Cattle Decapitation’s No Fear For Tomorrow Tour in Detroit (2025)

This past Sunday was anything but a day of rest. But that was intentional, as more than one thousand of us congregated in downtown Detroit’s Saint Andrew’s Hall to embrace our demons. We were there to witness the No Fear For Tomorrow tour, headlined by gods of deathgrind, Cattle Decapitation. Joined by Tribal Gaze, Frozen Soul, and Aborted, the entire crowd went wild for every single band that evening.

TRIBAL GAZE

I hadn’t experienced Tribal Gaze in-person yet, and they definitely didn’t disappoint. Right out the gate, these five harbingers of societal depravity relentlessly pummeled us with their tight-as-fuck Texas death metal. And they kept up that energy nearly the entire time. I say “nearly” because at one point only the drummer remained on the stage and blew us all away with an exceptionally long and impressive drum solo. I feel like I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing two drum solos this year, and they were both at death metal shows over the past month! If you haven’t yet, go listen to the latest Tribal Gaze album Inveighing Brilliance via Nuclear Blast Records.
 

FROZEN SOUL

Frozen Soul’s performance in Detroit over the weekend was exceptionally chilling. But not in a bad way; quite the opposite. I just wasn’t prepared for how incredible they were going to be, nor how the crowd obeyed every command from Chad, their frontman. Another 5-piece from the lone star state, Frozen Soul set Saint Andrew’s Hall on fire that night, and everyone in attendance were more than willing to be the kindling. Everyone in the band played their parts perfectly, with that ease and swagger you’d expect from a Texas death metal act. Before the band ended their set, Chad took a moment to remind us about how serious mental health is and that we’re all in this together. He celebrated hometown favorite’s The Black Dahlia Murder and honored the late, great Trevor Strnad. Then Frozen Soul unleashed one last avalanche of brutal sonic destruction upon us all and everyone went off for it. Listen to Glacial Domination, a phenomenal release of theirs from 2023.
 

ABORTED

After that wild amount of energy the crowd burned through for the openers, I wondered how much gas was left in the tank for the next band. But hey, metalheads can go for days. When Aborted hit that stage, the place erupted. They split this shit wide open. Literally. There were walls of death, countless circle pits, and a myriad of crowd-surfers. Oh, and jumping jacks. I believe vocalist Sven just kept shouting, “Jumping Jacks! Sports!!” There was no doubt Aborted was here to party. It’s always the most horrific, gore-obsessed bands who have the best time! Of all their great releases, Vault of Horrors is the one they played most from. Aborted ended their performance with a reminder to not take everything so seriously and to enjoy life. Then everyone in attendance, including the band, danced their asses off to the early 2000s electronic hit, “Sandstorm.” It was a fucking legendary way to end the set.
 

CATTLE DECAPITATION

I saw Cattle Decapitation last year as part of the Chaos & Carnage tour. I wasn’t writing concert reviews yet, but I can tell you that it was one of the best concerts of 2024 for me. And I can say the same about their performance in Detroit this past Sunday night, headlining the No Fear For Tomorrow tour. I do have a couple more shows before the end of this year, but basking in the goregeous onslaught of Cattle Decap playing their album Death Atlas front-to-back is one of the best single hours of 2025 for me. Hands down. Or rather, hooves down. (Thank you, I’m here all night.)
 

Travis (on vocals) and Josh (on guitar) have been in the band since nearly its inception over two decades ago, and the precision with which those vocals and riffs were executed was dead-on perfect. Belisario (2nd guitar), Diego (bass), and Dave (skins) were all wickedly flawless as well. The lighting was epic, especially when it pierced through the giant ouroboros sculptures adorning both sides of the stage. Hair was whipping all around while Travis maniacally sneered through all of his unworldly screams and growls. He gave the crowd a bit of nostalgia as well when referencing an old school Detroit venue, Blondie’s. Of all the songs Cattle Decapitation played that evening, I feel like “Bring Back the Plague” really got the crowd engaged. Sooo much crowd-surfing. It stilled my bleeding heart.
 

If you’ve not had the pleasure of hearing Cattle Decap, and I mean this with all disrespect, you’re part of the problem with this world. Nah, not really. I’m still having fun thinking about Aborted’s set. Seriously though, you can pick any one of their 8 full lengths and get the gist of how maddeningly fast, complex, and exceptionally talented Cattle Decapitation is. Of course Death Atlas is a relevant recommendation, but they also ended their set with a few from the follow-up Terrasite, which is also brilliant as hell.
 

 

 

 
I’d seen countless shows at Saint Andrew’s Hall over the years, and this might’ve been the best crowd. I don’t know if it’s only because of how close I paid attention with my camera, but good god, y’all truly went off for every single one of the bands, and it’s always such a delight to see. The crew and venue staff were all amazing that night as well. All around an incredible group of people in that building over those 5 hours. And when Cattle Decapitation was over and had mopped the floor with us, nothing could truly wash away all the blood, sweat, and beers that’d been spilled in the name of death metal.
 
Follow @porousphoto on Instagram to see more photos from the show.

Biography:  Porous has been possessed by heavy music for the vast majority of his life. For a good chunk of it, that love was exorcised by playing metal, punk, and hardcore with other musicians. Nowadays Porous writes/records music mostly on his own, but engages with the community by supporting/encouraging other artists, and one of those ways is through writing! In early 2025 he joined MoshPitNation to contribute album/show reviews, concert photography, and hopefully an infectious love for metal, punk, and hardcore. For more photography, visit his digital portfolio.