REVIEW: LORNA SHORE @ MGM MUSIC HALL 10/28

Photo Credit: Nick Karp

Review by DJ Tribbitt

Is there a better way to end a cold October Monday than with four hours of death metal? The answer is no. At least, it would appear to be no to me, and the other few thousand metalheads who have shown up to the MGM Music Hall decked out in battle jackets, fish nets, face painting, and spikes. I feel a little underdressed in a black denim jacket, but the only thing that really matters is that we are all here to see Lorna Shore.

Lorna Shore is a deathcore band from New Jersey that was founded in 2009 by Jeff Moskovciak. It feels important to mention that the band hasn’t had any original members in its lineup since 2011, with the current lineup of lead guitarist Adam De Micco,  rhythm guitarist Andrew O’Connor, bassist Michael Yager, drummer Austin Archey, and vocalist Will Ramos, who began as a touring member of the band in 2020 and became a permanent member in 2021. Lorna Shore’s music is seen as deathcore, a subgenre of heavy metal that combines death metal with metalcore and symphonic metal, though they also incorporate elements of black metal. They have released four albums, with the most recent, “Pain Remains,” being played in full at each show on their current tour.

The show was set up more like a festival than a typical concert, with three acts performing before Lorna Shore. The first band on the stage is Sanguisugabogg, a death metal band from Columbus, Ohio, that was formed in 2019. Even though I was standing near the back of the venue, I could feel the energy emanating from the stage as vocalist Devin Swank began the show by spraying water over the crowd and a song that’s ‘about ripping someone’s face the fuck off,” which I later found out was called “Face Ripped Off.” The heavy guitar riffs and growling vocals immediately got the crowd moshing, headbanging, and crowd surfing. Swank also delivered my favorite line for the show: “This song is about being dragged by a fucking truck, it’s called ‘Dragged by a Truck.’” This sentence is a 10/10 — no notes. The band finished off the show with a wall of death, a metal show staple where the crowd forms two sides and, at the vocalist’s signal, runs toward each other and creates a gigantic mosh pit.

The next band on stage was Kublai Khan TX, a metalcore band that was formed in Sherman, Texas, in 2009. Still feeling the energy from Sanguisugabogg’s set, I decided to experience this set from the pit. Kublai Khan TX’s set is the most hardcore of the night, with shouted vocals and enough bass drum that you can feel it in your teeth. During their set, the energy in the room compounds. A highlight of the set was the song “Boomslang.” Everyone in the pit is moshing, headbanging, and dancing. I get caught under a wave of people crowd-surfing and decide to try it for myself. It was awesome. I could see everything and nothing, I couldn’t hear the music, but I could feel it. Definitely give crowd surfing a try if you ever get the chance. Shout out to the tall guy with the beard who was nice enough to pick me up and throw me on top of the audience so I could crowd surf.

Standing at the back of the venue (where you end up after crowd surfing), I watch as Whitechapel, a deathcore band from Knoxville, Tennessee, formed in 2006, takes the stage. The band brings a more chill (relative to death metal) vibe to the stage. Rather than the warm red lighting of the first two acts, Whitechapel employs cool-colored lights that function as a light show during their set. They interacted less with the audience than the previous acts, but that didn’t stop the crowd from moshing to the growling vocals and heavy riffs that made the venue feel like an arena. The band also played their new song, “Hymns of Dissonance,” which has yet to be officially released. Whitechapel’s set fit really well into the concert, offering a continuation of the energy but also serving as a cooldown period by offering a different feel from the rest of the show.

Standing back in the pit, I wait with the rest of the crowd for Lorna Shore to take the stage. The symphonic intro to “Welcome Back, O’Sleeping Dreamer” plays over an empty stage before the band enters with what feels like a scream across every instrument. Throughout the show, the band’s fast and heavy riff, coupled with the intense growled vocals, makes the pit go crazy, with the most intense moshing, headbanging, and crowd surfing of the night. The show continues to grow in intensity as the band plays “Pain Remains” in order. The band is energetic on stage, with vocalist Will Ramos moving around the stage while the other musicians headbang. Toward the middle of the set, Ramos takes a break from the music to thank the supporting acts as well as the security and lighting technician that made the show possible, something that I always appreciate when artists do. Fittingly, the set ends with “Pain Remains III: In a Sea of Fire,” playing over a veritable sea of crowd surfers. A few grown men get dropped on my head during the show, but that comes with the territory of being front and center at the metal show. After the song, Lorna Shore exits but doesn’t stay away for long. They come back to perform their most popular song, “To the Hellfire.” The energy erupts once again onto the biggest mosh pit of the night.

When I left the venue, it was 40° outside, but I was so hot that I had to take off my jacket. If you want a good show and the ability to walk around Boston at night in October with no coat for about 30 minutes, do yourself a favor and go see Lorna Shore.