Belphegor, Incantation, Hate, Narcotic Wasteland
- Bleeding Priest
- 50 minutes ago
- 4 min read
March 7, 2026
DNA Lounge
San Francisco, CA
It seems like it’s been a minute since I did the DJ thing at The DNA. It felt good to be back behind the tables. And it was a hell of a night of blasphemous Metal for sure.
The DNA was packed this Saturday eve and for good reason: Belphegor, Incantation, Hate and Narcotic Wasteland were in town. Let’s jump right in.
Starting off the proceedings was Narcotic Wasteland. This band boasts the extraordinary talents of former Nile axeman (and writer of some of their best songs) Dallas Toler-Wade. Narcotic Wasteland are a power trio with the other dude up front playing a Chapman Stick…or something of the like. I’m not going to try and attempt to explain this instrument but in laymen's terms it’s a bass guitar and electric guitar wrapped into one and requires a lot of finger tapping. I guess I just attempted to explain it.
The band was exactly what I would expect from a former member of Nile; brutal, fast and technical. They started the night off proper. The highlight of the set was a ripping rendition of Dallas’s former band’s tune “Lashed To The Slave Stick”. Fucking awesome.
Up next was Hate from Poland. Depending on who you ask, these guys are one of the “big 4” of Polish extreme metal. The other three being Vader, Behemoth and Decapitated. Again, this entirely depends on who you ask. It doesn’t matter which 4 bands you choose just as long as Vader is at the top of that list. Anyone who says different needs to go back to school.
So, what were we talking about? Oh right, HATE!! Not the overflowing vibe from our current administration but the band. I don’t know, it’s hard to get into a band with such a banal name. I mean, did they even try?
We had a local band from the East Bay back in the early 90’s with the same name. I bet there’s probably 100’s of people who could say the same thing about a band in their respective scenes at any given point in Metal history. Our Hate was actually pretty damn good. Straight up vicious Thrash. Their logo was even similar to the current Hate as well. Anyways, the Polish Hate were good enough. Melodic, blackened Death Metal. The crowd dug em’.
Now, the band that I was most excited to see, Incantation! It’s hard to describe Incantation’s style of Death Metal. I think Matt Harvey explained it best. He once told me “Incantation’s riffs are slimy dude”. I couldn’t think of a better way to describe it myself. Their music is uncomfortable. At times it’s straight up unpleasant to the ear.
I know you’re probably thinking “No shit, it’s Death Metal, it’s supposed to be unpleasant”. Yes, you are correct…to a degree. There are Death Metal albums that are very pleasing and easily digested. Look at Carcass’s Heartwork for example. As incredible of an album as it is, it was made for people who don’t necessarily listen to that style of Metal.
Incantation are the polar opposite of that. You gotta be well invested in DM to fully get it. Hell, it took me a few years to understand the brilliance of Incantation. They stole the show period. Super tight, super aggro, and great sound. The security were working overtime holding the barricade back throughout their set. I have tremendous respect for John and crew. These dudes work hard and deliver the goods every time.
Lastly was Belphegor. These guys tour quite a bit. I feel like I’m DJ'ing their shows at least once a year. They always bring a cool looking stage and I think it’s really rad they change it up every time. Last time the stage focused more on props (giant inverted crosses etc.) but this time the focus was more on the light show. Clearly they were playing to a click track with the lights on the same grid. Everything was perfectly in sync.
You’d be surprised how many bands tour with the same stage set, same setlist and basically give the crowd the same show repeatedly. That’s straight up lazy…and bullshit quite frankly. Belphegor do not subscribe to that train of thought. These guys absolutely give their fans their money’s worth. Not just with the stage aesthetics but with the set length. It was pretty damn impressive seeing a band play at that speed and intensity for an hour plus with encore to boot.
During the show Paul Ryan of Origin (and DNA boozeslinger) pointed out that looking at the Belphegor logo you can see the words HELP ME GOD. Ho-lee-shit! I saw it immediately. And now I can never unsee it. Go ahead and look at their logo, you’ll see it too.
In closing, it was a rad night of Metal yet again at San Francisco’s premiere venue for touring Metal packages. We should all be thankful for the great shows the DNA has provided over the years especially in recent times. See you in the trenches fellow Earth Dogs.
–Bleeding Priest
