Bonginator, which plays Orpheum in Tampa, Florida on Jan. 10, 2024. Credit: Photo by Maire Hughes

Bring pearls to clutch and a sense of humor when Massachusetts death metal band Bonginator finds a place to land The Intergalactic Gorebong of Deathpot, its album of very stoned strain of walking dead rock.

Frontman Erik Thorstenn went to Berklee College of music for a year but grew up singing in operas and cathedral choirs; and before this outfit, he was in a Southern metalcore band called Mudfuck. “I’ve always said I’m more drawn to making people laugh than anything else. That’s how my art is,” he recently told Invisible Oranges.

The riffs and ridiculousness go on all night, too, since Bonginator’s tour mate, Frog Mallet, plays an equally heavy and irreverent brand of metal.

Tickets to see Bonginatior play Tampa Orpheum on Wednesday, Jan. 10 are still available and start at $15.

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This article appears in Dec 28, 2023 – Jan 3, 2024.