40 BELOW SUMMER / DETHWISH / SKIN CRAWL – SPACE BALLROOM
By Kat Gullage
40 BELOW SUMMER BRINGS THE HEAT TO SPACE BALLROOM WITH DETHWISH AND SKIN CRAWL
Metal fans congregated on the eve of the summer solstice to celebrate a solid dose of their favorite musical genre.
Local band dethwish kicked the door of the event open with their driving beats wrapped in brooding energy. The singer ordered everyone up front and we complied. “We are Dethwish!” A lovely but long as fuck prerecorded intro finally morphed into “Wrapped In Blue” followed by “Knew What You Wanted”. They invited a young kid, Damien Martone, on stage to belt out some growling vocals and he nailed it!
Without warning the frontman, Shawn Fortier, jumped into the crowd and got face to face with fans while he continued to sing. His relentless energy was infectious, and spread to everyone in the vicinity. “K folks, how we feelin? This song is about being humiliated” was the segue to “Crucify”. “How we feelin out there?!” He responded to the cheers with “Good. I need you to prove it. Let’s see some more dancing out there!”
A mosh pit / line dance broke out, an interesting fusion I had never witnessed before, as the band performed “Cowboy Killer”. The eight song set continued with “Rot Away”. Out of nowhere the vocalist shouted “As always, Fuck Trump! Fuck Ice!” making his political views known in the middle of the set.
“This next song is called “Grow”.” It gave way to “Glue” and Shawn threw the mic to a fan in the crowd who expertly caught it and started belting out the lyrics confidently. It was an awesome unexpected trick to watch.
Shawn jumped into the pit again, spreading his power and drive to get the audience more pumped up. “Alright guys, we got one more song for ya. This song’s called “Mourn”. This song’s about losing someone. Time is fleeting. Tell your friends and family you love them.” This is a sentiment we can all get behind.
Fortier was backed by Andrew Bosco on guitar, Conor McCarthy on bass and Jon Christina on drums. Need a local dose of nu-metal peppered with growling vocals mixed with clean ones? Check out dethwish. And if you’re in the pit, prepare to meet the singer.
Another CT band, Skin Crawl, was next up to scream at us, in the best possible way. Before they launched into their set the frontman declared “Thanks so much for coming out tonight, this is our first time playing this place.”
The band treated us to new music during their eight song set and an ‘Unreleased’ track kicked it off. The singer, Nicholas Brunetti, instigated a circle pit with “Get the fuck up!” and one broke out for “The First Wasn’t Good Enough”.
Guitarist Gio Rodriguez and bassist Damian Manigat were fun to watch, jumping and bouncing in sync. Drummer Dominic Paul rounded out the quartet, providing the thunder behind their sound.
“The next one is brand new, hope you guys like it!” led to the second ‘Unreleased” track in the set. “Let’s keep that energy up! This is “Anxiety”. We all got it.” Gio sang as well and this girl very much appreciated the blend of his clean pipes offset by Brunetti’s guttural verses.
They served up the third and final ‘Unreleased’ banger followed by “Failed State” and “Remedy”. At one point Gio announced “Happy Pride Month! We love you, this is a safe space.” A thoughtful message to the metalheads in attendance, complete strangers that formed a family of fans, at least for one night.
Skin Crawl wrapped their set with “Cascade II”. The self described “modern metal band” fed us a high energy set, the band was tight and the mixed vocals set them apart. They’re easy to follow across all digital platforms so check out their music and videos for yourself. Support local music and venues so
we can continue to rock the fuck out.
The night’s headliner, 40 Below Summer, prepared to take the stage. The nu metal band burst onto the scene in 2000 and immediately developed a cult following before disappearing into the ether after seven years.
Despite a revolving door of members and a six year hiatus the band regrouped in 2011. 40 Below Summer’s catalog includes seven studio LPs and their thirteen song set hit on five of em. The flock of devoted fans were ready to devour all of it.
Singer, frontman and founding father Max Illidge confessed “I smoked like three joints before I got here. I got some good shit. Smoke weed every day.” It did not affect his performance as the band tore into “Rope” (Invitation To The Dance) and “Bottom Feeder” (Fire At Zero Gravity) with intensity.
Max spoke to us again “It’s been a while before we’ve been here. Or anywhere. This is the first single and video off the new album. Second song off the album. This is “King Ghidorah” (Untethered).” Another track off their 2025 release followed with “Darkside”. Max was backed by OG rhythm guitarist Joey D’Amico, drummer Anthony Divizio, bassist Robi Kirsic and Anthony Bordonaro on lead axe.
At this point 40 Below Summer had my full attention and I just rocked the fuck out with everyone else for two from Invitation To The Dance, “Falling Down” and “Wither Away” and two from The Mourning After, “Taxi Cab Confession” and “Monday Song”.
Their musicianship was solid, the devotees ate up the performance and I was instantly obsessed with Illidge’s vocals. Just as I had that epiphany, Max stated “Y’all gotta understand I’m a little old now, that those high notes are harder to hit.” It was as if he jinxed himself because I found the vocals on the next two Untethered tunes slightly washed out, “Death Valley” and “Afterthought”.
It may have been a sound quality issue because it was right back to the bangers with “Rain” and “F.E.” (The Mourning After). The frontman gave praise to our host with “Shout out to Space Ballroom, such a great venue! This place is a fucking gold mine. Tell your friends how awesome this place is.” I appreciated that reminder because I for one want to keep catching live gigs at local clubs.
40 Below Summer showed genuine appreciation to their fans as well before they wrapped with “Step Into The Sideshow” (Side Show Freaks & Invitation To The Dance). I don’t know dafuq I overlooked these guys because nu-metal is one of my fave genres, but I’m happy to have found them as they have cemented a spot in my playlists.
Fun bonus factoid: Frontman Max Illidge is the little boy in the Talking Heads video for “Burning Down The House”! Check out or revisit 40 Below Summer and catch a live show! Despite the name they bring nothing but heat.
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