On Wednesday, April 15, 2026 The Black Dahlia Murder brought their Spring Fling tour to The NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia. This stop marked the halfway point for the tour, as it started on April 2nd and goes through May 2nd. Also joining them on stage were heavy hitters: Corpse Pile, Disembodied Tyrant, and The Acacia Strain.
CORPSE PILE
Kicking off the show at 6:30pm precisely, was Corpse Pile from Houston, Texas. Corpse Pile is a brutal death metal/hardcore band. Personally, I had not seen them perform before and was pleasantly surprised with how great they sounded! I thought they were incredible, and enjoyed their take on modern death metal. It is refreshing to see modern bands sticking true to the death metal sound. The band was lively, performing songs such as "Genesis of Suffering," "For Flesh and All," "Stacking Bodies," and "Fuck Your Life." This band was also very vocal about many political views in between songs, which I found to be surprising from a death metal act. I would definitely enjoy seeing this act again in the future!
MY RATING: 4 corpses out of 5
Helping me stay true to fair ratings, was my friend, Brian, who is on tour with one of the bands on this bill. He sees them every night, so let's see what he thought about the set:
BRIAN'S RATING: "Corpse Pile was sick. The breakdowns are brutal. I give them 5 corpses out of 5."
AVERAGE SET RATING: 4.5 corpses out of 5
DISEMBODIED TYRANT
Disembodied Tyrant took reign of the stage next, starting out their set with "Icarian," leading into the insanely heavy, "Malphasian" and "The Poetic Edda." Every time I see Disembodied Tyrant, I am truly blown away with how consistent they sound with their music. I was excited to see Blake Mullens back on stage for this tour. Disembodied Tyrant just doesn't hit the same without him! All of the members looked at home on the stage and looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. They ended their set with "8.6 BLACKOUT" and my personal favorite, "Winter."
MY RATING OF THIS SET: 5 Winters out of 5
Brian had some more deep thoughts about this set:
BRIAN'S RATING: "These breakdowns were also sick. The atmosphere is sick. Another 5 out of 5."
AVERAGE SET RATING: 5 Winters out of 5
THE ACACIA STRAIN
Moving on through the night, The Acacia Strain hit the stage with a surge of energy. Right away, vocalist Vincent Bennett was scurrying about with intense speed. Everyone was excited for this band and the crowd was going insane for them. Automatically, I could tell that this tour was different for them. It seems as though they are all in healthier headspace having fun. Vincent was laughing and being a menace throughout the set, which included him launching water from numerous water bottles into the crowd with a speed that I can not verbally explain. Also, I was surprised with the set they played, as I was not expecting them to throw in older songs from their older albums. They played a few from their recent album, "You Are Safe From God Here" but had a few classics from the older albums scattered into the mix such as "Beast," "The Hills Have Eyes," "Send Help," and "Dr. Doom." They even ended their set with "Carbomb" from their 2004 album, "3750."
MY RATING: 4.5 empty water bottles out of 5
BRIAN'S RATING: "They did not empty enough water bottles- they need more next time. But this is another 5 out of 5 for me."
AVERAGE SET RATING: 4.75 empty water bottles out of 5
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
The Black Dahlia Murder stepped onto the stage to finish out the night at 9:20pm. The crowd roared with anticipation. It has been quite a while since I saw The Black Dahlia Murder play, and definitely the first time I have seen them play with a new lineup. Perhaps I live under a rock, but I was surprised to see previous guitarist, Brian Eschbach on stage doing vocals. I was also surprised to see guitarist Wes Hauch on stage playing guitar too! Wes Hauch is one of my favorite guitarists, and he definitely put some of his stank on this performance. I believe he added so much to the music and set.
One major thing to note was that this was an extensive setlist. They played from 9:20 to 10:50, which is quite a long set, even for a melodic death metal band. They played hits such as, "What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse," "I Will Return," and "Statutory Ape." During "Statutory Ape," they had a gorilla come on stage and into the crowd to party with everyone, including the man dressed as a banana. This was highly entertaining and unexpected. Overall, the set was impressive and they ended the night with "Deathmask Divine" from their hit album, "Nocturnal."
MY RATING: 3.5 gorillas chasing bananas out of 5
BRIAN'S RATING: "This set was a 6 because they had Gorilla Man."
AVERAGE SET RATING: 4.75 gorillas chasing bananas out of 5
The Spring Fling tour is still going strong. There are still 9 shows remaining. If this tour is coming to a town near you, don't miss it!
