The halls of Hollywood are a magical place. A polychromatic school, its rules are nothing new. It will forever pool what appears to be cool, the allure of drinking from its well of amorphous glows. Some are glamorous. Some are furrowed. Some infiltrate your soul and burrow.
Whatever was once the script is merely a blip for The Haunt are not wont for the lore of old school mores. Beginning bold, with “Why Are You So Cold?,” unintentionally ironic, as there was many arms-folded hipsters in attendance, it was anything but frozen. It was molten. Crusty preconceptions became blackened.
Led by 16-year old Anastasia, a powerful singer with impressive range, and her older brother, guitarist/vocalist Maxamillion, who orchestrates the gothic opera, The Haunt pierced the room with incessant mood. Scorching the glass ceiling with angsty seething, the midnight joyride of “Streets & Lies,” the brooding groove of “Dirty,” and the incendiary incantations of “Constant” kindled thoughts of Black Sabbath, Evanescence and My Chemical Romance. With propulsive guidance by bassist Nat Smallish and drummer Nick Lewert, each piece stands on its own, fashioning the legs of a mighty throne.
As the band expertly regenerated “St. James Infirmary” and “Ultralight Beam” (by Kanye West) before the zap of “Brat” and the anthemic “All Went Black” mounted an attack, the impact was extant. Closing with the sonic lacerations and chill-inducing vocalizations of “Get Away,” the sentiment was anything but. On this night, anticipation roamed with reckless abandon but when it was all said and done, a Tuesday evening lay bleeding as The Haunt proceeded to eviscerate the landscape with hypnotic refrains. If this is what it feels like to be haunted, the apparition coalition is on its way to a zillion.
THE HAUNT LIVE
Set List:
- Why Are You So Cold?
- Ultralight Beam (Kanye West cover)
- Dirty / St. James Infirmary (Louis Armstrong cover)
- Brat
- All Went Black
- Burn
- Constant
- Reprise / Streets and Lies
- Get Away
