Although it’s only February, it’s hard to imagine I more extreme package coming through town than the Unforeseen Circumstances Tour. Having just wrapped up last night in Hobart, Indiana, the jaunt, helmed by groove metal pioneers Exhorder, featured support from Luicidal (ex-Suicidal Tendencies), Ringworm, Phobia, and Slowhole. With a lineup like that, making the hour plus haul from Chicago to West Chicago, a suburb an hour away that has NOTHING to do with the city proper, on a Thursday night was less a headache and more an adventure. Headbangers drove in from all over to catch this spectacle of brutality. Here’s how it all went down.
Slowhole
Having missed local death metallers Hell Is Real due to post-rush hour traffic, my evening began with the first and youngest band on this stacked package, Slowhole. When we interviewed Exhorder vocalist Kyle Thomas last month, he told us not to sleep on this band. And how could we? Playing what can best be described as sludge metal that takes its cues from Swans and Melvins as opposed to Eyehategod and Crowbar, Slowhole nearly destroyed our eardrums with their feedback-laden, decibel-crushing sound. I usually don’t care for this brand of “soundscape metal”, but the intensity of their set couldn’t be ignored if one tried. These guys and gals will make you sick to your stomach with their aural dread. If that’s your thing, crank ’em up and have a barf bag on deck!
Phobia
What better way to contrast seemingly endless dirges of sludge than with 20 songs in 20 minutes? At least that’s what it seemed Phobia unleashed upon us. Embodying the old saying “Blink and you’ll miss it.”, there was a time when these Californian grind icons seemed to be on every underground metal and punk package that came through town, only to seemingly disappear. It’s been 8 years since we’ve received a new album, which feels roughly like how long its been since they last played the Chicagoland area. Nevertheless, the band took the stage as if no time had passed at all, assaulting the dedicated throng with a dizzying array of blast beats, shouted vocals, and punk rock attitude. Grind on, Phobia! Grind on!
Ringworm
Having taken Luicidal’s slot for the last 4 nights of this tour, Ringworm fit right in with their signature brand of metalpunk mania. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel this band doesn’t get talked about enough for their role in the evolution of both metal and punk music, at least not nearly as often as their fellow Ohioan metalcore trailblazers, Integrity. Although only frontman Human Furnace remains from the band’s original ’90s run, guitarist Matt Sorg has been laying down those “evil Cro-Mags” riffs since 2001, so that has to account for something. Their setlist spanned a good three and a half decades, with songs from the classic The Promise (1993) receiving as much fanfare as newer cuts. Age is simply a construct for these devils, eager to unleash hellfire and chaos until the doomsday clock strikes 12.
Exhorder
Time for the main event! Having only seen Exhorder as a support act in the past, most recently playing an all too brief thirty-something minute set at last year’s Milwaukee Metal Fest, I was eager to catch a full headline set from these unsung titans of the underground. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. Thomas and company staggered the setlist strategically, alternating between oldies and new songs. “Unforgiven” was the sole cut off 1992’s The Law, an album that Thomas admittedly doesn’t hold in the highest regard despite its impact, but playing half of 1990’s landmark Slaughter in the Vatican made up for any Law songs that might’ve been looked over.
As for the new cuts, the high speed “Year of the Goat” off 2024’s Defectum Omnium remains my favorite, truly embodying the pissed off, angst-driven spirit of the Exhorder of yesteryear. Many times through the night, Thomas joked about these being “new” songs despite now being two years old, but of course, it’s a completely different world now. Two years after The Law was released, Exhorder disbanded. Fast forward over 30 years since that initial split, and this current lineup shows no signs of slowing down, having just announced ANOTHER run of dates for this spring. God willing (perhaps not the best phrase to use here), we’ll be there. As the old song goes, we always return to EXHORDERRRRRR!!!
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