Photo by Giovanni Mori
Giovanni Mori | Posted April 11th, 2025
If performers are having a good time on stage, the audience is guaranteed to have a good time as well. This was the case for the early 2000s metalcore legends, Killswitch Engage, and their spring tour across the US with other modern and notable metal bands, Kublai Khan TX, Fit For A King, and Frozen Soul. In the tour’s second half on April 4th, the four bands brought the spirit of the popular genre to a sold out show at Pittsburgh’s Stage AE.
Above image via Instagram: @killswitchengage
If it wasn’t already clear to fans from the tour’s lineup, each band had three goals: “get drunk, play heavy music, and have fun,” this philosophy quickly became apparent when it was time to hear the first band of the night, Frozen Soul, play brutal death metal all the way from Dallas, Texas. To quote the band’s lead singer as they were midway through their set, they were on tour to play “caveman” and “forgot how to read” guitar riffs, and was an enjoyable warm up for the crowd as each member, all with decently long hair, synchronized their windmill headbanging over crushing songs like “Morbid Effigy” and “Crypt of Ice.”
Fit For A King, also hailing from Dallas, was up next. The second band of the evening generally has a more serious approach in their shows with songs like “Keeping Secrets” and “When Everything Means Nothing,” lyrically containing deeper subjects of depression and mental health. Luckily, the four piece was able to keep the now more disorderly crowd’s attention, and having personally seen them live in concert twice before, it’s always enjoyable watching their unhinged stage presence full of guitar flips, kicks, and spins, perfectly fitting with the band’s sound containing low tuned guitars, heavy breakdowns, and gutturals.
Youtube: Century Media Records
Youtube: Fit For a King
The third act of the night, Sherman’s Kublai Khan TX, was arguably the most entertaining of the evening. Prior to the tour, Kublai Khan TX released their fireball album Exhibition of Prowess in September of 2024, which grew a significant following on TikTok’s rock and metal scene with songs like “Darwinism,” “Theory Of Mind,” and who could forget the album’s legendary closer, “Antpile 2”?
The band’s thirteen song set was an explosion waiting to happen from the first note, with half drunken beers, sweatshirts, and baseball caps being launched in the air at every minute, all while the crowd in the gigantic mosh pit moved around like waves in the ocean, overpowering the vocalist with each iconic breakdown callout. The Sherman band may have put on an entertaining show with exceptional stage presence and musical ability, but it was the audience on the floor who made it much more fun to watch.
Photo by Giovanni Mori
Youtube: riserecords
It wouldn’t be long before the tour’s headliner, Killswitch Engage, took the stage. After seeing many concert goers pass through from the floor to the bar completely drenched in sweat and beer, it was clear the audience needed a break. Fortunately, the beginning of Killswitch Engage’s set provided that much needed rest with sing-along songs including “Strength of the Mind,” “Rose of Sharyn,” and “Reckoning.”
Despite the less chaotic nature of the songs, it was still a fun night for the crowd to shout out the lyrics if they knew the words, and have their fair share of moshing and crowdsurfing, as long of course as they weren’t already tired out from the openers. Fans of the band were also excited to hear new songs off of their recently released album, This Consequence, and got to enjoy tracks like the emotional “Aftermath” and “I Believe,” as well as the raw and heavier sounding “Forever Aligned” and “Collusion.”
Youtube: Killswitch Engage
For a proper ending to the evening, after a mix of the band’s discography between old and new songs over the course of their 25 years together, and after comically singing happy birthday to lead guitarist Adam D, the five piece closed the evening with their most popular songs, “My Curse,” “The End of Heartache,” and “My Last Serenade,” having the crowd of the sold out Stage AE screaming along to the point where they became louder than the band’s instruments by the last chord.
Youtube: Roadrunner Records
Whether you were a fan of each of the bands or not, if you were at least a fan of the metal genre, it’d be an understatement to say it was a night to remember. While there’s usually a touch of seriousness in the screaming and loud music, this tour proved it doesn’t always have to be that way, and you can find just as much fun and enjoyment with it as with any other music genre. It’s obvious each performer knows how to have a good time on stage, and judging from the crowd that night, I can confidently say the city of Pittsburgh had a good time too.
Sources
“Fit For A King – Keeping Secrets (Official Music Video)” Youtube, uploaded by Fit For a King, 12 Jan. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHYDdab_Bo4
“FROZEN SOUL – Crypt Of Ice (OFFICIAL VIDEO)” Youtube, uploaded by Century Media Records, 25 Sept. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKV1O7gJDU
“Killswitch Engage – Forever Aligned (Official Video)” Youtube, uploaded by Killswitch Engage, 20 Nov. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omcLZOCLHBI
Killswitch Engage [@killswitchengage]. Tour Promo. Instagram, 29 Oct. 2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/DBtfdwJMUmn/
“Killswitch Engage – My Curse [OFFICIAL VIDEO]” Youtube, uploaded by Roadrunner Records, 6 Nov. 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPW9AbRMwFU
“Kublai Khan TX – Theory Of Mind” Youtube, uploaded by riserecords, 20 Sept. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMXYhwoBpOY
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