review by Gerard Cosloy
photos by Angela Betancourt
For starters, I would like sincerely apologize to Deterioration, Left To Suffer and the venerable Crowbar for missing their sets ; I’d been on the phone all evening with Kalshi customer support—it seems someone ran up several thousand dollars of charges to my credit card making trades last weekend on whether or not James Hetfield would use his Sphere platform to make a political statement. The bad news is, my dog’s college fund was cleaned out. On the bright side, I had exactly enough cash left over for Sanguisugabogg’s BLUEY ON A STABBING SPREE shirt, so it’s not a total disaster.
Emo’s, for those who’ve not been, is a charmless, character-free aircraft hanger on our city’s southeastern side and aside from the brand name, cannot be confused with the deeply beloved punk dump that operated downtown for ages. Were Columbus’ Sanguisugabogg capable of teleporting themselves back to those halcyon days, they’d undoubtedly be right at home in said squalid, chaotic environment. Semi-plagued with a FOH mix I will charitably describe as boomy-as-fook, the band managed, regardless to trundle their way thru a smattering of career highlights showcasing their considerable range (songs about tearing someone’s face off, killing people, killing people and turning them into furniture, etc.) While this was my first time seeing them since the recent exit of Cedrik Davis and Cody Davidson’s transition from drums to guitar, this was not appreciably different than their last headline appearance in Austin some 11 months ago (OK, there was at least one more fight and I would like that officially noted at setlist.fm). There’s no denying they bring the brutality with wit and panache, I just wish it was twice as loud (and perhaps it is just that on other occasions—also, I cannot hear for shit)
Superficial similarities aside, Dying Fetus’ presentation was a study in contrasts and deft execution—the level of technical proficiency is off the charts (assuming there’s a chart for such things) and IN SPITE OF THIS they’re as deliberately bludgeoning as any rival you care to cite. Guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher—the lone remaining founding member—is all business (singing about unmitigated carnage is his business and business is growing at steady clip, as the saying goes). The cliché “foundational band” gets tossed around for ensembles working atop paper mache far too often but in this case, it couldn’t be more true. We’re beyond lucky to be living and breathing in a world where Dying Fetus cast such an immense creative shadow, which is slightly ironic given the subject matter extols the virtues of well, stuff that’s the opposite of living and breathing.
The post Live Review: DYING FETUS and SANGUISUGABOGG at Emo’s (Austin, TX – 10/15/26) appeared first on Decibel Magazine.
