Dutch deathcore heavyweights Distant bring punishing intensity to Chapel Hill’s Local 506, closing out their short North American tour with fury.
The final show of Distant‘s US and Canadian tour stopped at Local 506, a small bar and concert hall in Chapel Hill, NC. Downtown Chapel Hill felt quiet and empty with university students gone for their summer break, a stark juxtaposition to the suffocating intensity inside Local 506.
Local band Vanta NC opened the evening roughly 30 minutes late. Self-descfribed as a “blue collar deathcore” band, Vanta NC was welcomed by many local fans wearing band merchandise. Dressed very “blue collar casual,” including shorts, flip-flops, and Carhartt shirts, as harmless as the band members appeared when they first stepped on stage, after a brief recorded bluegrass musical introduction, all five members of the band exploded into action. The small stage confined vocalist Dylan Barham, limiting his prowling to the front of the stage and forced caution and precision so as not to high-kick one of his bandmates. The most active circle pit of the entire evening broke out spontaneously for Vanta NC, although the audience did require constant motivation to remain in motion and active. Vanta NC delivered a solid set and took advantage of their home field advantage for riling the audience up.
Tracheotomy followed Vanta NC to support the evening headliner. Hailing from southern Florida, the two guitar, one drum, and one vocalist configuration took the stage while making it very clear this was their last night on tour, and they expected mayhem in the pit. The hard and fast setlist included their debut single, “My Fragmented Experience,” “Mask of Sanity,” and “Dissimulation.” In comparison to the other two bands performing, Tracheotomy had a “back to basics” feel, leaning on mega-heavy and slow breakdowns combined with very well done death growl vocals to create their signature sound. Surprisingly, the audience sat back on the edges of the floor for most of the set, even after vocalist Simon Mariante demanded a legendary circle pit before they began their long drive home. The band held nothing back, even when the audience did, delivering a hard-hitting set to close out their tour. Distant traveled from the Netherlands for a six-stop United States and Canada tour starting in London, Ontario, opening for In Flames for two stops before four headlining shows, which concluded in Chapel Hill, NC. Accessing more room on the small stage because gear from the opening two bands was removed, the five-piece deathcore band hit fast, hit hard, and didn’t stop. Drummer René Gerbrandij, spotlit in blood-red lighting, could not hold back his obvious excitement to be performing while guitarist Nouri Yetgin delivered high-powered shredding solos as vocalist Alan Grnja caught his breath in between his intense death growling. The audience continued to be aloof, entering brief circle pits upon a few occasions, but the audience did crowd the front of the stage for the first time. Intense, precise, and furious to the very last notes, Distant delivered a fantastic show to close out their very short tour. DISTANTWebsite Facebook X
