Ne Obliviscaris don’t play metal so much as assemble it from parts that shouldn’t cohere — blast beats, violin, flamenco guitar, dual vocals — and then make you feel every collision. The Melbourne progressive metal outfit headlines The Song & Dance on Sunday, October 25. Rooms this size are where that controlled violence gets uncomfortably close; there is no back row to retreat to.
About the Show
Active since 2003 and on the Season of Mist roster, Ne Obliviscaris built their name on a sound that bends extreme metal around avant-garde approaches to jazz, flamenco guitar, and progressive black metal. The center of it is Tim Charles: violin and clean vocals set against fierce riffs and guttural extremity. That tension has run through the band since Citadel (2014), which drew praise for its “fierce riffs, ethereal violin harmonies, and dual-vocal approach.” Four albums deep across two decades, the catalog still reads as a genuine outlier in extreme metal — not because of any single element but because of how the elements have been forced to negotiate with each other.
Their fourth album, Exul (2023), came out the other side of a rough stretch. Drum tracking started in Nashville in March 2020, the pandemic separated the band across two countries for two years, and they rebuilt the record piece by piece. Critics called the result “a multifaceted platter of progressive metal layered with melodic death and black metal influences” and a “challenging and satisfying progressive journey.”
Last year Ne Obliviscaris ran a headlining North American tour performing both Exul and a remastered 10th-anniversary Citadel in their entirety. They arrive in Syracuse with the lineup that carried that run: James Dorton (formerly of Black Crown Initiate and The Faceless) on harsh vocals since 2023, and founding drummer Dan Presland back since a 2024 reunion after a mid-pandemic departure. This is a standalone headlining date. Support from post-hardcore act Greyhaven and Ando San. Presented by After Dark Presents.
Venue & Logistics
The Song & Dance is at 115 E. Jefferson St. in downtown Syracuse, in the bottom level of the Jefferson Center, steps from Armory Square. At 200 capacity, every violin line and every blast beat lands at close range. Doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m. This is a 16+ event with valid ID; under 16 admitted with a parent or legal guardian.
Tickets
No ticket price was confirmed from sources at the time of publication. Buy tickets