I can’t say that I’ve ever seen Fleshgod Apocalypse before. Granted, I know their whole schtick: suits, blast beats, opera singing… That’s a normal thing for them, but in anything death metal it’s anything but. Save for maybe one or two bands you can compare the band to, nobody does it like Fleshgod Apocalypse. Truthfully, the band have been doing a great, very consistent job of touring frequently, but upon being put on before The Black Dahlia Murder on their co-headliner tour with Whitechapel, you knew the band were about to tap into a market of unparalleled potential for them.

Whitechapel were celebrating 10 years of their landmark album, This Is Exile, with The Black Dahlia Murder sizing up by offering their most recent album. Nightbringers, in its entirety. (And then a few…) Not to mention, Fleshgod were sandwiched in between the two giants and two formidable opening acts with the celestial Shadow of Intent and the merciless Aversions Crown from Australia. In a very Americanized scene (Despite Aversions beings from Australia) it would seem that Fleshgod had to really win this crowd, especially on a bill consisting mostly of deathcore acts.

Setting the tone, the time it took Fleshgod to set up and get to the stage was accompanied by an immersive opera soundtrack over the venue’s PA. It was only fitting, as the band took to the stage with their popular song, “The Violation,” that their macabre brand of symphonic death metal go the extra mile to hit everyone in the face. Seriously, drummer David Folchitto is only a session member of the band, yet the intensity he plays with could very well be felt throughout the venue. From the moment they started playing, it was apparent that this was a tightly-knit, well kept band that were in top form.

Part of the charm of Fleshgod Apocalypse is the commitment to their aesthetic and the immersion with the beatdown they dish out. Keyboardist Franceso Ferrini had a piano casing built around his keyboard, in which he’d be hunched over or sitting down to play in a ghastly manner. With the commanding nature of the relentless music, especially where he plays such a pivotal role in the orchestration, he was clearly feeling the power that their songs held.

Condensing their set down to seven songs, the band had a lot of territory to cover and not a lot of time to make fans happy while making new ones. Yet I think they more than accomplished it with this set, as the high-adrenaline nature of their music allowed them to add dynamic and give their all-too-brief allotted time the impression of a show in its own right rather than them simply playing songs. In particular in the middle of the set, operatic vocalist Veronica Bordacchini took over lead vocals and offered some sort of reprise in the set during “Epilogue.” Undoubtedly the highlight of the entire night, the overpowering dynamics of the song’s outro carried into a second half of the set that was as equally punishing as the first.

Closing out with “The Forsaking,” Fleshgod took the set out on a high note, and the crowd only reacted with complete and utter enthusiasm. At one point, everyone in the circle had locked arms around one another and in a massive circle had a unison headbang going on. I looked to the stage and for a moment, just a moment, both vocalist/guitarist Franceso Paoli and bassist Paolo Rossi had a fleeting moment of a break in character, a smile running across their face as they saw this, only to slip back into character and move themselves with the groove of the song once more. Delightfully humanizing, it was a fine way to close out the set by seeing this larger-than-life death metal act be human on stage briefly, only to remember the role they played in the ensuing chaos.

The only complaint I can give Fleshgod Apocalypse was that seven minutes wasn’t nearly enough for everyone in the venue. Though the crowd had two massive, arguably titanic bands following them, there was just so much on display by the Italian band that there just needed to be more from them. Maybe I just enjoyed their set that much, or maybe I’m just hankering for more songs? I don’t know, but they did their job effectively: they teased me and now I want to see a future show from them. Fleshgod Apocalypse rule, if you didn’t know, but if you need convincing they’re currently on an incredibly heavy tour that will sway to into future shows with the band. Don’t sleep on it.