There are 2 things I really enjoy in life: surprises and firsts. Good surprises, let’s just make that clear so nobody ends up filling my car with packing popcorn or wrapping my house in duct tape. As for firsts, first kiss, first time at a new restaurant or, in this case, first time seeing a band you’ve always wanted to see. Tuesday, August 25, 2026, I was able to not only have a couple of firsts with bands I’ve wanted to see, but I also got a surprise when the poster I was viewing for the night turned out to be incorrect and the opening acts were different than I was expecting.
I will admit I was a little disappointed as well, however. The poster I saw online for the show at Dickens in Calgary showed Disfiguring the Goddess as the opener, again a first I was pretty stoked for. Arriving at the venue a little early, I sat in my car and did a little social media scrolling and found out that the openers were now going to be Ingested, already knew this, but the surprise was Larcenia Roe and Art Of Attrition. Now, that’s a surprise that helps to ease the letdown of being excited for a band. I still get to see one band I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing and I get to see a local band I’ve seen twice before.
The crowd at Dickens was about the usual size I’ve seen for other shows, maybe a bit smaller. No surprise with so many people in the Metal scene still not accepting Deathcore as a genre. While I would like to say I don’t really understand this, I do, only in a different way. I’m not the biggest fan of just straight-up Hardcore, but it all depends on the band. The same can be said for Deathcore for me. However, this night I wasn’t worried about whether I was going to enjoy the show or not. These were 4 heavy hitters in the genre.
First to hit the stage was Red Deer’s Art Of Attrition. My third time catching this Technical Deathcore four-piece from Red Deer, Alberta. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m used to their set after having seen them twice before and played their 2022 album, The Void Eternal, and 2024 EP, …and It Will All End Forever, dozens of times, but their set just felt a little light this night. At 30 minutes, it just felt a little shorter than most opening acts.
While I was only slightly disappointed at the set time, it was made up for in the appearance and music. A highly technical blending of Deathcore with bloodied edges of Black Metal and pristine Melodic elements throughout. If you’re a Deathcore fan, be sure to check these guys out. Their stage presence is amazing as well. Lively, animated, but not over the top with spin kicks and that kind of thing. Well, actually, maybe they could be. I’ve only ever caught them on smaller stages, definitely not where they belong.
Following AOA was a band I’ve been listening to for just over a year now. Early in 2025, Larcenia Roe released their second studio album, Extraction. Those of you who have been following me for any amount of time will know that I love cover art, it’s what first pulls me to an album. Shitty, boring artwork, yeah, I’m probably not going to listen to your music. The absolute torture scene on Extraction. I knew this was an album that was going to gut punch me and pull my spine out through my chest. I wasn’t wrong.
Their live show is no different. A little creepy. A little masochistic. A whole lot of heavy. The guitarist spent the set wearing some kind of disturbing mouthpiece, while the drummer performed behind a stitched-mouth horror mask. It made the set feel less like a Deathcore band on stage and more like we were being dragged into some live horror segment set to music. Their sound is a blend of Deathcore and Industrial, but not like Ministry industrial. More like if the guys in Hostel decided to start a Deathcore band and wanted to ensure the audience perceived the pain they enjoyed inflicting on people through the music. I was absolutely exhausted by this set and I was only there taking photos for the first few tracks and then standing at the back watching. If you missed this experience, I can only say I hope they come around again in the next couple of years, definitely a band to keep your eyes on.
I don’t really need to do any introductions for the next act on stage this night. Ingested. UK’s dominating Brutal Deathcore Slam act. A change of lineup this time around. I saw them play at Dickens for Evisceratour in 2025 with Ov Sulfur, Distant, Cell, and Crucifiction. I’m surprised Dickens is still standing after that night and they didn’t disappoint on this night either.
Being in the photo pit, crouched down, trying to both not get in anyone’s way but also trying to get the perfect shot, you’re in the direct line of fire for the ridiculous amount of bass that some of these Deathcore bands drop. My bones are still reverberating and it’s been 3 days. This time around we were met with the incredible touring vocalist they’ve picked up, Adam Mercer. Any plans to maybe keep him around? After this performance I can only hope.
With a bass player that gets lower than Rob Trujillo, a drummer that plays beats that shouldn’t be humanly possible, a guitarist blasting out the heaviest riffs and Adam on the mic, this was a set that was going to be heard blocks away and remembered as stories to tell the next generation of Metalheads. Adam is the perfect frontman for an act like this. When he said move the fucking pit, the pit did as they were commanded.
Headliners for the night, ensuring this Canadian tour hit all the places so many other bands never do, Vancouver’s AngelMaker. I’ll admit, it took me way too long to find these guys. Being a Canadian in the Metal scene, I should have found them long before their 2025 release, This Used To Be Heaven. I apologize to both the band and my fellow Canadian Deathcore fans, I’ll do better.
Okay, with that out of the way, the stage was full with this six-piece band that includes two lead vocalists. I swear Casey and Ian are just a single entity that bifurcated. The sound was massive. The energy even more so. Their set consisted of tracks from all of their studio albums, the majority from the latest release. Just like Ingested, there was a connection with the audience during this set. The pit was raging. A wall of death, we’ll call it that, but in a venue this size it’s more like a wall of possible maiming. We were even treated to an encore song, Leech, a rarity in the small venue shows I’ve attended over the past few years. The crowd knew their role and screamed along with the opening lines. The perfect ending to a night that brought Deathcore from around the world together for us to witness.
So to those of you that still think Deathcore isn’t for you, I strongly urge you to get out of your bubble and attend a show like this. It’s experiences like this one that can change your views. You don’t need to drop hundreds at the Merch table, unlike some individuals, you just need to support your local scene. Get out and enjoy some heavy music. The worst that can happen? You’ll have a good time. Find a new band to listen to. Or you might even stop saying Deathcore isn’t Metal.
