Justin Nuoffer
ANGELMAKER
w/ Humanity’s Last Breath + Psycho-Frame + Gloom in the Corner
5/6/25 – Majestic Theater – Madison, WI
©Justin Nuoffer/NuofferMedia.com
With the temperatures rising, Madison was alive. The Majestic Theater, nestled in the middle of an arcade block, stood proudly. The nearly 100-year-old building was built for vaudeville performances and plays. Tonight was anything but that, but on the outside, one wouldn’t have known. The red brick and yellow trim kept the vintage feel intact. The marquee hanging down with its bold light bulbs wrapping around it read “ANGELMAKER.”
Below, the glass doors were open and the ticket booth that is reminiscent of years past was busy with folks scooping up tickets. Once through the doors and the security check, you can head left up into the balcony and the opera boxes, but most will head into the main room straight ahead. The tiered levels of standing room lead down to a general admission flooring space. The hardwood stage stands a few feet high and has no security barricade. In the back by the entrance is the tour merchandise area and a bar that wraps around the back corner.
Opening the entire show was Gloom In The Corner. The Melbourne-based metalcore outfit made sure to remind you that this was their first time in the States and Wisconsin. High energy and deep-cutting riffs are the signature of their live set. There was no moment of calmness.
Check out the Gloom In The Corner concert photo gallery below:
With nothing but a burnt orange coloring covering the stage, Gloom In The Corner moved through darkened spots to stand in the brightness. Musically, they punch you in the mouth and leave you bruised and bloodied. With tracks like “Assassination Run,” “ The Jericho Protocol,” and “Survivors Guilt,” they maneuvered around a thirty-minute time frame with ease and delivered the best they could. So much so that fans moved to their merch booth as soon as they were finished.
If there is anything Australia is extremely good at in music today, it is exporting the best metalcore bands around. Gloom In The Room lived up to that hype.
Next to take the stage was the utterly disgusting Psycho-Frame. With the new vocalist in tow, the band came out like they’d performed together for years. With everything bathed in blue and flashes of white, the band kept a steady stage visual.
Check out the Psycho-Frame concert photo gallery below:
The dual vocals were punishing on every layer, but the most impressive part was the technical drumming of Leo McClain, which was a master class. His style and efficiency were breathtaking for all of the nerds watching and were the driving force behind their performance. Two tracks stood out: “Beaten Beyond Identification” and “ 24 Hours To Live.” The soul-snatching low end and rumbling over and over vibrated everything in your body loose.
The pit on the floor was massive. It was nothing but 2-stepping and crowd-killing for thirty minutes straight. Psycho-Frame grabbed you by the throat and threw you around.
As direct support, Humanity’s Last Breath turned the lights out completely and used four rotating pillars of strobes to fill the atmosphere. The band had a tight forty-five minutes to decimate the Majestic Theater, and they nearly did it. One could consider them masters of their craft. Mixing djent and death metal exceptionally well is a calling card of their style.
Check out the Humanity’s Last Breath concert photo gallery below:
With his head buried deep under a hood, Philip Danielsson lived on the front ledge of the stage, leaning over it and into the crowd. His vocals were deep, cryptic, and haunting. Growling and screaming with ease. You heard the voice but never saw the face, even through the strobing lights. The mystery added to the performance on every level.
Around him, the band didn’t venture and explore the stage much. They managed to stay within their areas, but with how technical and efficient they had to play, it wasn’t much of a surprise. The gift was the sound. The floor was absolute chaos and filled to the brim with those letting loose. Humanity’s Last Breath was as consistent as could be. With the new single “Anthracite” in the middle of the set, the audience soaked it in and perhaps let out the loudest applause of the night. The band took note of the crater of an impact it left.
Closing their time with “Human Swarm” and “Earthless” couldn’t have been planned any better. The gloomy and brooding nature of the songs took hold despite the sheer brutality of the steady assault being unleashed, and having four full-length releases under their belts, they have conquered their art.
Finally, the time came for Angelmaker to come out and do what they do. The intro to their performance was the Super Mario theme, and it was perfect considering this was, after all, The Level Up Tour. This seven-piece band hails from Vancouver, Canada. Yeah, that’s right, seven members, and they are all intertwined to perfection. Delivering the powerhouse, oppressive, and inhumane sounds that make Angelmaker much loved is founding member Tyson-Pearce, and then you add in the heavy and gruff vocalizations of the new addition, Ian Bearer. The dual vocals are the one thing that is distinctively attractive about this group of deathcore aficionados.
Check out the Angelmaker concert photo gallery below:
Despite the turnover on leads, the band reached back and tore through two tracks from Dissent, “Leech” and “Shia LeBeouf.” If you are going to please everyone, you dig for the gems that got you where you are, and they did just that. The 808 drops blast the walls, and dust fills the air along with sweat and condensation. Things were becoming soupy.
The circle pit was an unrelenting freight train of people whipping themselves around and making sure to stomp as much as possible. The blue lighting remained a depressing and unforgiving character in its own right. Angelmaker forcefed song after song into your eardrums.
The recent single, “Relenquisher” is the perfect encapsulation of their songwriting might. All aspects of deathcore mixed and pressed home the fact that the best was yet to come. Under these strict guidelines, they also unearthed new gems like “Suffer Forever” and “Eating The Body of God,” and just like the latest single, it was met with pure chaos. However, the closing masterpiece “Day/Day” gave the Majestic Theater a dose of the gritty, nasty metal that is the legacy of Angelmaker.
As the last notes rang out, the lights lifted quickly. With an early start, no one wanted to exit. The merchandise booths were packed. Angelmaker took their time to talk to all of the VIP fans that took advantage of the early entry and lined the stage. The calm was welcomed. The eardrums were resetting themselves. With such a killer lineup of the filthiest death/deathcore bands out there, the experience was worth the beating. Madison came out and proved this is a metal city and state.
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