On Saturday, local and regional metal acts stormed to Shippensburg’s Thought Lot to fill the studio building with thunderous guitar riffs, guttural growls and high-pitched screams.

It is important to keep in mind that understanding what the singers are actually singing is ultimately irrelevant. Themes of death metal are almost always the same. They can range from mutilation to revenge, to war to brutality and so on. What matters is how the instruments sound and how much variety there is in a metal song’s structure.

Also important is the song’s ability to literally move you; forcing you to thrust your body in enjoyment.

On that note, it took quite a while for things to warm up, unfortunately.

The first band, Age of the Locust, struggled to excite the audience and had problems with their equipment. The amplifiers were not responding to Dave Mandrake’s guitar and there were several instances of Locust quitting halfway through a song.

The other issue was the band lacked movement and an interest in what they were playing. Age of the Locust had an over-dependence on sluggish chords. Mixed with non-movement, the band fizzled the connection with the audience, despite how loud they were.

In sharp contrast, DNA Through Ashes took a stage they know all too well. The group rocked The Thought Lot this spring and returned showing they learned some things over the summer. Dare it be said that they were better, tighter and excited the small audience that desperately needed to be amped up. Singer Stew Chandler showed a metal band doing things right.

Chandler used the space of the small stage to his advantage, throwing himself into whatever he was singing about. It is safe to assume he was singing about death and annihilation, specifically in the song, “Annihilation.” But unlike the brutal lyrics, his gratitude was genuine.

“It warms our hearts to be here,” Chandler said, as the band moved into another song about death. And the energy DNA Through Ashes created did not stop.

Martinsburg, West Virginia, metal band Dysfigure was the main and final event. The band took the incredible set up DNA Through Ashes gave, the loudness of Age of the Locust and took those elements to mold something impressive and memorable.

In Dysfigure’s music, you will find influences of the great metal bands of the past, like Metallica, Slayer and Necrophagist. You will also find the amazing skills of lead guitarist Matthew Carr, the youngest member of the band.

Carr’s technicality allowed the typical sludge chords found in death metal to show constant variety and energy. Given the breakneck speed and pace Dysfigure establishes in every song, it is more than refreshing to get different flavors of metal in a healthy blend.

Additionally, Carr and singer Chris Fuqua often walked off stage to perform in the audience to give them an even closer look at their skills and precision.

Dysfigure has toured throughout the East Coast, and if the band cannot break out to the rest of the nation, it will be a loss for metal lovers indeed.

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