CONCERT REVIEW: DEATH METAL BANDS AT MIDDLE EAST RESTAURANT AND CLUB

On September 26, 2025, I went to the Middle East Restaurant and Club at Central Square in Boston to shoot with my camera a group of Death Metal bands. I had never been to a Death Metal concert. I was very interested to see what this is about. It was at the same time a learning experience and a terrific moment in my career as a photographer of live music concerts. I was able to meet and chat with most of the artists and they were very happy to introduce me to their world. These are talented musicians who are doing what they love. Most have other jobs to pay the bills and this is their passion and all were really good at it. This is a movement of artists sharing their craft and they embraced me with kindness.

The first group that came on stage was The Spiral Continuum from Boston, MA. A progressive death metal band, which incorporates different genres into one cohesive, heavy and often catchy sound, the band members are: Eric Harper: guitar and vocals; Garrett Mallory: guitar and vocals; Dan Saillant: bass; Sophia Rose: drums.

The Spiral Continuum found their inspiration to similar bands including Gorod, Revocation, Death, Gojira. They were phenomenal during the entire hour of their performance. They played several sounds from their tracks “Walking Onto Death, “AVI”, “Blood Aura”, and the title track “The Spiral Continuum.”

The second band that hit the stage was The Epicenter. The group is composed by Jared Towne and Ryan Burke on guitar, Jenny Mac on vocals, Steve Foley on bass, and Pete Dechellis on drums.

“We’re an experimental Death Thrash band out of Massachusetts. We’re a fast band who loves complex rhythms. 7 String Thrash for working class folks with complex anger about  the complex issues that impact all of our lives, but in a way that let us blow off steam as a group and have a good night for a change,” said Jenny Mac, the frontman on vocals for The Epicenter. 

The third group on stage was Inoculation. Cleveland-based cosmic death metal band Inoculation played several songs from their new full-length  album “Actuality” released on April 18th. The album, showcasing ten brand-new tracks, is available digitally via Maggot Stomp label.

Promoting the album during the night, this is what the band has said about the new release:

“Actuality” is a huge milestone for us, as we wrote most of it while touring for the past 4 years. We wanted to show everyone that we are still here, doing our cosmic things and we still have tricks up our  sleeves.  We tried to push our boundaries musically and lyrically. A broad lyrical theme across “Actuality” is delusion and its consequences, whether it be incomplete science or wrong theories to hormonal hallucinatory secretions turning lost intergalactic travelers into food. We wanted to bring that galactic technically to our music, while sprinkling in some otherworldly grooves. We couldn’t be more happy with how the album came out.” 

It was around 10:30 p.m. when Xoth as the headliner hit the stage. From Seattle, Washington, the group is composed by Tyler Splurgis (guitars, vocals), Woody Adler (guitars, vocals), Ben Bennett (bass), Jeremy Salvo (drums).

Xoth played a list of songs from their different albums released from 2016 to 2023: Invasion of the Tentacule (2016), Plague Revival (2018), Interdimensional Invocations (2019), Exogalactic (2023). 

Xoth’s performance in the Middle East Restaurant and Club in Cambridge, MA,  was terrific. People in the audience wearing dark-colored, leather jackets with band patches, black jeans, studded belt, spiked jewelry, and sturdy boots, were dancing, drinking, jumping over each other. “Reptilian Bloodsport”  kicked the night on with a riff that sounds like an emergency signal from a deep space beacon. The song itself manages to be heavy and sugary sweet all at once - it’s a banger, as are the seven tracks  in the album,” said Tyler Splurgis, the frontman of Xoth.

The room set on fire when the group played “Killer” second track  “Manuscripts of Madness.” The song leaned hard into a  Black Dahlia influence, but the overall sound and vibe among the audience were still familiar. The dueling guitars of Tyler Splurgis and Woody Adler drive the songs, ingesting influences like Pac-Man does and weaving everything into a fluid argument for a Unified Theory of Metal. Their lead lines kick into melodic overdrive during the choruses, when it often feels like the guitars are trying to sing along with the vocals. The probing bass dabs splotches of low end in interesting places. 

From songs to songs, Xoth’s trademark musical talent charmed the audience. It was a fun night of music. I am so happy to be part of that experience.