Review & Photography ny Nathan Vestal for MPM
Chicago’s Metro transformed into a crucible of sonic intensity as Deafheaven, Gatecreeper, and Trauma Ray delivered a night that showcased the evolving landscape of modern metal.
Trauma Ray: Ethereal Beginnings with Emotional Weight
Opening the evening, Trauma Ray delivered a spellbinding set that bathed Metro in lush, melancholic textures. The Denton, Texas-based band may have seemed like an outlier on a bill dominated by heavier acts, but their presence brought essential balance to the evening. Drawing from the sonic lineage of bands like Slowdive and Nothing, Trauma Ray built their set around slow-blooming crescendos, thick walls of reverb-drenched guitars, and vocals that felt more like another instrument than a narrative guide.
Their performance was understated yet emotionally powerful, creating an immersive atmosphere that silenced the chatter in the room by the second song. Tracks like “Nühevan” and “Bardo” resonated with aching sincerity, and though the crowd had come expecting brutality later in the night, they stood mesmerized by Trauma Ray’s ability to evoke vulnerability and introspection without ever raising the volume above a slow burn.
The band’s dynamic use of pedal effects and shimmering guitar interplay added depth and movement to their slower tempos, allowing the music to breathe and shift organically. Their drummer’s tasteful restraint and the bassist’s warm, anchoring presence contributed to a sonic experience that was more felt than heard.
By the time their set concluded, it was clear Trauma Ray had won over a significant portion of the audience—many of whom may have arrived unfamiliar with their catalog. Rather than simply warming up the room, they expanded its emotional range, setting the stage for the contrasting chaos that was to follow.
Gatecreeper: Controlled Chaos and Crushing Precision
Following the shoegaze dreamscape of Trauma Ray, Gatecreeper tore through the atmosphere with all the subtlety of a freight train, delivering a performance that was as punishing as it was precise. Hailing from Arizona, the band wasted no time shifting the room’s energy. From the moment they launched into the chugging opener “A Chilling Aura”, the pit came alive with raw energy—bodies flying, fists raised, and heads banging in unison to the beat of blast drums and thunderous riffs.
Gatecreeper’s sound draws deeply from old-school death metal—buzzsaw Swedish guitar tones, breakneck d-beats, and guttural growls—yet they bring a distinctly modern weight and polish. Their set leaned heavily on their 2024 release Dark Superstition, whose slower, doom-laced passages offered stark contrast to their more up-tempo bangers. “Masterpiece of Chaos” and “Caught in the Treads” showed off the band’s ability to shift tempos and moods, toggling between punishing groove and sheer aural brutality with seamless command.
Vocalist Chase Mason stalked the stage with brooding intensity, delivering his gutturals with clarity and venom. His presence, a mix of stoicism and fury, served as a focal point as guitarists Eric Wagner and Israel Garza laid down riff after bone-splintering riff. Behind them, drummer Matt Arrebollo and bassist Alexander Brown kept the engine roaring with airtight rhythm work that gave every song heft and propulsion.
Despite their sonic aggression, Gatecreeper’s performance was remarkably disciplined. Every breakdown landed with purpose, every tempo shift felt calculated to create maximum impact. They channeled chaos but never lost control—a hallmark of a band that has clearly honed their craft on the road.
By the time they closed with fan-favorite “Flesh Habit” the floor was slick with sweat, and the crowd had fully surrendered to their destructive force. If Trauma Ray had painted in slow-burning greys and pale blues, Gatecreeper brought the reds and blacks—violence, fire, and blood. They didn’t just energize the crowd; they obliterated any lingering hesitation and set the stage ablaze for Deafheaven’s arrival.
Deafheaven: A Masterclass in Evolution and Emotional Catharsis
As the lights dimmed for Deafheaven, an intense shift occurred in the atmosphere at Metro. The crowd, still buzzing from the sonic demolition of Gatecreeper, now turned expectant, almost reverent. And when the first shimmering chords of “Incidental I”—the opening track from their 2025 return-to-form album Lonely People with Power—rang out, it became instantly clear: this would not be a passive experience. It would be a journey.
Deafheaven, long polarizing for their willingness to blend black metal ferocity with shoegaze beauty and post-rock sprawl, showed no signs of compromise in their latest iteration. If anything, their Metro set felt like a reconciliation—a culmination—of every phase of their career. The tremolo-picked guitars and blast beats of their early material, the introspective dream-pop textures of Infinite Granite, the soul-rending crescendos of New Bermuda—all were present, seamlessly fused into a new kind of intensity that transcended genre labels.
Frontman George Clarke was magnetic throughout. Dressed in all black, hair slicked, eyes closed in moments of catharsis, he howled with both desperation and defiance, gripping the mic stand like a lifeline. In contrast to his fury, his between-song presence was serene, almost humble—a reminder that Deafheaven’s aggression is never posturing, but deeply expressive.
Guitarists Kerry McCoy and Shiv Mehra formed the emotional core of the band’s sonic palette. McCoy’s signature reverb-drenched melodies cut through the dense layers like light through fog, while Mehra’s counterpoint lines and effects work added dimension and dreamlike atmosphere. Their interplay on songs like “Magnolia” and “Heathen” felt organic and massive, at times bordering on orchestral.
Highlights included a searing performance of “Brought to the Water”, where drummer Daniel Tracy’s precision blast beats and cymbal artistry reminded the crowd that Deafheaven’s technical chops remain razor-sharp. A mid-set curveball came in the form of “Amethyst”, which, live, carried more weight than its studio version—thanks to the added heaviness of Chris Johnson’s bass and subtle reworking of its structure to build tension more slowly.
And then there was the closer: “Dream House.” Deafheaven’s unofficial anthem exploded with a renewed vigor, the opening lines—“Hindered by sober restlessness…”—sung and screamed by hundreds in unison. It was transcendent. Clarke collapsed to his knees by the end, wrung out and exhausted, while the band rode the final notes into a wave of distortion that seemed to hover in the air long after they left the stage.
What made Deafheaven’s performance so arresting was not just the musicality or stagecraft—it was their ability to embody contradiction without ever sounding incoherent. They were loud and delicate, fast and slow, beautiful and horrifying. Their set was not just a musical performance but an emotional confrontation, a reminder that vulnerability and rage can occupy the same breath.
In the wake of Trauma Ray’s ambient haze and Gatecreeper’s apocalyptic assault, Deafheaven served as the night’s emotional climax. Their performance wasn’t simply the sum of the bands that preceded them—it was the synthesis of every mood, every tempo, every color that the evening offered.
This show at Metro wasn’t just another tour stop; it felt like a landmark—a declaration that Deafheaven is not merely surviving the metal world’s genre wars, but thriving by transcending them. For those in attendance, it was more than just a concert. It was an awakening.
