Deathcore legends Oceano put out their most recent album, Living Chaos, this past August and what a banger of an album it is. With some amazing singles, like "Mass Produced," "Wounds Never Healed," & "The Price of Pain," it has been one of my favorite releases of the year. The band has embarked on The Living Chaos Tour in support of the album, and I was lucky enough to catch them on their Dallas stop. Accompanied by some local bands, Crown of Horns TX, Suffer Point, & Mona Borland, as well as the touring package bands consisting of HALF ME, VCTMS, & To The Grave, the 19th of September was full of blast beats, gutturals, breakdowns, and a hefty amount of chaos.
After the local bands got the crowd warmed up and ready for the night ahead, HALF ME took the stage. Coming from Hamburg, Germany, the band was ready to throw down and have a good time with Dallas. It was my first time hearing of the band and seeing them perform, but I instantly became a fan as the band played banger after banger. HALF ME brought such an intense energy that I couldn't stop banging my head. I'd bet that I'm not alone in that statement as I saw nonstop moshers in the pit.
HALF ME
HALF ME seems like a tough act to follow, but VCTMS was ready for the challenge. I've lost track of the amount of times I've seen them live. From small stages in Deep Ellum to the huge stages at So What?!, VCTMS always brings the heat, the energy, and the chaos. Back around the beginning of August, VCTMS released "snuff.tape" featuring Marc Zelli of Paleface Swiss and I think I've listened to it 5 times a day since. VCTMS truly makes that pissed-off, that angry, that move-your-ass music. The amount of fans I saw in the crowd that were moshing like their life depended on it while screaming the lyrics back just warmed my heart. VCTMS may be from Illinois, but I'd say they are honorary Texans at this point.
VCTMS
To The Grave graced the stage next and my God, what a start to a set. To The Grave hails from Australia and have grown into a global force in the deathcore scene. Their recent release, Everyone's A Murderer, is a certified deathcore banger! Armed with chugs, breakdowns, blast beats, and some of the most demonic gutturals I've ever heard before, To The Grave brought a new wave of energy to the crowd in Dallas. It was as though the depths of Hell opened up in the pit as the crowd lost all remaining bits of their sanity.
To The Grave
After a long night of moshing, it was finally time for the reason we were there: Oceano. Oceano has been making waves in deathcore since their first album, Depths, back in 2009 and 15 years later, they're still making waves. What words can someone use to describe Oceano? The band embodies the deathcore sound while making it a sound all their own. You might be thinking to yourself on how that is remotely possible, but for a band like Oceano, it as easy as a deathcore breakdown. As soon as they took the stage, the crowd erupted into a deafening roar of applause. God ... how many times now have I've seen the legends Oceano live before? It is next to impossible to say, but what I can say is how the band is as perfect as perfect can be. Let us take the Dallas stop for instance. Seeing venue staff, security, and fans all bang their heads as Oceano played was a sight to behold. The crowd was sure to give the band a run for their money and ensure that this stop would be crowned as the "best stop of the tour." Even though they were just here, I'm already impatiently waiting for the return of Oceano.
Oceano
