VEIL OF MAYA
As the only progressive metal outfit on the tour, one might think Veil of Maya have more of a challenge to win fans of other metal subgenres over. But if their sets in Hartford and Scranton were any evidence, they have been drawing fans to Warped all on their own, with huge crowds on both dates. VoM is another band that has been reinvigorated by the addition of a new frontman. Now with some experience under his belt, frontman Lukas Magyar looks the part more than ever, be it on new material from their 2015 release Matriarch, or older tracks. If these two performances are any indication, this run on Warped is sure to only bolster the ranks of their fanbase with new recruits!
SILENT PLANET
You may have noticed I denoted Chelsea Grin as only “one of the heaviest” earlier. That’s because Silent Planet is on this tour, and are by far the loudest, most bone-crushingly heavy act on Warped this year. When I caught them in Hartford, they were on the Full Sail stage, but I’m told that they have been promoted to a more prominent stage since then due moving almost 7,000 copies of their new album Everything Was Sound in its first week of release. Clearly these guys are destined for big things following this tour, so check them out if you get a chance.
CRUEL HAND
Lastly, I have to include my hometown heroes Cruel Hand, from Portland, ME. While they are a hardcore band (yes i know we’re a metal blog), they put on a hell of a performance and are a nice change of pace from the rest of the bands on the Monster stages this year. Check out Cruel Hand for good times in the mosh pit this summer!
