Photos / Review: Hatebreed’s 20 Years of “Desire” and 15 Years of “Perseverance” at the Worcester Palladium

Hatebreed came to the Palladium in Worcester, MA to celebrate 20 years of the release of their debut album.

The night actually saw two tours come together, with the smaller room upstairs hosting Within The Ruins with Enterprise Earth, Aversions Crown, Currents, In Depths & Tides, Begat the Nephilim, Values, and Boundaries, and the larger room downstairs hosting the main event: Hatebreed with Dying Fetus, Code Orange, and Twitching Tongues. I came mostly for the bands playing downstairs, but I did make my way to the upstairs room when I had a chance to check out the bands playing there.

The venue was insanely packed; the upstairs opened two and a half hours before the downstairs did and was at capacity when I arrived, so the long line of people waiting outside were not allowed in until the downstairs doors were opened. I waited for Aversions Crown to go on for a while, but unfortunately, it seemed like they were running a bit late with the band upstairs compared to the set times that were written, so I did not get to see them because I had to go downstairs for Twitching Tongues.

Twitching Tongues opened the night downstairs. They had quite an overdramatic opening, in my opinion, with the lead vocalist coming out with a mask and jacket on that I thought they would have been better off without. Overall, though, their performance was pretty good and the audience really liked them. I really liked their music, specifically the guitar they had throughout the songs. Twitching Tongues is not a band I would go out of my way to see, but I would definitely not mind seeing them again.

Code Orange went on next. I spent a minute looking for the frontman before I realized that it was the drummer, which was cool. This band was absolutely nuts. Nobody stood still for even a second and it was practically chaos their whole set, but in the best way. Their music just sounded like a bunch of heavy drums, booming bass, a little bit of keys and guitar, and a lot of growls, but I absolutely loved them. They were a really fun band. The only thing that really bothered me was their lighting, which was red and very dark; it was hard to see the band even when I was in the photo pit, never mind when I went into the audience to watch the set. Personally, I like being able to see the band on stage, but I do not think it detracted too much from the experience. Overall, Code Orange was great and a band I will be very happy to see live again.

Dying Fetus was really good. They came on looking like an experienced band who were there to give the audience exactly what they wanted. It was a top-notch set. They did not run around like chickens with their heads cut off, but they had a really strong presence that I felt even when I was in the back of the venue watching their set. Every note was on point and the audience loved them. I have no complaints about their set and would see them again in a heartbeat.

It was clear that the audience was there for Hatebreed. They came out with no fancy, overly dramatic opening; they just came out and started playing. Their energy was electric and every single band member was on point. It is no wonder that Hatebreed was celebrating 20 years from the release of their debut album, because they know how to give a great show. The audience loved them from the first second; there were plenty of crowdsurfers and moshers, as well as a circle pit that got started early on. Hatebreed really was amazing and completely unforgettable.

While I did not get to see any full sets, or even more than five to ten minutes of the bands playing upstairs, I have to give a shout out to Enterprise Earth and Within The Ruins. I saw Enterprise Earth over the summer, so this was my second time seeing them and their set was just as good as I remembered it being last time. This was my first time seeing Within the Ruins and I was really disappointed that I missed so much of their set. From what I saw, they were amazing, so I am keeping a close eye on future tour announcements.

The bands that performed downstairs and upstairs all gave strong performances. The lineup made sense, with talented bands from all over, showcasing a great night of metal. It was also a great way to work off all of those extra Thanksgiving calories.

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Post and photos by Karen Shalev

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