- EXHORDER w/ Ringworm, Phobia, Slowhole, Egödeath
- 2/20/26 - The Annex - Madison, Wisconsin
- ©Justin Nuoffer / NuofferMedia.com
Madison’s The Annex turned into a pressure cooker of punk, thrash, and pure aggression. Egödeath lit the fuse, Slowhole brought the chaos, Phobia unleashed crust fury, Ringworm hit with veteran precision, and Exhorder closed the night with unrelenting force. Circle pits spun, barricades shook, and The Annex once again proved why it’s Wisconsin’s underground stronghold.
On a cold, razor-sharp February night in Madison, metalheads marched straight to The Annex. Tucked just off campus and away from downtown gloss, Madison’s lone independent venue felt exactly right for what was coming.
Security was quick. Merch tables lined the wall – shirts, patches, vinyl – with the bar wrapping around into the music hall. No frills. No wasted space. Just a room built for volume.
Madison locals Egödeath packed it early. The first note dropped and the circle pit opened instantly. In a room this tight, things got intimate fast. Their new material leaned heavy, channeling vintage ’80s punk and thrash grit.
Hair whipped, bodies collided, and the punchy-vocaled frontman stalked the stage like a cartoon villain – one mustache twirl away from rom setting off well placed booby traps. Goofy, loud, and locked in, Egödeath ripped through their set without apology. If this is where Wisconsin heavy music is heading, we’re in good shape.
Tour support Slowhole followed. The New Orleans five-piece is a left-field wrecking ball – black metal flair and a little At The Drive-In style chaos, these youngsters found something that is completely their own. With vocals that screech and cut through the band’s rumblings efficiently and hit like the Scandinavian black metal gods, and armed with a debut self-titled album, plus a handful of singles, they delivered a 35-minute set that felt abrasive in all the right ways.
Check out the Slowhole concert photo gallery below:
Vocals screeched and sliced through the rumble. Red lighting and video elements shifted with the songs, giving the performance a concept-driven feel. It was punishing, sharp, and impossible to ignore. Everything about them feels like they very well could be the next big thing to crawl up from the basements of American clubs.
Southern California crust punk veterans Phobia hit next with one clear objective: kick ass and get rowdy. Madison answered. The packed pit wasted no time getting to work and reopened on command. Fueled by political discourse and calls for basic decency, Phobia lashed out with ferocity. Those old school club feels were alive and well, with the spirit of punk rock slapping us in the face.
Check out the Phobia concert photo gallery below:
Pulling from six full-length albums plus splits and EPs, they covered their lifespan with a ripping set that included “Get Up & Kill,” “Submission Hold,” and “If You Used to Be Punk, Then You Never Were.” It’s not every day something that remains a pure and legit form of punk rock drops into your lap, but when it does, you enjoy the living hell out of it. Frontman Shane McLachlan walked the walk and throat punched everyone along the way.
As the dust settled, Ringworm stormed the stage to loud cheers. The Human Furnace – James Bulloch – grabbed the mic, said, “Let’s go,” and launched straight into “The Sickness.” The room detonated. The intensity and fire blasted from the speakers, with the crowd full of youthful energy and vigor opening the floor up as the pit began to spin as wide as the room would allow.
Their 12-song set pulled from across their catalog, hitting hard with “Taking Back What’s Ours,” “Birth Is Pain,” and “No Solace, No Quarter, No Mercy.” Cleveland’s thrash mainstays sounded massive in a room built for this kind of violence.
Check out the Ringworm concert photo gallery below:
Active since 1989, Ringworm know exactly how to command a space like The Annex. With Matt Sorg on guitar and Ed Stephens on bass, the back half of the set hit even heavier. They closed with “House of Flies,” “Psychic Vampire,” and “Justice Replaced by Revenge.” Bulloch’s voice is a potent weapon that unleashes sheer brutality, and the eager audience got everything they wanted. Night one on tour with Exhorder, and Ringworm was already firing at full strength.
Then came Exhorder.
With their logo glowing above drummer Sasha Horn, he stood, arms raised, demanding noise before smashing into action. Exhorder opened with “Legions of Death,” “Unforgiven,” and “My Time,” immediately shaking the barricade and rattling the floor. This was metal stripped to its core.
Guitarist Pat O’Brien tore through leads with speed and precision, matched stride for stride by founder and rhythm guitarist Kyle Thomas. Thomas climbed onto the monitors, leaned into the crowd, and let decades of songwriting speak for themselves. “Death in Vain” from Slaughter in the Vatican hit with razor sharp intensity. Vocals were clear, controlled, and cutting. The mix was dialed in perfectly.
Between songs, Thomas addressed the crowd, then smirked: “What is it? The year of the snake or the horse? No, it’s the year of the goat,” before launching into the title track. “The Tale of Unsound Minds” followed, with brief pauses for tuning and drinks – and pointed commentary about government dysfunction and division. Applause and chants of “Divide and conquer” echoed back.
For the finale, Exhorder had Madison locked in. They thanked fans, acknowledged that every piece of merch sold helps get them down the road, but emphasized that was not as important as getting to meet everyone who came out. Jason VieBrooks worked the barricade while Thomas cued up a quick band history lesson – signaling “Exhorder.” The distorted punk edge of the track blew the roof off. The insanity even carried seamlessly into “Desecrator” without missing a note. Hair flew. Fists punched the air. The pit surged one last time.
Check out the Exhorder concert photo gallery below:
Exhorder’s return to Madison carried the same unrelenting force as their 2024 stop. Every time they hit a stage, they leave it scorched. This night was no exception.
EXHORDER TOUR DATES
