EBM, Blackened Screamo, and Coldwave Rituals: NYC’s Heavy Underground Ascends

New York's underground is descending into a beautifully bleak sonic abyss this week, trading standard-fare pop for a relentless barrage of industrial rock, blackened screamo, and heavy EBM. The onslaught kicks off on Tuesday at Le Poisson Rouge, where the terrifyingly confrontational noise rock of Street Sects collides with Portrayal of Guilt’s suffocating screamo. Expect an assault on the senses—Street Sects is notorious for executing live sets in pitch-black rooms illuminated only by blinding stroboscopic bursts and dense fog, providing the perfect claustrophobic theater for their industrial nightmares.

Mid-week offers no reprieve as the Bowery Ballroom hosts a fascinating study in dark textures on Wednesday, pairing the raw, theatrical black metal of Norway's Witch Club Satan with the spectral, ambient drones of Penelope Trappes. Immediately following on Thursday, Brooklyn's Littlefield becomes a temple of electronic body music. Darkwave heavyweights Light Asylum return to command the floor with Shannon Funchess’s commanding vocals, flanked by the provocative, industrial-tinged darkwave of Patriarchy and the icy coldwave melodies of Coatie Pop.

To cap off the week, Webster Hall hosts a massive gathering of the modern post-punk and synthpop vanguard on Friday. Headlined by Texas darkwave champions Twin Tribes, who continue to tour on the back of their driving, melancholic gothic anthems, the bill is bolstered by Riki’s pristine, hardware-driven synthpop and the heavy, pounding EBM beats of Dancing Plague. If your soul feeds on pulsating synthesizers, jagged guitars, and uncompromising basslines, this is your liturgy.