Rhapsody of Fire, Enforcer, Striker, Witherfall

Bleeding Priest
5 minutes ago
4 min read

DNA Lounge

San Francisco, CA

September 10, 2025

POWER METAL!!! That’s what was on the menu at The DNA Lounge Wednesday night. But to say it was just Power Metal that eve would be doing this great, entertaining tour package a huge disservice. Let’s start from the beginning shall we?

I was DJ'ing this gig so I got there a half hour or so before doors. My playlist is down below. The doors opened relatively on time and unlike many shows at The DNA a ton of people filed in for the first band. In fact the dance floor was full from the very beginning of the night all the way to the end.

Witherfall, DNA Lounge, San Francisco, September 10, 2025

The opening band, Witherfall from LA had their fair share of fans and rightly so. Any headliner would be so lucky to have an opener as talented and kick ass as these guys. I guess I’d compare them to Dream Theater. Like Dream Theater they have a very melodic vocalist (two actually with the keyboardist lending plenty of harmonies throughout the set) and also like Dream Theater they have very heavy moments with a pretty ripping guitar tone provided by six stringer Jake Dreyer. All played with progressive panache.

Funny thing about the guitarist, I was spinning tunes between bands and put on the song Venom Strike by the awesome and under-appreciated Japanese band Anthem and he came running up to me like 10 seconds into the song and said “Venom Strike! Fuck yeah!” I was very impressed. Not only was he familiar with Anthem but to call out a deep track off of their 2019 album Nucleus by name was, well, impressive. These guys set the bar high to start the night off.

Striker, DNA Lounge, San Francisco, September 10, 2025

Up next was Canada’s Striker! These guys actually opened for Death Angel at The DNA I want to say 12 or 13 years ago. They have a very fun loving, happy go lucky approach to their performance. I don’t want to say it came across goofy but…..I don’t know how to finish this sentence. But all hi jinx aside, their energy was infectious and I couldn’t help but smile and have a good time while they were on and that’s what this band is all about. The crowd loved their high energy style of Hair Metal infused 80’s Hard Rock/Metal.

Enforcer, DNA Lounge, San Francisco, September 10, 2025

Third we had my favorite band of the evening, Sweden’s Enforcer. It’s crazy to think they were just here a few months ago playing the small room upstairs at The DNA with Hellhunter supporting. These Swedes always rip but I preferred their set at this show much more than a few months ago. Their style of speed inflected Trad-Metal translates much better on a big stage. Watching them is like stepping into a portal taking you back to a mid 80’s arena show with the Scorpions headlining with maybe Accept opening. There was no shortage of singalong moments either which gave it that much more of an authentic 80’s vibe. Great set!

Rhapsody of Fire, DNA Lounge, San Francisco, September 10, 2025

Last we had Italian triumphant Power Metal titans Rhapsody Of Fire. This quartet was as by-the-numbers Power Metal as it gets. I honestly don’t listen to too much of this style but Rhapsody Of Fire represent exactly what Power Metal should sound like in my mind. So they were great in that regard and the crowd ate them up. All in all this was one of the most entertaining and consistent tour packages I’ve seen in a while.

–Bleeding Priest