Every few months, another show comes along that seems more extreme than the last. The one I had attended Thursday at Mill City Nights housed 5 of the most talented acts in extreme metal, and did not fall short of expectations in the slightest! Carach Angren, the opening act from the Netherlands, has created something with their live performance that is guaranteed to send a shiver down your spine. They opened their set with “Lingering in an Imprint Haunting,” the opening track from their latest album. Abysmal Dawn, a tech-death band from L.A., took over the stage next and entertained the crowd with a slew of tech death songs and endless shredding. They never seemed to really win the crowd over until they closed with “In Service of Time,” which had every person in the audience head banging and finally opened the pit up. The grim & frost bitten jams from Colombian duo Inquisition encompassed everyone’s attention, due to the raw energy of their performance and the instantly recognizable voice of front-man and guitar player Dagon. Main support group Septicflesh, a death metal act from Greece with more melodies & synthesizers than most pop stars, were beyond captivating to say the least. Their use of choirs and orchestras on their records makes for a huge sound, but takes away from the live performances, since they have to play along with pre-recorded material. Without any announcement, the almighty Deicide walked onstage and blasted through three songs from their latest record. My first impression was nothing more than “What a bunch of old men!”, but I had slowly gotten used to their style as their show went on. Even though I’m not a fan of their official releases (with exception to In The Minds of Evil), their live performance was punishing and the tightest of the night, but they also had the worst stage presence of the night. Still feel indifferent about Deicide, since they lacked excitement.