Nefarious, Nukem, Trencher, Parabellum (& Phantom Witch after party)
- Hectic
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
January 3, 2026
DNA Lounge
San Francisco, CA
What a lineup for the first metal show of 2026! Billed as a “Post New Year’s Beating”, we had three great Bay Area thrash bands, plus two visiting from other parts of California, tearing up the DNA Lounge on a rainy Saturday night. A lotta metal for your money.
I got to the DNA early to catch the opener, and there was already a good crowd on hand when doors opened, ready to ring in the new year with riffs. First up was Parabellum, a group of youngsters from Sacramento who really got the show started right.
I fully enjoyed their set, it is impressive how polished some young metal bands are these days. Though looking at Parabellum’s bandcamp, it seems like they have put out two full-length albums already, so they aren’t a new band. Definitely worth showing up early for.
Second up were Bay Area faves Trencher, bringing their speed metal attack to the big DNA stage. Our own Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records just repressed their Skullcrusher release on red vinyl, and it has been a popular record.
Trencher always puts on a high energy show and they sounded great tonight. Plus they played a whopping 4 new songs in their set, so can’t wait for a new album to come out in 2026!
Making the trek up from San Diego was Nukem in the support slot. I’d seen a couple of songs back in April of last year when they opened the amazing Exodus, Death Angel and Blind Illusion extravaganza in Berkeley, but catching their entire set up close at the DNA was fantastic. Nukem was very on with a really dialed in sound, it was a great set.
Finally our headliners Nefarious hit the stage. This was Nefarious’ second official live show since their debut back in July 2025 (not counting a Haight St. Fair appearance with 4/5ths of the band as Quintannica). More importantly, it was their first show with new singer Sean Rivera.
Sean handled Nefarious’ debut album songs easily, and brought a new dynamic to the band with a more Halford-esque operatic style. He held some of those high notes so long I started to go from impressed to worried. Great singer.
Nefarious played a couple of songs not on their debut album Addicted to Power, also out on vinyl on Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records (I swear this concert was not a showcase of what we put out in 2025). The song “Feeding On You” was new, though originally written by Doug Piercy back in the early 80s apparently, and they also did a cover of the Heathen tune "Goblin's Blade".
The band seemed excited to be “back”, though Rick Hunolt always looks like he is thrilled as hell to be on stage. And the sound was tight of course. It would be great to see Nefarious live more frequently in 2026, now that the singer issue is resolved. They are already confirmed for several metal festivals in Europe this August, so here’s hoping for some more Bay Area gigs too.
And because too much of a good thing is never enough, after a short break Phantom Witch got started in the Above DNA space, playing an afterparty at the small venue upstairs. I first saw Phantom Witch last June at another local Bay Area metal showcase of sorts at the DNA Lounge, when they were the 2nd support slot for Almost Dead.
At that show I picked up Phantom Witch’s 2023 CD Forced to Worship, and I have to admit that has been on regular rotation for me, it is a great album. I’m mostly a vinyl guy in my listening habits, but about once a month I have a good CD music session, and Forced to Worship has kept one of the 5 spots in my old Sony CD changer pretty much since I got it (not an easy task).
Phantom Witch played a great set, which was a bit surprising given that drummer Q Minor had been one of the craziest headbangers in the mosh pit for the first 4 bands. He had to have been seriously tired.
But the afterparty truly was a party, complete with several of the band members taking their shirts off, Q becoming “French Q” with double moustache, and of course a blistering set of Bay Area thrash metal!
–Hectic
