On the fourth and final day of Aftershock 2023, the last of all surely weren’t the least of all. With so many incredible bands and no shortage of powerful performances, it was difficult picking only a few to highlight for today.
Here are a few heavy hitters that especially stood out to us.
A dynamic duo of singers, Wargasm combines punchy punk rock vocals and dirty metal scream vocals with an intoxicating electronic metal sound. Milky and Matlock not only took turns singing but also playing some tasty licks on the guitar. Their next album will be coming out October 27th, so make sure to be on the lookout for that.
Bringing the energy early in the day, Rain City Drive began their performance just as the sun broke through onto the stage. Dressed in light clothing and overalls, fans started pouring in to witness their contagious energy. Matt’s vocals soared effortlessly through the park and the other band members harmonized and performed intense and melodic solos of their own.
With catchy choruses and amazingly talented band members, Ayron Jones stole everyone’s attention for a while. Strong soulful vocals and ripping classic guitar riffs combine to form his genre busting stylings that had the crowd feeling every emotion that he poured into his music.
Sactown superstars and originators of their own genre known as swancore, Dance Gavin Dance is led by dual vocalists that bring contrast and harmony to another level. Combining a bright angelic sound from Tilian’s voice and Will Swan’s masterful guitar playing with heavy breakdowns and Jon’s effortlessly angsty and nonsensical screams. The hometown crowd knew every word to every song and relished the opportunity to scream at the top of their lungs along with the band.
Head banging late into the night, Suicide Silence was one of the last performers of the weekend, but still squeezed all the remaining drops of energy and intensity from their audience. The lead vocalist showed off his insane range of screams, up from a banshee screeching shriek to a ground shaking guttural growl, he impressed with every note. Together with some of the nastiest, hardest breakdowns we’ve heard, the crowd could not get enough and raged hard in the mosh pit.
Aftershock 2023 has finally and regretfully come to a close. This festival has been a roller coaster of excitement and emotion. We laughed, we cried, we screamed, and we chanted. There were no breaks from this ride until the end, but now that we are at the end, we don’t want to get off. But, of course, we are going to be first in line for the next roller coaster, Aftershock 2024, and we will be psyched to see you there next year!
