Photography & Review by Anthony Petrizzo
Onto the second night of Christmas Burns Red the Philadelphia quintet Kaonashi would
open up the show. Kaonashi consists of Vocalists Peter Rono, Guitarists Roger Alvarez, Alex
Hallquist, Bassist August Axcelson and drummer Ryan Paolilli. The Philadelphia natives are a mixture of Emo and Metalcore. They released albums titled "Why Did You Do It" and "Dear Lemon House,You Ruined me: Senior Year".
Philly natives Kaonashi came on stage and opened up their set with "You’ll Understand When
You’re Older" moving onto "Humiliation Ritual" and "Coffee And Conversation". Peter Rono’s unique vocal style infested the crowd’s ears while guitarist Alex Hallquist’s guitar tone punched right through everyone's chest throughout their whole set.
Up next comes the Pittsburgh natives Signs Of The Swarm. Rounding out the band is Vocalist
David Simonich, Drummer Bobby Crow, Bassist Michael Cassese and Guitarist Carl Schulz. Signs of The Swarm rose out of the local Pittsburgh Deathcore scene with such releases "Sensless Order", "The Disfigurement of Existence" and 2020’s "Vital Deprivation". With the departure of original vocalist CJ McCreery, they would repace him with now current vocalist David Simonich. With Simonich at the helm they would release two more albums named "Absolvere" and "Amongst The Low And Empty" while signing with Century Media Records that same year.
Signs of the Swarm brought their signature Deathcore sound to the stage of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Simonich’s vocals pierced the ears of every showgoer in the room, delivering mind blowing lows while still having a good amount of energy on stage. Signs of the Swarm should be on the radar of anyone who is into the deathcore genre.
Galactic Empire is an instrumental heavy metal band based off Disney's Star Wars
Music. The band created their own costumes and even charcter names for their on stage performances. The characters created would be called Doomriff, OD-66, Blast Beat, Darth Brooks, and Lord Sikh. The names fit perfectly as they fit the Star Wars theme while also fitting the metal genre. While there aren't any vocals, the members come out in full costume dressed as characters from the Star Wars series. It’s very interesting, something I’ve never seen before, but yet still super entertaining and very fun to watch them on stage running around shredding along to Star Wars music. Galactic Empire gained new fans tonight. Anyone who loves Star Wars and metal instantly fell in love as it combines common interests into one entitiy. This band is definitely a band to keep an eye on when they go on tour.
Kublai Khan is a Metalcore/Hardcore band based out of Sherman, Texas. Known for their raw, brutal heavy assault of hardcore. Formed in the year 2009 with Matt Honeycutt on Vocals, Nolan Ashley on guitar/vocals, Eric English on bass/vocals and finally Isaac Lamb on drums rounded out the heavy assault on your eardrums. Their debut album "Balancing Survival and Happiness" released in 2014 through Artery Records put them on them map with their sound they are known for now. Matt Honeycutt’s brutal bark is well known throughout the genre. On stage the band is even heavier then recordings. They are one of the most raw sounding bands with a very DIY attitude. They would later release "New Strength" in 2015 through Artrey Records and then signed to Rise Records in 2017. They released two albums under Rise Records called "Nomad" and "Absolute". Hands down they are one of the most punishing band i’ve ever seen live and should be on everyone's radar.
Between the Buried And Me also know as "BTBAM" is an American progressive metal
band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band started out in the year 2000 with their first
release in the year 2002 called "Between The Buried And Me". They would go on to release 10
more albums through out the years a feat not many bands even achieve in one career.
This was different, Saturday Decemember 9th Between the Buried and Me would go
on to perform 2007 album "Colors". A Victory Records recording known for its very progressive metal and technical death metal guitar work, even mixing in some metalcore breakdowns and timing. BTBAM is known for performing albums from back to front but this was truly something special that would only happen once in a lifetime.
Now it was time for the hometown heroes. The band currently consist of Jake Luhrs (Vocals) , JB Brubaker (Guitar) , Brent Rambler (Guitar) , Dustin Davidson (Bass) , and Matt Greiner (Drums). Starting off with System Of A Down's "Chop Suey!" and christmas classic "Home For The Holidays" playing over the speakers the band jumped straight into a classic from "Messengers" titled "Truth Of A Liar". This set was packed with the classics and christams covers. Ther band playes covers such as "The Little Drummer Boy", "Carol Of The Bells" and "Frosty The Snowman". Everyones favortie christmas classics, but with the metalcore twist all metalheads adore. August Burns Red had a special treat for the homeotwn crowd. The band played "Endoprhins" off of their debut album "Thrill Seeker" which hasn't been played in front of an audience in 15 years. It didn't stop there as they brought out former vocalist Josh McManness to perform this song. A special moment for the fans who have been with the band since day one.
August Burns Red ended the set with "Marianas Trench" off of hit album "Consteallations" released in 2009. This song has reached over 24 million streams on spotify and is a classic the fanbase knows and loves. Vocalist Jake Luhrs delivered his signature sound that hes known for throughout the years. From blood curdling screams to wholesome interactions with the crowd, the frontman has become one of the most beloved people in all of the scene. Matt Greiner’s signature drum work was on full display while guitarist JB Bruaker put his god tier guitar skills on diplay as spectators watched in absolute awe. Another installment of the cult classic show is in the books. Each year the band tops their performance as well as find new ways to make the overall show even more entertaining. The August Burns Red fanbase anxiously waits to see what 2024 has in store from one of Pensylvannia's most successful bands.
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