Brotality / Quantifier / Dread

MetalThrashGroove MetalProgressive MetalSludgePost-MetalNu-MetalMetalcore

Jul 10

FOR FANS OF: Mastodon, Megadeth, August Burns Red, Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Gojira, Whitechapel, Unearth, Revocation, Better Lovers, Alpha Wolf, Slipknot, Emmure, 200 Stab Wounds, Trivium, Machine Head, Testament, Exodus, The Black Dahlia Murder, Sylosis, Fit for an Autopsy, Small Voice, Me and the Trinity, Last Words

July 9, 2026, at Mahall’s in Lakewood, OH

I head to Mahall’s to ensure I get there about 15 mins after “doors.” I show up and the place is dead empty. I ask what time doors is and they say 7. It’s 6:15. They said the time changed due to the tragic passing of the Manfiish vocalist, Jason Edwards, and they were no longer on the roster. Dread, the opening band from Akron, announced during their set that any proceeds or donations go straight to the family. I hope they raised a good amount. I gave $20 and bought a shirt. I wish I could’ve done more. I was supposed to photograph Manfiish’s last show but was called into work that evening and moments like that make me want to quit my job more than anything. You never know how much life you or others around you have left. Get busy livin’ and go to shows.

I sat at the Mahall’s bar and got a burger and fries as people started to trickle in. The food was fantastic but you’re not here for food criticism, I presume.

Dread kicked off the evening after the vocalist masked up and everyone put in their in-ear monitors. They had a professional setup, including a laptop that had backing tracks and timed the set smoothly. The set started nice and heavy, so much so that I thought for sure a pit would open up (a pit actually didn’t open up until well into the Brotality set, which was surprising for Cleveland). Dread is more Metalcore and Alternative Metal with some Hardcore influence, unlike the other two bands of the evening, which are more atmospheric, melodic, groove/thrash. I’m not gonna lie, and I hope they don’t mind me saying, but I get a Slipknot vibe from them. The Iowa era, thankfully, just slower and more heavy. Raw power, heavy tones, cracking snares and modern gear. The band is sort of a continuation of multiple 2010s metalcore bands (for me to know and you to maybe never find out), sharing members and proving their evolving sound over the decade. Dead Eyes, the vocalist has a vocal tone that fits perfectly with the heaviness of the band. It stays in the mid-low range and only rarely goes into the higher registers, which is extremely fitting. They played their newest song, Ghost, which was sonically fantastic live. Agony sounded great. Let it Spill sounded great. It all sounded great and I couldn’t believe the floor didn’t move the whole time. A fan showed up in a Dead Eyes mask, which was super cool to see. And he fittingly had dreads. Another fan with facepaint and long hair headbanged for the entire set. You can tell this band has some die-hard fans.

Quantifier was next. I was unfamiliar with this band and didn’t make the time to listen to them before the set, other than some clips I heard and saw on Instagram. Quantifier is from Syracuse, New York and proudly mentioned it a couple of times during their set. Before the show, I approached their merch table after being pulled in by a little TV they had, which showed merch pricing on a screen that looked like an old Playstation menu. I talked to a few of the members for about 5 minutes and have to say, they were incredibly nice dudes! One member said his mom grew up about 10 mins away from the venue so they weren’t totally unfamiliar with Cleveland culture and hospitality. The band didn’t seem to try to be overly-technical or anything but themselves, which is refreshing. Jake, the vocalist never strayed too far in range, though it worked with the sound and had a tone similar to Jens Kidman from Meshuggah. The band actually had a lot of moments that reminded me of Meshuggah due to tone and dynamic compositions. Their songs had more build of tension than progression. Their music isn’t chopped up pieces put together to create a song like a lot of prog bands do, they were each nice cohesive full ideas. The guitarist, Sal, used a DigiTech Whammy pedal to downtune at times which sounded better and more realistic than you’d expect. You can tell Sal is the more technical of the two guitarists, sporting a seven string Kiesel and large pedalboard, while Alex had an AX series (I think) 7 string Ibanez and a little bit smaller of a setup. Their set was good, their band worked well together and I enjoyed their set.

Brotality… Man. I thought I knew what I was getting into and I was extremely interested in seeing them for the first time. I was blown away by their musicianship, tone, and overall friendliness and vibe. I can confidently say, these were maybe the nicest dudes I’ve ever met in my life. After seeing their shows and clips online of songs like Animalistic, The Body and Wormsign, I expected them to be… less kind. This is music that usually comes from talent that comes with a bit of a silent attitude or pretentiousness. I assume these are the type of guys that meet a homeless person and say “hey man, I have room at my place if you need a place to sleep. Just find a spot between the other homeless people and when I’m home from tour, I’ll make you guys sandwiches.” They were incredibly nice to their fans and during their set said, “if you’re feeling a bit heavy today or have anything negative on your mind,” to come talk to them after the show. This hospitality is extremely rare in the metal scene. But enough about how good of dudes they are, let’s talk music.

The guitarist, Bryce, played a super rad self-built guitar that had an Ibanez Iceman style body, but with a reverse in-line neck. He played through 2 4×12 cabs with a Marshall Head initially, though mid-set the distortion channel on the head seemed to have dropped out and the head was switched to a 5150. The bassist, Reece, played a bass that I was unfamiliar without its tone intrigued me. It had a P/J pickup (Seymour Duncan) configuration, 4 strings, and a 3-1 headstock with a symbol I was unfamiliar with, maybe a cursive J? Maybe this bass was custom as well, I wish I asked. It was put through some simple pedals like compression and a B1K overdrive from Darkglass, into an Orange bass amp. The bass tone was gritty yet clean and punchy and when they let the bass shine, it really did. You’ll hear what I mean if you check out the song Animalistic immediately. The drummer, John, played a 4-piece kit and didn’t need any more than that. He stayed super consistent and tight and when he played blast beats, the couple short times during the set, I was surprised at how “on” he was.

The bass amp hung a flag that said “No Click, No Tracks, Just Movement.” They were selling shirts that said Real Live Music (had to get one) as well as Brutal Riffs, Brotherly Love. I think these things alone say a lot about the band. The part of their song, Wormsign, at 2:22 has been in my head for days. Chuggy, heavy, weird, progressive, unique and preceding a sick guitar solo. Bryce’s solos were incredible all night and included some virtuoso-level talent and more pinch harmonics than anyone would ever need, which I love (check out The Body). They played a new song that they said had never been played live before. What I heard him say was it was called Meta the Soul. Then I remembered I took a quick picture of their setlist and after looking back, see it was called Night of the Soul. I’m stoked for its release and I’m stoked Cleveland got to hear it first. The song Keepsake was incredibly tight live, I was surprised at how crisp and separated the tremolo-picked notes were. The pit did open up mid-set. It was a fun push-pit instead of a crowd-killing type pit.

The songs blended groove, thrash, hardcore, post-hardcore, and metalcore. Both Bryce and Reece did vocals. Bryce’s were more mid-toned where-as Reece’s were higher. The clean vocals came from Reece and reminded me a tad of Turnstile, but more ‘Tony Hawk Pro Skater’ soundtrack if that makes sense. The breakdowns were much heavier than THPS could handle, though, that’s for sure.

It was like watching a band from New York that perfectly blended Workaholics with Metalocalypse. I’m now a forever fan and will be keeping tabs on these great dudes. I’m so glad I gave them a shot because I will be listening to them a lot from now on. I already can’t wait to see them again.

Follow these bands at @brotalityband @quantifierband and @dread_oh to stay up to date on their next shows.

Images shot by Shane McNicholas @elsephoto with a Canon r5 and r6ii with an RF 10-20 f4, RF 24-105 f2.8 and RF 70-200 f2.8 with a Westcott FJ80ii flash