On February 10, Dead Horse Trauma headlined a killer show at The Washington in Burlington, Iowa. The show was opened by Obey the Virus, a young up-and-coming band from Burlington and Section Hate, a veteran band hailing from Oskaloosa, Iowa. It was the last night of Dead Horse Trauma’s “South for the Wintour” Tour and a glorious night for all metalheads!
Obey the Virus (formerly known as Through the Vast Black Abyss) is a three-piece band full of energy. Vocalist Jared Reed has a dominating stage presence with a booming voice essential for a metal band and guitarist John Howard attacks each song with an amount of enthusiasm that easily rubs off onto the audience. Excellent drummer Braden Peterson rounds out the band and solidifies the chemistry the band possesses. Obey the Virus does not at this time have much content up on social media; their stated focus right now is on recording so they have more material to present in future shows. However; please check out their Facebook page for more information and videos that fully demonstrate the passion they bring to the local Iowa metal scene!
https://www.facebook.com/OTV319/
Section Hate took the stage next. This band is a hard-hitting metal conglomerate based in Oskaloosa, Iowa. They have been very popular in southeast Iowa for a number of years now. I was aware of these guys, but this night was my first chance to see them and I highly anticipated the moment. They feature Chuck Wallace on vocals, Dale Robinson on guitar, Robbie Hate on bass, and Breck Brown on drums. They brought a large following as I noticed early just as much Section Hate gear in the audience as there was Dead Horse Trauma attire! “These Chains” and “How Do You Like Me Now” are popular songs that drew a huge reaction from the audience. They closed the performance with “No Escape” which drew a rousing reaction from the crowd. Personally, I found the sound of Section Hate a bit monotonous as one song ran into the other; there was not much variety in the sound, but they definitely get after it and are a power-packed band that will keep the crowd moshing all night and on this particular night were a good warm-up and compliment for the main attraction. Please checkout their Facebook page below, which contains links to several of their songs plus the video for the aforementioned “How Do You Like Me Now.”
https://www.facebook.com/thehate1/
Lastly, it was finally time for Dead Horse Trauma to take the stage. I was blown away. They truly are one of the best live bands I have seen! The crowd became energized right away during performances of “TNT” and “Gasoline Dance.” Lead vocalist Eric Davidson built a rapport with the audience during the night by being a constant presence during the Obey the Virus and Section Hate sets and continued that relationship during the performance. During the song “The Massacre” I saw something I had never before seen during a concert: a pillow fight! The band threw pillows out to the fans and told them to massacre themselves during the song; it was truly the most intense pillow fight I have seen and the interaction between band and audience was spectacular. It is hard to differentiate which DHT songs drew the loudest and biggest reaction as the whole set was intense; however, the closing song “Psycho” left all in attendance wanting more and their hit “Left Unsaid” was very well-received!
At one point during the set, DHT vocalist Davidson informed the audience that this was the last show stateside for a while as the band is taking the rest of February off and then beginning a tour of Europe. Davidson was very proud to point out this European tour was the direct result of hard work and not the result of a new album as their latest album “Life” was released a year ago. Stay tuned for future upcoming stateside shows from Dead Horse Trauma; they are an act no metal fan wants to miss! See below for DHT’s social media information as well as a video for their popular song “Psycho.”
https://www.facebook.com/deadhorsetrauma/
Dead Horse Trauma will be on tour with Ektomorf in Europe. Check out tour dates below!
Friday, March 2nd- Pitcher in Dusseldorf, Germany
Saturday, March 3rd- Markthalle in Hamburg, Germany
Sunday, March 4th- Klub Muzyczny in Wroclaw, Poland
Monday, March 5th- Aching in Colmar, France
Wednesday, March 7th- Altherax in Nice, France
Thursday, March 8th- Palazzo Bowling & Beat Club in Chur, Switzerland
Friday, March 9th- Metbar in Lenzburg, Switzerland
Saturday, March 10th-Woody’s in Schleiz, Germany
Sunday, March 11th- Viper Room in Wien, Austria
Tuesday, March 13th- Barrak Music Club in Ostrava, Czech Republic
Wednesday, March 14th- Nuke in Berlin, Germany
Thursday, March 15th- Rock Cafe in Prague, Czech Republic
Friday, March 16th- L.A. Cham in Cham, Germany
Saturday, March 17th- Das Rind in Russelsheim, Germany
Sunday, March 18th- De Verlichte Geest in Roeselare, Belgium
Monday, March 19th- From Hell in Erfurt, Germany
Tuesday, March 20th- Chemie Fabrik in Dresden, Germany
Wednesday, March 21st- Alte Zuckerfabrik in Rostock, Germany
Thursday, March 22nd- Kulturzentrum Zollhaus in Leer, Germany
Friday, March 23rd- Factory Event Center in Magdeburg, Germany
Saturday, March 24th- Baroeg in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sunday, March 25th- Rock Fabrik in Ludwigsburg, Germany
Monday, March 26th- Backstage in Munchen, Germany
Tuesday, March 27th- Vegallomas Klub in Szombathely, Hungary
Wednesday, March 28th- Form Space in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Thursday, March 29th- Reflektor in Timisoara , Romania
Friday, March 30th- Sypka in Morkowice, Czech Republic
Saturday, March 31st- Hellraiser in Leipzig, Germany
Sunday, April 1st- MC Fabrika in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
ICYMI: Check out our interview with Eric Davidson, vocalist of Dead Horse Trauma here!
