Demon Hunter, Convictions and Cultist at Capital City Music Hall - May 2026
It’s incredible to think that Demon Hunter has been rocking the metal scene for 25 years! I’ve had the opportunity to see them multiple times ranging from Croc Rock in Allentown, PA to a fire hall in Quakertown, PA to the Creation Festival. Their latest tour, the “There Was A Light Here” tour, brought the Seattle-based rockers to the Capital City Music Hall in Harrisburg, PA on May 5th, 2026 with Convictions and Cultist. This was my 3rd time seeing Convictions and 1st time seeing Cultist. The anticipation and hype was real leading up to this banger. The line to get in stretched around the block, as fans were rocking a wide variety of Demon Hunter merch.
Once we got inside, the venue struck familiar vibes with that of the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, but a little smaller. The venue had an upper floor, so we found ourselves a spot and stayed put for the remainder of the evening.
First band up was Southern California five-piece Cultist. I forgot that this band features two lead vocalists, and both brought the energy! From our vantage point, we could see the band getting ready to throw down and the anticipation reached a fever pitch as the lights went down. Their set kicked off with a bang, literally. They used WWE “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s signature glass-shatter intro before diving straight into “Slow Suicide.” These guys brought the noise. The pit opened up and there were crowd surfers being launched towards the front. They didn’t slow down one bit as they went into “Preacher III.” Leading up to this show, this was one of my most anticipated songs to see live.
They asked the crowd if they wanted to hear some new stuff to which the crowd screamed back “YES!” They started their first single off the new album, “Amen.” If you are somebody who enjoys a little 2-step dancing in the pit, you NEED to see Cultist. The band followed up “Amen” with “The God Complex” and “Den of Snakes,” both of which are off the new album, which is due out sometime this summer. Keep an eye out, we’ll be dropping a full album review along with that release. It’s already sounding like an absolute banger. They wrapped up their set with “Let Me Feel Everything.” Musically, Cultist showed absolute muscle and that they were a very suitable opener to get the show started on the right foot. Afterwards, I had a chance to catch a brief word with Cultist frontman, Zach Jeffrey, and he said that was the first time that they ever had crowd surfers during their set EVER!
Cultist exited and next up was Ohio-based independent artist Convictions. Before they took the stage, the house sound serenaded the crowd with Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” to which the band’s photographer ate it up with videos and pictures of the crowd singing their hearts out. After the song wrapped, the fab four made their way onto the cramped stage. The opener was the electric “The End is Nigh” before slamming into “Stigmata.” Mike showed his prowess as a vocalist with his powerful vocal range ability on “Stigmata.” Without skipping a beat, they screamed right into “Sleeping Lotus.” These guys are electric and full of fury. They pulled a lot of their setlist from their most recent release The Fear of God including the title track.
“Hurts Like Hell” was another song that was on my hype list for the show. This song was written as a tribute to drummer Zach Schwochow’s father who passed away during the writing of this album. It’s been awhile since this song came out, but the pain still lingered on Zach’s face throughout the song. This track is an honest, raw reflection on losing a loved one. If you’ve been there, you need to hear this. As they prepared for the next song, Mike challenged the crowd. He said that during the next song, he wants to see as many crowd surfers as possible. The current high was set in Albany with 21. When “Metanoia” ended, the Harrisburg crowd had set the new high with 38 crowd surfers! It was so great to see fans, both young and old going over the top.
Mike also thanked the crowd for packing out the place and showing that Christian metal is not dead and that instead it’s thriving. The band knew they had to keep the energy up as they wrapped up their set with “Four Horses,” “Hurricane,” “The War That Followed Me Home” and “The Coastal Glow.” They ended their set with a heartfelt message of how every single person has value and that there is a God who loves them and is willing to meet them wherever they’re at. They launched into their last song of the set with “The Price of Grace.” During their set, they let it slip that they’ve got new music on the way later this year, a welcome announcement as it’s been awhile since we’ve got shiny brand new music from Convictions.
As Convictions exited, the stage was set in anticipation for the main event. It’s hard to believe that Demon Hunter has been playing for 25 years and during that span, they’ve released 12 records from their self-titled debut to their most recent release, There Was A Light Here. The lights went out as Yogi, Patrick, Jon and Jeremiah took the stage before Ryan grabbed the mic and sent the crowd into a frenzy with “Sorrow Light the Way.” The band offered a mixture from a majority of their records playing hits like “Heaven Don’t Cry,” “Collapsing,” “Jesus Wept” and “Cut to Fit.” They also played songs from the new record like “I’m Done,” “Light Bends” (dedicated to the memory of Ryan’s late mother) and “The Pain in Me Is Gone.” It was fun to watch Ryan vibe along to the rhythm of the songs on stage.
Then he took a moment to introduce the story behind the title track for the new record. The record originally had a completely different name and he felt that they were still one song short. He talked about how he went back to the drawing board and wrote the hit ballad, “There Was A Light Here,” about the death of his mother. He called on the crowd to help him sing along in case he had to bow out from emotion. This song has to be one of my all-time favorites, with the beautiful lyrics and the bone chilling guitar work. After the ballad, the band exited the stage except for Ryan and Patrick as they went into an acoustic version of “I Am A Stone.” The band came back on to the thunderous “Not I” from the 2005 release The Triptych. They closed the set with “Cross to Bear” and “The Last One Alive.”
As they walked off, the crowd was immediately sent into the stereotypical “one more song” chant that was encouraged by stage security and the bassist from Cultist. The band obliged as they came out and said “I know some of you have work tomorrow. I know some of you have school tomorrow. But for right now, we're gonna storm the gates of hell!” This launched into their encore song “Storm the Gates of Hell.” Cue the circle pit, crowd surfers and absolute chaos. For 25 years, this band has brought every ounce of energy and passion into their sets and after all these years, they can still go at 100% on stage. There is a reason why most metal fans consider them to be one of greatest bands in Christian metal. They left this fan going home grinning from ear to ear.
Typically, I don’t go to concerts on weeknights, but it was hard to pass this up. I regretted not going to see them when they came through last fall with War of Ages so I wasn’t going to miss this one. It was my first time at Capital City Music Hall and I’m not sure if it will be my last, as they’ve got Fit For A King coming on May 30th and Emery and Anberlin on May 31st. I have to give kudos to the venue staff as they made sure that everybody had a great time and they offered complimentary water as it was just as warm inside as it was outside. If you have a chance to see Demon Hunter, Convictions, and Cultist on tour, take that opportunity. This is a tour you do not want to miss!
Set Lists
Cultist
Slow Suicide
Preacher III
Amen
The God Complex
Den of Snakes
Let Me Feel Everything
Convictions
The End is Nigh
Stigmata
Sleeping Lotus
The Fear of God
Hurts Like Hell
Metanoia
Four Horses
Hurricane
The War That Followed Me Home
The Coastal Glow
The Price of Grace
Demon Hunter
Sorrow Light the Way
Heaven Don’t Cry
Collapsing
Jesus Wept
Cut to Fit
I’m Done
On My Side
Peace
Light Bends
The Pain in Me Is Gone
Cold Winter Sun
Someone to Hate
I Will Fail You
Dead Flowers
There Was A Light Here
I Am A Stone
Not I
Cross to Bear
The Last One Alive
ENCORE: Storm the Gates of Hell
