nightbringers
Miasma
Unhallowed
Funeral Thirst
I Will Return
Deathmask Divine

All in all, quite the heavy death metal evening.

The Verminous Tour continues through May.  Check the band websites for tour dates: tbdmofficial.com https://www.frozensoultx.com/band,  www.fumingmouth.com , totalretaliation.com.

Be sure to check out the carousel below for more photos from the evening’s performances!