After a brief hiatus, the always controversial industrial rockers, Psyclon Nine, returned with the “Hellions of Hollywood Tour” alongside Metropolis Records labelmates Dawn of Ashes. The tour runs through late August into early October as well as a release of their fourth studio album [Order of the Shadow: Act I] in early November.
Prior to their stop at Allentown’s Jabber Jaws, the band played Vampire Freaks’ Triton Festival in New York’s Irving Plaza. It was obvious that the uncomfortable dichotomy of coming from a large capacity space to a pint-sized room threw the bands off a bit. With the limited space, the performers had to contend with a support beam in their way as well as audiences right up against their monitors. The majority of the “stage lighting” came from the bar signs from the windows and decor.
Dawn of Ashes’ set was a grotesque display of madness. They came out hard and heavy and it was quite obvious that they were pissed. Having had audio troubles throughout their set from monitors not being turned on to mics cutting out, you can see the anger in their performance. Frontman Kristof Bathory got the crowd riled up as they filled the room with their brand of nightmarish symphony.
Soon after, adorned in dark hoods that covered their faces and painted in black liquid latex, Psyclon Nine emerged from their “dressing room” and showed they were a true force to be reckoned with. Starting out strong, they began their set with “We the Fallen” from 2009’s ‘We the Fallen’. The band’s set consisted of half new material off of their soon to be released new album, while touching upon crowd favorites from their previous efforts. The band closed the night off with “Parasitic” from ‘Crwn Thy Frnicatr‘ which resulted in everyone bouncing off of each other until the last note.
Overall, the evening displayed very strong performances and the perseverance through the adversity of audio missteps and venue limitations bodes well for Psyclon Nine’s future. Those who were in attendance only managed to get a taste of what the band is capable of. Those lucky enough to see them on a larger capacity can see the band in their ultimate form.
To quote the band itself: “out of the ashes : new fire shall burn.”
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