Lonely God Tour 2025: Fit For A King, Make Them Suffer, Spite, 156/Silence

Phantom Light Media
Nov 9, 2025
7 min read

Fit For A King have had a busy, busy year. Festival season was incredibly kind to them, they went on a nearly sold-out European tour with Motionless in White, and they finally released a full new album titled Lonely God, their first since 2022’s The Hell We Create. Along with the new album came a whole slate of headlining dates and two full tours - Europe, Japan, Australia, and of course, the United States. The Lonely God tour would unfortunately not be visiting Portland, but I’m no stranger to traveling for a good show, so I flew out to Spokane’s Knitting Factory (awesome venue, by the way) to document this incredible show and I can certainly say it was worth the travel day.

Opening this tour is a band that’s had nearly as eventful a year as Fit For a King themselves - Pittsburgh’s rising metalcore stars, 156/Silence. I’ve seen this band four times now, each time with vastly different lineups, and they always just flat out shine onstage. Their excellent 2024 album People Watching comprised the vast majority of their setlist - which didn’t seem to be an issue at all for the crowd, who had clearly done their homework on lyrics and participation. It was also very apparent that people were in the mood for a rowdy show this particular evening, as the mosh pit opened nice and wide before set opener “Target Acquired” was even halfway finished. Vocalist Jack Murray was all over the stage from start to finish, punctuating breakdown after breakdown with some truly impressive high kicks, while returning bassist Mike Ernst added a few high-velocity spins of his own to amp the energy. This show was the loudest I’ve seen for 156 personally, thanks to an energetic crowd overseen by Philip, the eerily-smiling man on the cover of People Watching who’s become something of a figurehead for the band. The other contributing factor was absolutely the riffs, something I’ve always loved about this band. Dual guitarists Jim Howell and Ryan Wilkinson traded lead and rhythm passages across the full set with tones reminiscent of Vein.fm and Being As An Ocean mixed into one, a blend that can be incredibly catchy or teeth-rattlingly heavy depending on the band’s mood. They also gave us a taste of things to come with their most recent drop, the haunting earworm that is “Our Parting Ways.” They finished their set with their now-customary dedication to departed bassist Lukas Booker, who sadly passed just before their monumental tour with Invent Animate and Silent Planet. I truly think he’d be proud of where his bandmates are going with things, and I hope they know that as well.

Second on the bill is an all-time favorite band of mine, Southern California deathcore outfit Spite. They were one of the first deathcore bands I ever discovered when they released Dedication to Flesh in 2022 and they haven’t left my listening rotation since. This past Halloween, they somehow managed to surpass even that excellent album with the blistering new release New World Killer. Trust me when I say that this album is just straight up ruthless, and it translates so incredibly well to the live setting. Showgoers were more than ready to get swinging in the pit considering Spite have been away from touring for a couple years or so, and thus it was no surprise that things got violent the instant “NEW WORLD KILLER” blasted from the wall of cabs behind the quartet. Darius Tehrani is one of the most instantly recognizable frontmen in modern metal, and he wasted zero time commanding people to swing on their pitmates as newly-added drummer Travis Regnier (formerly of Carcosa) kicked the song’s bouncy yet crushing groove into motion. The next 35 minutes turned the Knitting Factory’s floor into a war zone as the pit grew bigger with each passing second. Guitarist Alex Tehrani was most responsible for that thanks to the truly disgusting quality of Spite’s riffs, which have an unmatched ability to make you want to dance and punch something at the same time. All of their major albums were represented well across the set, including the fan anthem “I.E.D.” that spawned their rallying cry of “SPITE CULT, MOTHERFUCKERS”. The year-long touring break seems to have imbued the band with fresh energy, because they just sounded the best I’ve ever heard from them, even surpassing their 2024 headlining dates with Bodysnatcher. Spite are always a treat live and I seriously think this new album is going to see them ascend to new heights as it picks up momentum into 2026. Hopefully another headlining run is on the horizon because I just did not get my fix satiated.

As if the lineup for this tour wasn’t good enough, playing direct support on leg one were none other than Make Them Suffer, who’ve been on a hot streak of musical achievements since 2024. They’ve enjoyed sold out headlining shows across every major touring route, released an excellent self-titled album last year, and have played enormous new venues in their home country of Australia. They charged onstage as if they owned it, and for the duration of their set you could have genuinely convinced me that they were headlining the tour with the ferocity and passion of the ten songs they proceeded to unleash. I’ve always loved the vocal interplay between frontman Sean Harman and keyboardist Alex Reade, both of whom sport some serious pipes in their own rights. It’s never a dull moment between that, the guitar prowess of Nick McLernon (lead guitar) and Jaya Jeffery (bass), and the standout drumming of Jordan Mather. They write every song to be an ass-beater, and they completely succeed. The crowd went nuts for every single track, with standout moments being the deluge of crowd surfers for “Ether” and the massive wall of death for set-closer “Doomswitch”. The biggest surprise to me was the return of “Vortex (Interdimensional Spiral Hindering Inexplicable Euphoria)”, a track from 2017’s Worlds Apart with nearly as many breakdowns as words in the title. Make Them Suffer’s sound has shifted considerably over the years, and this set showed off the entire scope of the band’s musical talents from blackened deathcore to groove-infused symphonic metalcore that pleases fans of In Flames and Bring Me The Horizon alike. I cannot overstate how badly I need another headlining tour from them again soon. Worlds Apart is turning 10 years old in 2027…maybe an anniversary run is on the horizon? Nobody can say for sure, but Make Them Suffer are on a hot streak right now and it’s a delight to watch them lay waste to these venues.

Last but not least, Fit For A King came out to celebrate the release of Lonely God in true classic metalcore fashion - playing a lot of songs off the new album to a rabid crowd who seemed to know every word. I’ll be honest, this album was not my favorite from them (Dark Skies fans, where are you?) but it translated to the live setting so well that I’ve been fully won over on a few tracks. It’s a concept album that deals with cult mentality and political instability in equal amounts, so it felt especially pertinent listening to longtime vocalist Ryan Kirby scream about “witnessing the end” and singing loud for the titular “Lonely God.” The Texas quintet have been on the music grind for about fifteen years now, and their live shows remain solid as ever - impressive production, soaring soundscapes, and killer musicians all coming together for an hour and twenty minutes of gold standard metalcore. The ever-entertaining stage antics of bassist Tuck O’Leary and lead guitarist Daniel Gailey were matched by Trey Celaya’s excellent performance behind the drum kit, particular on some of the older and heavier set inclusions like “Backbreaker” and “Breaking the Mirror”. If I had one complaint about this set, it was the exclusion of what I consider to be one of the best modern metal songs ever composed - 2020’s Crystal Lake-collab “God of Fire”, which usually closes all of their shows. But new album ending track “Witness the End” showed teeth in abundance with a wall of death that spanned nearly the entire venue floor as Kirby stood on the ego risers, arms spread to his audience like a true king. Another solid show in the books, I thought to myself as I left the venue to await my 8-hour Amtrak back to Portland. I really do love Fit For A King - they continue to be one of the most dependably good bands to release new music, and you can tell from the care and detail in their stage shows that they really love what they do. I don’t remember what interview this was from, but I saw a quote from a band member somewhere that said at its core, “Fit For A King is about writing breakdowns with my buddies”, and I really admire that ethos. Music is far more fun when you enjoy playing it, and this headlining run from the Texas band really shows their passion for the live show in full force.