October 18, 2025
Following their appearance at the 2025 Maryland Deathfest, Dutch death metallers Asphyx scheduled additional U.S. shows throughout the year, curiously hinted at as being their last times in the country. Chicago lucked out with one of those dates being at Reggies Rock Club. Asphyx put on a blistering set filled with tracks that spanned their catalog, with openers Molder and Rottrevore contributing their own dark fare for an evening of raucous death metal. Check out photos of the show below.
Molder
Up first was Molder, hailing from Joliet, Illinois. They offer old-school inspired death metal à la Obituary with some up-tempo riffing. Sometimes you just want to execute well in a tried-and-true style, and Molder excel at that. They’ve got some pretty catchy parts going on, and quickly got the crowd energized and moving. Their latest release is Catastrophic Reconfiguration (2024) on Prosthetic Records.
Rottrevore
Pennsylvanian death metal outfit Rottrevore followed, theirs a style combining very low vocals and a rapid tempo, and a good dose of the Entombed “buzz-saw” guitar tone. Fans of bands like Cianide and Morta Skuld would do well to check out Rottrevore, if they haven’t already. Their only full length album is 1993’s Iniquitous, which was followed by the breakup of the band shortly after its release; later they reformed and released a three-song EP called Hung By the Eyesockets (2013). In recent years they’ve been making festival appearances – such as Maryland Deathfest – and occasional shows.
Asphyx
The headliner for the evening was Asphyx, a legend of the metal scene. Their anthemic songs of war and human savagery run the gamut of fast-paced death metal to slower, doom dirges. Consistent among them all is that Asphyx pulls no punches. They put on a show filled with one neck-wrecking track after another, including staples like Deathhammer and The Rack. Asphyx isn’t a band that puts out some good studio recordings and then phones it in on stage; the band tore through the set like a well-oiled machine, the members energetically roaming the stage, interacting with the audience, and setting an example of how to leave the crowd beaten down and hungry for more. Hopefully their return will be soon – vocalist Martin van Drunen clarified that the band would like to play the U.S. more, it’s just that it is getting more difficult to get entry visas. Their latest is Necroceros on Century Media (2021).
