Venom Prison & Homewrecker w/ Great American Ghost | The Blood Sacrifice North American Tour | Photos + Review

Venom Prison & Homewrecker Conduct Los Angeles on the Blood Sacrifice Tour

Venue: Five Star Bar on 10/2/19

When I first saw Venom Prison in 2018, I was in awe. As one of the opening acts on the Devastation of the Nation Tour, they had the challenge to warm the crowd up for the bands to come. What many did not expect was for the band to set a bar so high that few of the bands to come after them were able to reach. As the headliner this time around, they embarked on a month long across North America, co-headlining with Homewrecker. The tour has rotating direct support acts, but a majority of the dates had Great American Ghost as the support act, who were on my date as well. This tour mixed together bands of death metal, hardcore, and thrash metal, but it worked and blended so well!

The first band up was Great American Ghost from Boston, Massachusetts. Great American Ghost is cut from the same cloth as many newer hardcore and metalcore bands like Knocked Loose, Bodysnatcher, Traitors, Kublai Khan, Varials, and more. They were very high energy and truly got the crowd going wild. I was personally impressed by vocalist Ethan Harrison. His stage presence was powerful and truly helped hype the crowd up. Guitarist Niko Gasparrini and Bassist Joey Perron were also super tight on stage, headbanging and grooving along with the songs. Touring drummer Davier Perez smashed his drums, creating the foreground for the band to build upon, completing the lineup for this four-piece. The band played an 8-song set, most of which came from their 2017 album “Hatred Stems From The Seed”, which was released via Good Fight Music. They were truly a driving force on stage and got the crowd rowdy for the co-headliners to come. I cannot wait to see them again when they come back out here in 2019 with Bodysnatcher!

SETLIST

1. No Savior
2. New England Misery
3. Destroyer
4. Deliver Me
5. Time Is Your Enemy
6. Altar Of Snakes
7. Prison of Hate
8. Ann Arbor

Up next was Homewrecker from Ashtabula, Ohio. As one of the two co-headliners for the tour, they were solid. While not as high energy as Great American Ghost, they still slayed! Mixing together death metal with thrash metal, the band played an 11-song set, playing songs from several of their releases, most of which came from their 2018 release “Hell Is Here Now”, which was released via Good Fight Music. This four piece consists of co-lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Barnum, co-lead vocalist and drummer Matt Izzi, guitarist Paul Aloisio, and bassist Dalton Edwards. Although they had a couple of technical difficulties throughout the set, the band persevered and killed their set.

SETLIST

1. Create Sin
2. Bound By Validation
3. Prophet Liar
4. Demons In Disguise
5. Worms and Dirt
6. One With Torment
7. Punish the Ignorance
8. Buried in Suffering
9. Land of the Damned
10. Constant Eyes
11. Perpetrators of Annihilation

Finally up came Venom Prison from South Wales, UK. Venom Prison is best described as a death metal band with elements of hardcore and grindcore. What I personally love about the band is their bold choices in lyrical content, speaking out about social and political topics like: rape culture, fascism, misogyny, mental health, organized religion, and more. The band played a super tight set, with 9-songs from both their 2016 record “Animus”, as well as their 2019 record “Samsara” which were both released via Prosthetic Records. The band stands strong, with vocalist Larissa Stupar at the forefront. Guitarists Ash Gray and Ben Thomas are very fun to watch on stage, shredding with technical guitar parts and intricate solos. At the foundation of any band’s sound is the bass and drums, which are filled by bassist Mike Jefferies and drummer Joe Bills. I was thoroughly impressed by the band’s performance. I found them to be even tighter and more dynamic than the last time I saw them, which I thought would be a hard performance to top. I am very much looking forward to seeing Venom Prison the next time they return to the states.

SETLIST

1. Matriphagy
2. Corrode the Black Sun
3. Uterine Industrialisation
4. Abysmal Agony
5. Asura’s Realm
6. Self Inflicted Violence
7. Perpetrator Emasculation
8. Dukkha
9. Implementing the Metaphysics of Morals

The Blood Sacrifice Tour was filled with lots of moshing, a couple of brawls, technical instrumentals, and lots of heavy fucking music. All three bands were incredible, with the best being Venom Prison. This was a tour I was looking forward to, and I am truly grateful I was able to attend.

Venom Prison | Homewrecker | Great American Ghost

Photos + Review courtesy of Jamie Kaufman | Instagram

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