LV UN ALIVE FEST – Day 2 – ZRockR Magazine

March 21, 2026 – It’s been a while since I’ve seen a festival that consisted of multiple tours clashing together. Las Vegas Un Alive Fest took place over two days at The Dive Bar. (We’re not going to talk about how sad I am for missing the first day, I’m supremely bummed about it.) Two full days filled with extreme metal, and the community around it coming together to celebrate it.

I admit I was a little confused as to how they were going to pull off the two stage set up as advertised, just because Dive isn’t a very big place. No worries, though! A perfect set up in the back alleyway of the bar, gated off, with food trucks, merch and other promotional signage around to fit the vibes. Traveling between the main Dive stage and the outdoor stage was a breeze. There were some slight overlaps in bands playing, but otherwise it all flowed nicely and the overall energy of the day stayed on the up and up.

Our main focus for the day was Cerebral Desecration, out of San Antonio, Texas. They have classed themselves as Groove Death Metal, which is pretty fucking cool. Their influences span a number of some of my favorites, including Testament and All Shall Perish. These influences can be immediately heard on the opening track of the Empty Black EP that was released in February of 2025. The high energy is absolutely brought in full force for their live set, I couldn’t look away or stop myself from banging my head in approval. I only wish there had been an extra stage light or two, but ya know… it’s okay. I expect some grit at Dive and this evening wasn’t an exception.

My original plan was pleasantly derailed upon watching each band perform. After acclimating myself to the heat in the middle of the day, of course. (Big thanks for Dive having easily accessible water for everyone.) I don’t have any real complaints about any of the bands that hit the stage, each one brought their own brand of brutality and good energy. I encourage you to go check them all out if you’re into any flavor of extreme metal, there’s literally a little something for every kind of extreme metal fan. This festival was an inaugural one, and I really hope more of them will be pulled together in the future. I simply cannot get over how much fun I had enjoying all of the music, hanging out with friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and meeting some new people. It’s always fun for me to chase the imagery in these spaces, but the community around it all will always be my most favorite thing about these kinds of events.