Maryland Coverage: The U.S. Abomination Tour featuring SKELETONWITCH, HAVOK and EARLY GRAVES

September 30, 2012 by Ryan No Comments

U.S. ABOMINATION TOUR
SKELETONWITCH, HAVOK, EARLY GRAVES
Local Support from ALHAZRED, KRASS JUDGEMENT, VITALITY, CORRUPT CONSPIRACY
The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
September 29^th, 2012

It was a night full of great thrash and death metal at The Ottobar last night. It was tough to tell whether the crowd was more psyched to see HAVOK or SKELETONWITCH, both of whom played exceptional sets. Approximately 125 were in attendance to witness the show at what has become the primary metal venue in Baltimore after the downfall of the Sonar.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the first two local bands, CORRUPT CONSPIRACY and VITALITY. ALHAZRED was tremendous, which was no surprise after listening to their 2012 demo (available on Bandcamp HERE). KRASS JUDGEMENT also played a great, setting the stage for the touring acts in fine fashion.

A pleasant surprise was EARLY GRAVES, whose thrash/hardcore sound was exceptional. The band really took hold and controlled the crowd for the entirety of their set. From their sound, to their energy, to their stage presence – every aspect of EARLY GRAVES impressed me.

As expected, HAVOK dominated the space with their trademark old school thrash. This was the first time I have seen HAVOK live, and boy do they have great sound and deliver a monster live performance.

SKELETONWITCH played for an hour, treating the crowd to material spanning the band’s full catalog. A nice treat was a live performance of the ‘Beyond the Permafrost’ bonus track, “Bringer of Death.” The energy of frontman Chance Garnette is something special to watch.

The US Abomination Tour stop in Baltimore turned out as anticipated – high energy and full of great metal. Catch this tour when it comes by your hometown…it is totally worth the price.

I figured I would let the photos do the talking on this one…enjoy!

SKELETONWITCH
Athens, Ohio