Kublai Khan invades Erie

When many people think of heavy music, bands like Metallica, Slayer, or Anthrax may come to mind. Younger readers might think of Slipknot, or the more underground savvy might start playing a Code Orange song in their heads.  But with every generation of metal comes a new definition of what it means to be "heavy," and come Nov. 15, that definition will be made clear on the Basement Transmissions' stage.

Sherman, Tex.-based metalcore band Kublai Khan is making the trek up to Erie alongside Barrier and Gift Giver, to bring their brutal – and almost impossibly heavy – riffage with them. It's safe to say there won't be any shortage of open-note chugging and breakdowns that night.

Kublai Khan is touring in support of their album Balancing Survival and Happiness released on Artery Recordings earlier this year, featuring elements of both traditional metalcore and hardcore, sometimes comparable to Erie's own Domestic War.

Barrier and Gift Giver are similar in sound, although in my opinion, Barrier is the more interesting of the two, as Gift Giver relies too heavily on shock value in their lyrics.

Pine City, Pa.'s Take Over Soldiers and Agathist from Erie open up the bill, setting the stage for the night by playing two distinct styles (TOS being melodic hardcore and Agathist being slightly death metal) that if combined, would essentially create the same sound as the headlining bands.

In my opinion, Take Over Soldiers is one of the best newer bands in the general north western Pennsylvania region that I've heard in a while, but all of these bands are something not  to be missed by anyone who appreciates heavy music, no matter what generation of "heavy" they come from. 

6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 // Tickets $10 presale $12 day of show // Basement Transmissions, 145 W. 11th St. // facebook.com/basementTransmissions