Bass, Dubs & Mosh Pits: Svdden Death Brings the Heretic Tour to Emo’s in Austin

One of the most innovative, darkest, and heaviest artists to come out of the dubstep scene in recent years, Svdden Death brought his sound along with a stellar group of opening acts to Emo’s in Austin, TX.

The electronic music landscape has changed drastically over the last decade or two and has expanded widely since its inception. In the 90s when the rave scene was completely underground, PLUR was alive and well, and the term “EDM” hadn’t even been invented yet, raves were gatherings where free-spirited party goers would indulge in the music and atmosphere, and occasionally other things, as they danced all night to dreamy, melodic, and trance inducing beats that were meant to bring one another together. Now, ravers embrace one another in a loving communal manor. It wasn’t just about the music, it was a lifestyle in itself. 

But, as the electronic dance music scene has gotten larger so has its audience and influences. EDM or electronic dance music is no longer just a part of an underground party scene, kids looking to trade kandi and give one another light shows are no longer the only types of people attending,  and the music is no longer attached to one kind of sound or feeling. In the late 2000s/early 2010s, as dubstep was making a major emergence in the mainstream airwaves, something interesting started to occur where certain DJs noticed that this type of EDM was much heavier and aggressive than the earlier types of music played at raves such as trance, DnB, and techno. One such artist who leaned into the heavier aspects of dubstep was Svdden Death, and since his early work under this moniker, he has made a point to incorporate aspects from metal into his dubstep, even going so far to create an allis for his darkest and most sinister tracks during his “Voyd” sets, where he dons a skeleton deer head, and performs over the top theatrics such as levitating above the DJ board.

If you’re idea of an EDM show comes from a more traditional image of what a rave is, then walking into Emo’s on the night of the Heretic Tour might’ve surprised you. The venue was dark, and dimly lit with a red light as death metal blasted over the speakers while show goers awaited the first artists to hit the stage. The ambiance was closer to resembling Ozzfest than it was EDC and you could tell this would be a very different type of electronic show than what old school ravers would be used to.

The first artist to open the show was DJ/vocal duo Bejavlin. Bejavlin was one of the most interesting and spontaneous acts to hit the stage that night, maybe to ever hit the stage at Emo’s as the DJ spun some disgustingly heavy dubstep tracks while the vocalist belted out his gut wrenching vocals. The duo was constantly entering the crowd throughout their set, especially the vocalist as he told tales of stealing from Walmart and getting down in the pit in between his performances where he flailed on stage and donkey kicked the air as if he was performing his set in the pit itself. It’s rare that you would see a screamo vocalists perform with a DJ as the backing track instead of a band but these days it seems like anything is possible.

The next artist to hit the stage was masked DJ, PYKE. PYKE is rumored to be another incognito alias for a more well known DJ, but currently the official identity is unknown. PYKE has only been releasing official tracks since earlier this year but has already gone on work with the likes of dubstep heavy weights such as Marshmello and Midnight Tyrannosaurus. Going in a completely opposite direction as the opening act and making no attempt to speak to the audience or say anything to the crowd, PYKE let his beats do the talking and shut down the set. While his music wasn’t explicitly metal influenced, his drops were heavy and the music was dark as the crowd moshed and headbanged to the rhythm.

Immediately following PYKE was VAMPA, an exceptional riddim/dubstep artist hailing from Chicago who put on an incredibly captivating performance. With probably one of the best stage presences of the night, VAMPA rocked out, danced, and showed love to the audience that cheered her name and gave the love right back. Her heavy and echoing production fit right in with the other artists on the bill and harmonized perfectly with her stand out vocals.

Kicking off his set with an echoing death growl and a hauntingly dark stage setup and production was another masked artist yvm3. A producer that many suspect to be Somnium Sound, although not yet confirmed, yvm3 dug into the metal roots deep, layering heavy death metal vocals with double bass drums into his production, making for one hell of a DJ set and almost creating a one man death metal show.

Ending the evening was the headlining performer himself Svdden Death. The set began with two vocalists dressed in Buc-ees’ beaver suits introducing him and getting the crowd warmed up for the night, which then led to Svdden Death hopping on the mic and playing the first song of the night. The light show coming from the stage was insane going from a colorful array of lasers and stage light to an eerie dark set up. The crowd was a perfect blend of headbangers and ravers as traditional rave troupes still went on such as trading kandi, playing with poi, and light shows went on, headbanging and mosh pits were also thrown into the mix. About midway through the set Svdden Death split the audience in two and had them both charge at each other during the infamous wall of death, made famous from early metal pioneers, which is now a hallmark at all SD shows. SD shows are definitely one of a kind and unique beyond what most people can even fathom in the EDM world, but as the genre expands and Svdden Death grows in popularity, the electronic metal crossover shows will continue to take place.