By Jacqueline Radakovich
Cosmic Eye Brewery hosted a night of hardcore, metal, and mosh pits on April 7, 2024. Mugshot and Kaonashi brought their co-headlining tour to Lincoln Sunday night, and it was one of the best all-around showcases of metal I have seen in a while. The lineup included Mugshot, Kaonashi, Cell, Pains, Iced Wrist, and Whitmore. I loved the mix of local artists with the touring artists, and all the bands went well together. Lincoln was the last date of the tour, so each band brought everything they had left for one last night. None of the bands disappointed me and I was impressed by each one in their own way.
Whitmore at Cosmic Eye Brewing 4.7.24 Photo Credit: @jrad.arts
Whitmore performed first and kicked the night off with a hardcore set that got everyone moving. Whitmore is a hardcore/metal band from Omaha, Nebraska, which was formed in 2020. They are a 2000s-inspired, four-piece band including Mitch Anderson on vocals, Kyle Storer on guitar, Josh Richert on bass, and Robb Shurter on drums. They started strong despite being the first band on a long night. They were a great choice to kick off the night with lots of energy and metal. They were one of my favorites of the night, I loved Storer’s energy and style in his playing. At one point, he came out into the crowd, and it was entertaining to watch and fun to take photos of. This was my first time seeing Whitmore, and I was impressed not only with Storer but the band as a whole. They sounded great and played well together. I look forward to seeing them again.
Iced Wrist at Cosmic Eye Brewing 4.7.24 Photo Credit: @jrad.arts
Iced Wrist was the second band to perform and was a crowd favorite of the night. Iced Wrist is a five-piece hardcore/slam band from Lincoln, Nebraska. They are inspired by bands like Knocked Loose and The Acacia Strain and bring insane breakdowns and intense vocals to create their brand of hardcore. They have gotten some well-deserved traffic from their recent single release, “Journey To Oblivion”. I had the pleasure of seeing Iced Wrist a few months ago, and they have only gotten better, musically and performance-wise. Some things that stick out to me about Iced Wrist are the energy of their guitarists and the vocalist’s deep and brutal vocals. I love their energy and the vibe they bring. This is a fun show to watch, and I see a bright future for these guys.
Pains at Cosmic Eye Brewing 4.7.24 Photo Credit: @jrad.arts
Pains is a deathcore/grind/sludge metal trio from Illinois and Wisconsin. They make music as heavy, loud, fast, and angry as possible, bringing that energy to the stage. I had never heard of Pains, so I was not sure what to expect. They impressed me with their heavy instrumentals and dual vocals. If I had suggestions for Pains, it would be more crowd interaction. I find the crowd always delivers when the artists on stage urge them to participate. Another thing that impressed me was their ability to play fast and keep up with each other. Their music is quick, and it would be easy to fall behind. However, they did a great job of playing together and they sounded amazing. I am glad they were chosen to tour with these bands because they deserve more traffic and streams. They have several releases on streaming, so be sure to check them out.
Cell at Cosmic Eye Brewing 4.7.24 Photo Credit: @jrad.arts
Cell is a five-piece hardcore/metal band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They were another crowd favorite of the night, bringing their fast-paced hardcore. They were one of the more violent sets of the night, and the crowd seemed to appreciate that. The cell would fit beautifully in Nebraska’s hardcore scene. They are violent, heavy, and guttural, which the Nebraska hardcore fans love. I loved the vocalist's energy and thought he sounded great. The guitarist/backup vocalist also had great energy and was fun to watch. The bassist went extremely hard and looked like he was having fun on stage. It was an overall great performance and one of my favorite sets of the night.
Kaonashi at Cosmic Eye Brewing 4.7.24 Photo Credit: @jrad.arts
Kaonashi is a four-piece metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vocalist Peter Rono, guitarist Alex Hallquist, drummer Ryan Paolill, and bassist Ryne Jones make up Kaonashi. They are an interesting band that might be off-putting initially because of Peter’s high screams and their heavy instrumentals. However, their songs are catchy and bring something different to hardcore music. They have amazing creativity within their music and bring a sense of humor to the stage. Their music is art, and they don’t care whether you like it or not. Kaonashi had great energy and was interactive with the crowd, which I enjoyed. They played some of their new music as well as hits like “I Hate The Sound of Car Keys”, and “You’ll Understand When You’re Older”. Each member of this band was interesting to watch, and it was difficult to choose who to focus on. Rono is funny, talented, and charismatic. Hallquist and Jones went crazy on their guitars and gave them everything they had. Pao is one of the best drummers of the night. This set went by way too fast, and the crowd agreed.
Mugshot at Cosmic Eye Brewing 4.7.24 Photo Credit: @jrad.arts
Mugshot came from San Jose, California, to bring their tour to Lincoln. They are made up of vocalist Ringo Waterman, Michael Demko on guitar, Connor Hanes on drums, and Ciro Abraham on bass. They closed out the night after 5 sets of hardcore. The crowd was not finished and still had lots of energy for Mugshot. They declared at the beginning that this set was for the moshers, and it WAS. What stood out to me about Mugshot was their high energy and rage. Both Demko and Abraham played with so much energy that it was hard to stop watching them. Waterman has a great stage presence and delivery, and the band has chemistry on stage. This is a band that deserves attention, and I loved watching them.
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