Our third day of Aftershock was a day of beauty and grace, and thrashing all your worries away. Insane vocals and unique ways to use instruments we haven’t seen before, these artists never ceased to amaze us.
The new project from SOAD’s Shavo Odadjian, Seven Hours After Violet, brings together a group of musicians that each have stand-out talent, and together make something new and incredible. Shavo played bass with passion and looked like he had a blast the entire time. Vocalist Taylor Barber showed off some of his incredible range, reaching deep froggy low growls, and in the next beat, delivering sharp and crisp clean vocals. He was backed up by Shavo himself and Alejandro in harmonies that took us through a journey in every song.
An impressive and excited crowd gathered to see Memphis May Fire, it seemed many had seen them before. These Warped Tour OGs have a really dedicated fanbase, and their performances are consistently impressive over the years. Pyrotechnics punctuated Matty’s uplifting voice and tone. His screams resonated in the soul with instrumentals to complement him.
From the dark cold North, the Russian deathcore band Slaughter to Prevail drew a sharp shadow on the main stage in front of a vast swarm of people. All but vocalist Alex Terrible were in mirrored demon masks. Alex reminisced to the crowd, “When I was 13 years old, I practiced extreme vocals. My parents told me to get a normal job! ‘You don’t understand Mom, I’m gonna be a ROCKSTAR!’ I’m 32 now, but I’m still that 13-year-old kid, I’m just living my dream now!” Alex credited his incredible fanbase for all of their current success and wanted to thank everyone there.
Watching Imminence was a cinematic experience. Every song built upon the last in complexity and beautiful melody. It all crescendoed with a tease of Heaven in Hiding that turned into God Fearing Man, where the bassist brought out a classic bow to strum his bass, and ended with The Black, where the vocalist screamed into his violin, creating an incredible effect we haven’t ever heard before.
The French metal band Gojira returned to Aftershock for the first time since being featured in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Melodic and beautiful, they hypnotized the crowd with their tunes. They dedicated the song Another World to all their fans in attendance. Mea Culpa, which was written for performing at the Olympics, is about the French Revolution, and the use of the guillotine in France’s history. The guillotine was only banned as a form of capital punishment in France in 1981.
We enjoyed so many performances this day that we had a hard time narrowing them down. But again, tomorrow is a new day, and full of promise to bring us even more performances to remember. We hope to see you there!
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