PHOTO SHOW REPORT - COUNTERPARTS, KUBLAI KHAN TX, PALEFACE SWISS, DYING WISH@(SZENE), VIENNA; AUSTRIA, APRIL 21, 2023

It was a beautiful sunny day in the capital of Austria, Vienna. and guess what? It was Fridaaaaay! So it was a perfect day for partying with some great bands. Counterparts came to town with some good friends like Kublai Khan, Paleface Swiss, and Dying Wish.

Oh boy, did we get a treat! Another important detail here. This was another sold-out show in Vienna. Probably one of the most supportive fans around Europe lately!

This time around we were at the szene venue, 500 souls were waiting for the show to happen!

First on stage was chaotic hardcore formation from Portland, Oregon, Dying Wish with charismatic frontwoman Emma Boster. She is a force! Screams raging from her throat, got people moving from the first second. The dances begin! They performed almost the full album, the last one released in 2021, "Fragments of a Bitter Memory" and of course the new single "Torn From Your Silhouette". 

Helping Emma on vocals is also guitarist Sam Reynolds. They did a great job warming up the crowd for the heaviest band of the night!

It was time to crowd kill and be swallowed into the abyss of the mosh pit! Paleface Swiss was next. One of the most haunting intros "666" from their last album "Fear&Dagger" released last year was building up suspension. We were hit with "Pain" and the venues turned into one big battlefield! Fists, hands, legs, it was only for the brave ones to enter the pit and hoped to come alive from. Brutality is the closest name we can describe the band. They hit hard for sure. They butchered us with "Nail to the Tooth", "Deathtouch", "The Orphan" and one of the most standing tracks from the band, "My Grave / Lay With Me" where we could hear great vocals performance from the singer Marc Zellweger. He could well be also a good rapper, going 100/h rapping. Impressive! Then after all of that, they "Cused Us" and the final was their new single released in March, "Best Before: Death". One of the heaviest sets we saw in our lifetime!

Arf arf! Barking was on! It was time for Kublai Khan from Texas! Boys released last year the EP "Lowest Form Of Animal". They played it in full! This band is one of the best in the metallic hardcore genre! 

They opened with "The Hammer", their most streamed song on Spotify, currently at 12 milloin+ streams. The songs like "Boomslang", "Self-Destruct" and the closer "Antipile" are their trademarks. Frotman Matt Honeycutt is a big presence on stage and one of the nicest dudes out there you can find. Don't count how many times already seen this band, but they always deliver and this time around was no different!! Respect!

The headliners, Canadian Counterparts were next. They came on stage with no big bang. Rolled some intro and played. Pure old-school hardcore style! Singer Brendan Murphy was left speechless. He was so impressed by the fact that the show was sold out! Throughout the show, he thanked us and was really moved that so many people showed up, he himself never thought it would happen. If you think that he is the only original member in the band present from the formation of the band in 2007, you will get the idea of how thankful he was to see after all these grinding years a sold-out show. They played almost half of the new album "A Eulogy For Those Still Here", five songs, and 4 from the previous one "Nothing Left To Love". After the first years of Hardcore, the band this last years transitioned into more Metalcore waters but still kept that hardcore energy that the band is very well known for. The singalongs were on, mosh pit rioting, and the full party was on! One of the picks of the show was definitely short but never the less powerful one "Love Me". when we were all screaming "Would you love me, when there is nothing left to love" and when the breakdown hit we were all in ecstasy! The band at the end played an encore of "The Disconnect". What a memorable night it was! See you soon, szene!