Spiritbox unleashes ‘Tsunami Sea’ of sound and fury at blazing N.J. concert

“‘Tsunami Sea’ is about the fear of being inadequate,” Spiritbox’s lead singer, Courtney LaPlante told her sold-out crowd in Montclair Tuesday night. “But you don’t make us feel inadequate. We never take this for granted.”

Those words of gratitude, extended from one of heavy metal’s hottest acts, stems from a long road of a struggle. There was a time when the dynamic Canadian group’s future was uncertain. Before releasing their debut album, 2021’s “Eternal Blue,” COVID-19-related delays stifled the release and canceled two tours, which left the band teetering on the edge of financial peril. Thanks to gifts from fellow bands to cover canceled tour expenses, Spiritbox pressed on, releasing two well-received EPs in 2022 and 2023 and venturing out on their first headlining tour in the spring of 2023.

But Tuesday’s stop at the Wellmont Theater, supporting the band’s entrancing new album “Tsunami Sea,” wasn’t about licking wounds — it was about giving them. Whether it was the non-stop flow of bodies that levitated through the front of the stage throughout Spiritbox’s 80-minute set, or fans staring pensively, singing along to the band’s more melodic offerings like “The Void” and “Crystal Roses” (2025), appreciation was mutual.

Spiritbox at The Wellmont Theater Photo Credit: Murjani RawlsMurjani Rawls

Everything about Spiritbox’s second headlining tour spoke to the band’s maturation in a rock climate that is still risk-averse and flippant to bands who choose not to be of one sub-genre only. A prime example: the backlash from fans and older acts when news came out that the enigmatic, unconventional English metal band Sleep Token would be headlining Download Festival.

Spiritbox has been at the forefront of stretching well beyond hard-rock conventionality. Instead, they let their creativity guide them. Their creativity guides them as djent, metalcore, and trip-hop elements all merge in one three-minute song. Where it may be a mess for others, it works for Spiritbox due to a dedication to their craft and penchant for fearlessness — not to mention LePlante’s magnetism.

Like their “Eternal Blue” tour, a giant LED screen glowed in the middle of the stage. Only this time, it was accented by an even bigger one in the back, which played many of the band’s trademark avant-garde visuals. Drummer Zev Rosenberg was elevated on a platform flanked by two rotating staircases.

As the show kicked off, guitarist Mike Stringer played the drop D, low B guitar chords of “Sea’s” opening track, “Fata Morgana,” as an image of a ship burned in the background. Bassist Josh Gilbert stood to his right and played in synchronicity while LePlante slowly walked up to the mic stand. That’s when she unleashed the song’s harsh vocals as the rhythmic instrumentation drew you in like a siren call. As they hurtled through another “Tsunami Sea” favorite, “Black Rainbow,” the band’s fine-tuned professionalism was on full display. LePlante moved through singing and unclean voices with confidence and conviction, while Stringer, Rosenberg, and Gilbert presided over the chaotic music symphony.

To listen to a Spiritbox song, is to observe a lion in captivity. From a distance, you marvel at the animal’s beauty and then gain a false sense of courage to approach it. If you get too close to the cage, you might suddenly lose a hand or an arm. So raged “Hysteria,” a marriage of LePlante’s generational voice and the band’s intricate, but soaring instrumentation. Suddenly, a breakdown prompted by LePlante’s screams (an octave higher than on the actual record) pummeled the crowd of 2,500 people with a wall of sound.

This was the part of the show where the band played a selection of aggressive fan favorites: “Soft Spine” (“this goes out to all the m-----f---ers I hate,” LePlante declared) prompted the discordant dance of circle pits to erupt in succession.

Just when you thought there was a breather, LePlante declared, “I’m not finished with you yet, Jersey.” “Holy Roller,” complete with the song’s spoken word intro, spelled out on the stage’s middle screen, and “No Loss, No Love,” a marriage between death metal and drum and bass.

Without skipping a beat, LePlaine briefly spoke about how she would come to the tri-state area and see metal bands like The Acacia Strain and Killswitch Engage. While Spiritbox has only existed since 2017, there’s no denying the tenacity within the band that often spells longevity.

The crowd poured out into the streets, sweaty, happy, and exasperated. One person wanted Spiritbox to play “Rule of Nines” (2019), but they were fine otherwise. They gleefully expressed how great it was to be swept up in a tsunami sea for that evening and reverted to the four-piece band that brought the storm.

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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com

Spiritbox unleashes ‘Tsunami Sea’ of sound and fury at blazing N.J. concert | Review