Fit For A King & friends get St. Louis feral-level rowdy

It was another talent-filled night at The Pageant in St. Louis, beginning with metalcore act 156/Silence. The Pittsburgh band took over the stage with their gritty, industrial tracks like “Target Acquired” and their recent single “Our Parting Ways”. Vocalist Jack Murray set the energybar high right off the bat, getting the first mosh pits moving.

The energy in the room shifted from ‘warmed up’ to ‘feral’ the moment Spite took the stage.

Known for their “anger-core” delineation of deathcore metal, the California band played a set that felt like a headlining performance in terms of sheer intensity. Vocalist Darius Tehrani is a terrifying presence live; he strolls the stage with a possessed look, delivering vocals that sounds just as vicious as the band’s studio recordings. The crowd response was immediate chaos, with seemingly endless circle pits erupting while bodies flew over the barricade. Spite tore through their heavy-hitters, leaving the audience drenched in sweat for Make Them Suffer up next.

Hailing from Perth, Australia, Make Them Suffer brings a polished presence to the stage. They are masters of the ‘beauty and the beast’ dynamic, largely thanks to keyboardist/vocalist Alex Reade balancing Sean Harmanis’ guttural screams with soaring clean riffs. A highlight of the night was when Reade broke out the keytar, adding retro vibes to their modern metal aesthetic. They played favorites like “Epitaph”, “Ghost of Me”, and “Doomswitch”.

And the chaos was far from over.

It was Texas metalcore giants Fit for a King that closed the night, performing to a packed, sweaty room. Their signature high-production light show and massive sound matched their anthemic choruses and breakdown-heavy verses. Touring in support of their Lonely God release, bassist Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary was a show unto himself, constantly spinning his bass and executing high jumps that defied gravity. Vocalist Ryan Kirby sounded impeccable, taking the audience through songs like “Begin the Sacrifice” and “When Everything Means Nothing”. A memorable St. Louis anecdote: the pit was so rowdy that at one point, a fan dressed in a full monkey onesie was spotted surfing above everyone’s heads.

Photography by Sean Rider

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