On Thursday, October 22, 2026, Arch Enemy brought their co-headlining tour to Raleigh as their second North Carolina city in a row on their current "Wrath Across North America" tour. Joining them on stage for this tour are Thrown Into Exile, Crypta, SepticFlesh, and The Black Dahlia Murder to make for an exciting array of different metal genres on this bill. Thankfully, I was able to make it to doors in time for this show, as the door times online and on the tickets were not clear.
The venue opened the doors at 5:00 pm, and the show started at 6:00 pm; however, the tickets and time listed online only said 7:00 pm, with no indication that this was the start time or door time. Unfortunately, this meant a good portion of the crowd missed almost half of the show, and I felt bad for the opening acts on this bill. This type of thing seems to be happening more frequently at Live Nation venues, and I hope something will change so that it doesn't keep happening. Despite this hiccup, the show was incredible, and the crowd that was in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves fully!
THROWN INTO EXILE
Thrown Into Exile was the first to take the stage for this incredible night of music. They are a death metal band based out of Los Angeles, California. Right off the bat, they filled the room with fantastic energy. The music was primarily death metal, but it had some melodic and groovy elements to it, which made them a perfect fit for this tour package. Partway through the set, they swapped out bassists for a song and afterward announced that their bassist would have to leave to go home. They stated one of their beloved crew members was going to be taking over on bass for the remainder of the tour and gave him a warm welcome. The set times were short for each of the bands on this package, but Thrown Into Exile managed to squeeze five songs into their set, including a new unreleased song. The other songs they played were "Send me Below," "Nihilist," "Behind the Veil," and "You've Fallen So Far."
CRYPTA
After the explosive start with Thrown Into Exile, we got another treat of an act on stage next. Crypta is a death metal band from São Paulo, Brazil. This is a band I have heard of plenty of times before, but I've never seen them perform. They did not disappoint at all! They had so much charisma on stage, and they sounded phenomenal. They looked like they were having such a great time on stage, too! I really enjoyed the black metal-styled vocals over the death metal instrumentation. Crypta also played five songs, including "The Other Side of Anger," "Lord of Ruins," "The Outsider," "The Portrait of Decay," and "From the Ashes."
This set was very entertaining to see, and I would definitely recommend that anyone try their best to see this band perform on a bill in the future!
SEPTICFLESH
SepticFlesh promptly took the stage next. They are a symphonic death metal band based out of Athens, Greece. I have been dying to see this band perform live, and I am so thankful I finally got the chance. The wait was worth it too, because they sounded absolutely perfect. The performance was unbelievably tight, and sounded exactly how I expected it to- even with having to perform as a three-piece for this tour. Unfortunately, one of the members was unable to make it on this tour, but that did not stop SepticFlesh from killing their set! They even played one of my favorite songs from their discography, "Anubis," which I honestly was not expecting!
Their set was also fairly short, so I anticipated them to play a majority of newer material; however, they managed to evenly distribute a good mix of old and new into their set. Other songs that they performed included "Communion," "The Vampire From Nazareth," "Martyr," "Coming Storm," and "Dark Art." The crowd also seemed to enjoy this set just as much as I did, because the crowd surfers began during this set and continued on into the remaining act's sets as well.
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
Next to take the stage were co-headliners, The Black Dahlia Murder (TBDM). Now, I was particularly excited to see this set because when I saw them perform this past spring, they had Wes Hauch filling in on guitar with them. It sounded so good then that I was hoping, dreaming, and praying that he would also be on this tour as well. Well, my prayers were answered because he came out on stage with them, and I immediately knew we were in for quite a treat. TBDM is a treat on their own, but with Wes Hauch's stank on their material, it is an unmatched live performance. The set was a total of 14 songs, covering material from their entire discography. During "Statutory Ape," of course, they had one of their crew members dressed as an ape and come cause mayhem on stage. Overall, this set was energetic and very fun! It set the tone just right for the last act on this bill.
ARCH ENEMY
Die-hard fans were waiting in anticipation the whole night for Arch Enemy to perform. They erupted as the lights burst on, and they kicked off their set with "The World Is Yours." New frontwoman Lauren Hart controlled the room well, and her excitement and happiness were radiating. It was nice to see how happy she was to be there, along with her fellow band members. They were all smiling through the entire set, which was very pleasant to see!
This was a high-energy performance, yet the expertise and practice were evident. They sounded amazing! They performed 13 songs, and just like the bands before them, the setlist was a good mix of old and new material. They performed songs such as "War Eternal, "My Apocalypse," "The Eagle Flies Alone," and many more. They finished their set with the fan favorite, "Nemesis," and the outro of "Fields of Desolation." There is no doubt that a die-hard fan would have loved this set, and it was clear from the crowd's reaction. This was a great performance, and I would highly recommend seeing Arch Enemy perform if they're coming to a town near you!
Arch Enemy and The Black Dahlia Murder are not quite done on the road yet; in fact, they are only halfway through their current tour! If you would like to check out this bill for yourself, please see if they are coming to a town near you below.
To fill your Arch Enemy fix in the meantime, take the time to listen to their 2025 album, "Blood Dynasty" below as well.
