Drug Church and Cerebral Rot played Cambridge – 3/24

A loud evening across the river.

Even in a city as small as (greater) Boston, some nights are simply too stacked. The flood of “post”-pandemic tours has set me up with plenty of conflicts in recent months, and more than a few (mostly successful) attempts at double-booking. Jetting from one venue to another is always a challenge, but the difficulties are certainly mitigated when the spots are literally around the corner from one another. Such was the case on a recent Thursday, where post-hardcore ragers Drug Church and Seattle death-dealers Cerebral Rot headlined Sonia and the Mid East Upstairs, respectively.

Given the way the set times skewed, I forewent the openers for Drug Church but caught grind-y NYC trio Gravesend, PA death metal crew Outer Heaven and local teens Wretched Inferno (more bands gotta shout out their shop teacher) warming things up for Cerebral Rot (whose proudly vile 2021 full-length Excretion of Mortality, which they played most of, is one of my recent favorites in the genre).

Eventually I made my way next door to catch a good chunk of Drug Church’s headlining set, which saw frontman Patrick Kindlon conducting a stirring symphony of huge riffs and flying bodies spotlighting March’s Hygiene. Good fun on both sides.

Scroll down for a lengthy gallery of all five bands I caught for the night.