Rose Funeral at Black Circle, Indianapolis, May 7, 2023

Rose Funeral wrapped up their Father Death Midwest Tour at Black Circle with a Sunday Metal Matinee.

Here is something you don’t often see: a heavy metal show in the afternoon. And on a Sunday, no less. Sure, if you are at a festival, bands do play in the afternoon, but the main show is in the evening. With Sunday Metal Matiness at Black Circle, the feature show goes on before the sun goes down.

There were four bands on the slate for the May 7^th show, starting with St. Louis’ own Hard Graves. They are a hardcore / metalcore act with enough energy and aggression to keep the room spinning all afternoon. All the music that day was loud and rugged, but I think Hard Graves was the harshest. They have a new EP out, Consequence Of Action, which you can listen to at the usual outlets and you can pick up a physical copy if you like their music as much as I did on Sunday.

Homicyde rolled up from South Carolina. They are a death metal band that formed in 2010 and have so far released two albums, Taken (2010) and The Sickening Tales (2022). Twelve years might seem like a long time between records for an active band, but however they are doing it, they are making it work. The five-member band almost spilled off the stage at Black Circle, so large was their presence. They muscled through thirty minutes of music and looked to have more in the tank when they had finished.

Hometown death metallers Fleshbore were greeted with rousing enthusiasm when they stepped up and hit the first note. Their most recent album, Embers Gathering, came out from Innerstrength Records a couple years back, and there is reason to believe new material is not far off. There are five musicians in this band, too, and when you add in lead singer Michael Ohara’s wingspan, there was no place to hide during their set. The music they create lies along the melodic shore of heavy, often structured on technical musical pilings. Their set was tight and menacing.

The big news was the appearance of Rose Funeral. The band formed in Cincinnati playing deathcore in 2005. They got off to a roaring start, releasing their first album, Crucify.Kill.Rot. (2006), independently, then signing with Metal Blade Records for two more, The Resting Sonata (2009) and Gates of Punishment (2011). Since then, there had been radio silence until the emergence of the single “Father Death” last year. Even more music is in the offing with the band teasing another major drop for the end of May.

The Midwest mini-tour has been in support of the new single and to set up more new music. They will be playing at the resurrected Milwaukee Music Fest over Labor Day Weekend in a crowded field and, if their performance is anything like it was on Sunday at Black Circle, they are sure to gain a whole new tranche of fans.

Look for these bands to show up in your travel radius, and seek them out whenever you can. Meanwhile, browse the Bandcamp pages for all four bands and pick up some of their music and merch. Links below.

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Rose Funeral, https://rosefuneral666.bandcamp.com/track/father-death