Concert Review: Haunt @ The Kingsland in Brooklyn, New York

Fresno, California’s Haunt continued its Thee Eternal Reign tour with Savage Master by stopping at Brooklyn, New York’s The Kingland on August 11, 2024. The Final Seige provided local support on the bill. This was Haunt's fourth Brooklyn show during the past 24 months; the traditional heavy metal stalwarts played at The Meadows and legendary St. Vitus Bar in 2023 as well as Sovereign in 2022.

The band has become renown for its relentless touring across Europe and the United States as well as main man Trevor William Church's incredible studio productivity; since 2017, Haunt released eight LP as well as several EP and compilation albums. Subsequent to the summer 2023 tour, Church – who handles lead vocal and co-lead guitar duties as well as all songwriting responsibilities – recruited three new musicians to flank him on the most recent trek across the country.

During this August U.S. run in support of its most recent album, Dreamers, Haunt (and Savage Master) will play an astounding twenty six shows in thirty days from the 2nd through 31st. I reviewed Dreamers on March 21, 2024.

Haunt opened its set with the front man introducing the quartet as “Haunt from California” before launching into the lone Dreamers track of the evening, the lead single 'Steel Mountains.'

The band soon followed with a pair of songs from the epic Mind Freeze – 'Hearts on Fire' and the album's title track. Shortly thereafter, Church surveyed the audience for a song request; the majority enthusiastically pleaded for 'Light the Beacon,' the opening Mind Freeze song that is among the band’s absolute best songs. Although 'Light the Beacon' has not been played regularly during this tour, Haunt performed it to the delight of the near-capacity New York City crowd.

Haunt then performed Windows of Your Heart lead single 'Mercenaries,' which Church mentioned was among the band’s “fastest” material in response to audience requests for a "fast song." Afterwards, the "do it all" leader mentioned the band would soon be “retiring” some of its older material before playing the debut EP Luminous Eyes title song. Although 'Luminous Eyes' was released in 2017, Haunt is among the most prolific metal artists, rendering a seven-year-old EP relatively ancient by comparison. Haunt concluded its set with crowd-pleasers 'Frozen in Time' and 'Burst Into Flame' from another of its finest records, the initial LP Burst Into Flame.

Haunt and Savage Master will bring the high-energy Thee Eternal Reign t0ur with stops across the country before Haunt heads to Europe this fall. You can and should catch them at one or more of these rock clubs.