When I got there, it seemed... not crowded at all, maybe about 20 people there. Eventually more people got there by Pyrexia's set time and there were about 40-50 people there overall. I think the Thursday Night combined with 2 OTHER heavy shows happening (King Parrot/Vattnet Viskar in Baltimore, The Ocean/Atlas Moth in DC- this one sold out). I don't know which bands have the bigger following, but I knew that Ocean one would sell out. Regardless, this was a nice, intimate show.
Merch- Pyrexia had a few shirts, several CDs ($12), and maybe a sticker or patch. Hydra Kyll had CDs they were giving out after the show (pretty good !). The Aborted had several shirts ($15) and a 45 record- I think that it was a new track or 2. I think the cat one may have been a girlie shirt....
Hydra Kyll was on first, I had last seen them at the Fillmore. Their death metal/slightly metalcore at times tendencies sounded a bit better this time, which was very odd, based on the better sound system that the Fillmore has. But this time, at Empire, there were way less people to absorb/distort the sound is what I think. Their death metal/metalcore mix mostly worked, but I did not like the clean vocals- the vocalist sounded way stronger and more confident on his growls. In my opinion, the clean vocals came off a bit forced and weak. Other than that, their performance was pretty solid. Hell, they even had a bass solo (pretty sure some two handed tapping on dat bass was done as well) at one point- don't see that very often. The guitar and bass groove was pretty nice. There was a hardcore/slam kid goin' at it thru the whole set. Hey whatever floats your boat, man... just stay away from me with those windmill arms BS.
Pyrexia was next, they had a hardcore vibe to them, but with a Death Metal twist. I wasn't really able to get into them very much, but their breakdowns were alright. Pyrexia's frontman said something to the effect of "I want to make this show real intimate... non gay tho" in half jest to the small crowd. They had an almost Six Feet Under type feel, but with a more hardcore bend it seemed. For "Panzer Tank Lobotomy" they had a wall of death with about 10 people, which went surprisingly well. The entire floor had those guys running around like madmen! They played a lot of material from their newest album. I was on the fence about picking up a copy, but damn they sounded heavy. For their last song they invited the crowd onto the stage... and most of the 20 people there (probably like 15 took the stage) to headbang along with them. That was pretty cool.
The Aborted took the stage in mostly matching work shirts and to some thundering drums. I dare say that it might have even been TOO LOUD. I had to retreat to the bar area, and still had to stuff my earplugs in deep. I think the aforementioned low attendance was preventing the sound from being absorbed. The drummer in particular I recall being pretty amazing- the double bass would NOT let up, and I know my whole body was shaking at times. There were several solos that stood out, maybe more volume was given to the guitarist, and those went over well for the most part, nice and clear! There were a couple notes that sounded flubbed, but hey I couldn't do it slash maybe my eardrums were still shaking from the heavy metal thunder of the drums X_X: The crowd got way more animated with pits, circle pits, and a small wall of death too. That def helped me get into it a bit more, with the groove and overall heaviness. Of course I would complain about the vocals, but I had no illusions of what I was in for- NO CLEAN SINGING :3
Aborted played two or 3 new songs from their upcoming album Necrotic Manifesto (title track, "...Entitlement..."), so that was pretty cool. I don't think I was familiar with any of the songs in particular, so everything was new to me. I think there were a number of songs from Global Flatline (4 or so?), their previous album. The frontman Sven reminded me of Suffocation's Frank Mullen (vox) in his bald head, casual half-joking, half-annoyed manner on stage. Oh and Intensity- he was pretty animated and moving while performing.
Looking up a little more about the members of Aborted, there are several members of System Divide (Sven de Caluwé- vocals- also married to the frontwoman of that band!, Mendel Bij De Leij- guitar) who do double duty! Hell, even the guitarist from VA, Steve Miller (no not THAT Steve Miller), came on stage to do a song with them. How incestuous!
Overall I think it was a good choice to hit this show up, learned a bit more about these bands, heard some heavy tunes, hung out with some friends too. I'm not a super fan, but i would like to see Aborted if they come around again, and I'll probably pick up the new album \m/
Next show: Face Melting Friday w/ Aurelian in Baltimore!
Photos:
Hydra Kyll
Pyrexia
Merch
Aborted band from Belgium
Aborted
ABORTED
EVEN MORE ABORTED
Setlists:
Hydra Kyll (6:58-7:21)
- ?
- Rotting Roots
- Synaptic Failure
- ?
- ?
- Shackles of the Mind
- Cocoon of Shame
- Death Wish
- Bludgeoned by Deformity
- Panzer Tank Lobotomy
- Thy Minion
- Cryptic Summoning
- Sermon of Mockery
- Intro
- Coronary Reconstruction
- Meticulous Invagination (w/ Steve Miller from System Divide)
- ?
- Your Entitlement Means nothing
- Necrotic Manifesto
- Fecal Forgery
- ? (up your mud hole?)
- The Origin of Disease
- Sanguine Verses (I think)
- The Saw and the Carnage Done
- From a Tepid Whiff
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