Concert Review: The Rituals of Hate Tour with Whitechapel, Disembodied Tyrant, Angelmaker and Bodysnatcher at Anthology in Rochester, NY

The Rituals of Hate Tour came in with their absolutely stacked deathcore lineup on November 19, 2025, at Anthology in Rochester, NY. The night was full of mosh pits, crowd surfers, super heavy breakdowns, horns in the air, and crowd cheering and screaming in excitement the whole night. Anthology was packed from front to back, with people shoulder to shoulder. This was my first time seeing all these bands live, and it was the heaviest show I have ever attended. This lineup did not disappoint!

Disembodied Tyrant was up first to kick off the night and get the crowd warmed up. A little bit before the Rituals of Hate tour was about to start hitting the road, I read an article on the band in ‘Metal Injection’. According to the band’s Instagram page, their frontman and guitarist, Blake Mullens, was “involved in a freak accident that resulted in ‘significant injuries’ to multiple limbs, requiring emergency hospitalization and surgery”. They have announced vocalist fill-ins for both legs of the tour. The fill-in vocalist for this show was Trevor Teichert of Winters Gate. His vocals were outstanding! The other vocalist for the second leg of the tour is Ryan Vail of Larcenia Roe. They were getting the crowd moshing in multiple places and a wall of death. Johnny Ciardullo from Angelmaker came on stage and did a feature on a song, and the crowd was excited to have him alongside them. Every person in that crowd had a lot more energy in the tank, and the night was just getting started.

Angelmaker was next to step out on stage to keep the movement and stage presence going. This seven-member deathcore band, hailing from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was playing for the first time in Rochester, NY. Each member had their own stage presence, making it difficult to know who to watch and where throughout the set. On top of that, they asked for crowd surfers, which added even more energy in the venue. The day after the show, on November 20, 2025, they released a new album called “This used to be heaven”. They played some new songs off the album and, of course, some crowd favorites. One of my favorite songs from when I was introduced to Angelmaker by a friend last year was “Leech”. In which they closed out their set with. When that intro riff kicked in, the entire crowd screamed the lyrics, while both vocalists told the crowd to get louder and keep it going. I can’t wait until they come back to the area.

From Melbourne, Florida, was Bodysnatcher. Before they got on stage, I learned a fun fact from another photographer at the show: the band came up with their name, inspired by one of history’s most notorious serial killers, Ed Gein. People started crowd-surfing like crazy when they just started playing, at the vocalist’s request. The vocalist, Kyle Medina, kept requesting more and more crowd surfers. Halfway into the set, someone was announcing that they lost their wedding ring in the pit, and the band paused for a moment to ask the crowd to help search for it. After a few seconds, someone immediately found it. Medina was sharing a life story about when he was 15-16 years old, he listened to a band that he loved for a long time that was coming to the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, and he knew he had to go. That band turned out to be Whitechapel. You could hear how grateful he is for the opportunity to be a direct support to a legendary band.

Now, for the main reason, this crowd was still shoulder to shoulder in a packed venue, still having the urge to mosh, screaming at the top of their lungs, and it was all for the legendary Whitechapel. Seeing Whitechapel for the first time live was precisely how I thought it would be. I first discovered them in high school. I remember first hearing “Elitist Ones” off their album “Mark of the Blade” like it was yesterday. The Rituals of Hate tour was to celebrate the release of their ninth studio album, Hymns of Dissonance, and to play its entirety. When the album first came out, I was blasting my car speakers on my way to work, and I honestly thought it was one of their best albums yet. Watching them perform live and hearing the raw sound felt like I was listening to a story, from hearing the original Whitechapel guitar tone and heavy drums in the beginning, with a low screaming intro, to the outro, where the three guitars harmonize together. The stage set up with props made it very eye-catching. They had the skull mask from the music video, Hymns of Dissonance, as well as statue versions of the characters, decoy candles that looked lit, and a light-up marble table. For their encore, they played some older songs, including one that had the crowd going wild, and closed their set with “This is Exile”.

Every band was awe-inspiring. This lineup is one for the books, and I highly recommend you don’t miss out. In my opinion, it will take a lot for a lineup to beat this one, because I have no idea how it could top this one. If you love deathcore and have never heard or checked out any of these bands, do yourself a favor and go check them out. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.