The Black Dahlia Murder – House of Blues Anaheim – April 24, 2026
Michigan based melodic death metal trendsetters The Black Dahlia Murder hit Anaheim California’s House of Blues on Friday night, and the main room might never be the same. By the time the lights came up and the music started to blare, all 1700 people in attendance were fully warmed up and ready to go after sets by The Acacia Strain, Disembodied Tyrant, and Corpse Pile.
The Black Dahlia Murder
The Black Dahlia Murder’s show had a little of everything – mosh pits, crowd surfers, heavy-ass music played at ear-shattering volume, pure mayhem, and a bubble machine. While the bubble machine remained on for only one steady burst, and seemed a little out of place, the mayhem remained until the last note was played.
Guitarist Brian Eshbach took over vocals in 2022 after the untimely death of Trevor Strnad, and has been firmly planted in that role since the band’s tenth album, 2024’s album Servitude. Brian killed it on Friday night, and spent much of the show on the lip of the stage extending his hand toward the crowd, coaxing them without words to participate…something that didn’t need any encouragement. Security had their hands full keeping crowd surfers safe, and the steady stream of floating bodies came fast and furious towards the stage in much the same way as the music.
The majority of songs played were from Servitude (2024), Nocturnal (2007), and Miasma (2005) records, with songs from four other albums also represented in a great cross-section of the band’s history. Fans up front were on the younger side, which seemed surprising for a band twenty-five years old – the fact that the youth are embracing heavy bands like The Black Dahlia Murder is encouraging, and apparently Gene Simmons of KISS was wrong when he stated in 2014 that rock was dead. It was very much alive, well, and in good hands on this night.
The Black Dahlia Murder is:
- Brian Eschbach – Vocals
- Ryan Knight – Guitar
- Alan Cassidy – Drums
- Max Lavellie – Bass
- Wes Hauch – Guitar
Setlist:
1) Unhallowed
2) Funeral Thirst
3) Nightbringers
4) Panic Hysteric
5) Contagion
6) A Vulgar Picture
7) Mammoth's Hand
8) Flies
9) Malenchantments of the Necrosphere
10) Aftermath
11) Kings of the Nightworld
12) Evening Ephemeral
13) Cursed Creator
14) Statutory Ape
15) Everything Went Black
16) What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
17) Warborn
18) Nocturnal
19) Miasma
20) Utopia Black
21) I Will Return
22) Deathmask Divine
The Acacia Strain
This was my first time seeing The Acacia Strain, and when vocalist Vincent Bennett hit the stage, he initially reminded me of a high school football coach from the 1980’s that you might catch smoking and drinking Coors in the parking lot after practice before hopping in his tricked out Camaro and peeling out…except for the tattoos and huge voice…then he reminded me nothing of any coach I’d ever had. These guys were no joke, and came to fuck shit up. Over the course of their fourteen-song set, that’s exactly what they did.
The Albany New York metalcore/deathcore band The Acacia Strain is hard hitting and very interactive live. Vince raced around the stage seemingly playing to every single individual fan in attendance – and the audience responded by mass crowd surfing, and moshing like their lives depended on it. Bodies were flying everywhere, and by the end of the set, thin and flexible 8’ glowsticks also started flying. I didn’t see where they were first introduced, but within seconds they were everywhere you looked, with people on the floor throwing them up to the viewers on the balcony, only to have them immediately thrown back down.
Halfway through their set, Vincent gave an impassioned talk about friends, and how important they are to our well-being. “They are the family you pick – check in on them – you never know when the last time you see them will be.” The hard rock/metal community is always good about looking out for people, but sometimes the simple things can be forgotten or put off until later. Some might argue that bands should use their time on stage to play songs and not lecture, but the 30 seconds the speech took could have made the difference in someone’s life, and I always appreciate hearing positive reinforcement, as well as having a short break in the action to catch my breath…before getting throttled by the sonic bombast coming from the stage.
The Acacia Strain is:
- Vincent Bennett – Vocals
- Devin Shidaker – Guitar
- Griffin Landa – Bass
- Mikael Mulholland – Guitar
- Matt Guglielmo – Drums
Disembodied Tyrant
Disembodied Tyrant is a Missouri deathcore band formed in 2020 during the pandemic, and they were extremely hard-hitting. Finding your voice on a night like this with four talented bands sharing the same stage can be difficult, and standing out from the crowd even harder. Disembodied Tyrant pulled it off with aplomb – sonically relentless, their performance didn’t give the audience the opportunity to take a breather before the next wave of aural bludgeoning began.
During their last song, they called for a wall of death, and fans absolutely delivered when the breakdown kicked in. I found out a few minutes later while waiting in the photo pit for The Acacia Strain to go on that a photographer friend happened to be crossing the main floor just as that happened, and had a moment of absolute terror, as he tried to escape with 1) his life, and 2) his cameras intact. What a way to wrap up a set – it certainly left the audience with a visceral memory to remember Disembodied Tyrant by.
Disembodied Tyrant is:
- Blake Mullens – Guitar/Vocals
- Dominic Petrocelli – Guitar
- Lucas Koughan – Bass
- Kevin Alexander – Drums
Corpse Pile
Corpse Pile was established in Houston Texas in 2019, and brought the heat to Southern California. The House of Blues wasn’t yet completely full, but those there early will definitely remember Corpse Pile for the brutal show they put on. They used their platform to both play amazingly hard music, and talk about the state of the world, blaming neither political side directly, but instead the billionaires that run things behind the scenes and divide us because it’s profitable to do so. Vocalist Jason Lionel Frazier said, “It’s not about left or right, liberal or conservative – fuck that – it’s about us versus them!”. A moment later, while firing up the early arrivals to the venue, he added, “Push it front to back, back to front…all that community bullshit is out the window…”, before launching into the next song causing the main-floor crowd to swirl and tear up the place. Corpse Pile’s set was an excellent precursor and great way to start off a long night of metal madness.
Corpse Pile is:
- Jason Lionel Frazier – Vocals
- Landry Arredondo – Guitar
- Davis Pryse Snyder – Bass
- Alex Covarrubias – Drums
Brooks Robinson is an LA-based concert photographer, and 30+ year freelance camera operator for film, television, and music videos. He has photographed some of the largest film/TV projects in history, and hundreds of music videos in MTV's heyday.
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