As several San Antonio metal bands can attest, it’s extremely difficult to “make it” in their hometown, let alone nationally or abroad.
Upon A Burning Body and Nothing More are two of the recent few who have toured overseas. Others have worked tirelessly to land similar ventures, with The Heroine existing for approximately 15 years and Jessikill having played Rocklahoma on more than one occasion, including last month.
Kingdom Collapse appears to be the next Alamo City outfit poised to accept the challenge. The local quartet of vocalist Jonathan Norris, guitarist David Work, bassist Aaron Smith and drummer Elijah Santucci will be spending Veterans Day weekend this Saturday performing at the four-day Welcome To Rockville festival at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Their set will be livestreamed on Sirius Octane at 3:25 p.m. EST as they’ll be the lone San Antonio artist among the likes of Metallica, Disturbed, Slipknot, Rob Zombie, the reunited Mudvayne and many more (side note: Stone Temple Pilots pulled out today due to positive Covid-19 tests within their “organization”).
But first, Kingdom Collapse had more than a warmup show. The group finally was able to return to the stage in this pandemic era by headlining Fitzgerald’s last Saturday night along with area and local bands Broken Color, Blood Moon, Surge and Waves (see 38-photo slideshow below).
Despite taking the stage at approximately 15 minutes after midnight, Kingdom Collapse came out firing on all cylinders. Their energy and short-but-sweet heavy songs were the perfect combination for a scene that welcomed a kick in the ass as live gigs strive to become the norm again. Watch the group in action on their first three songs “Uprise,” “Staring Into Nothing” and “Bring Me Down” via ATM’s Facebook Live footage as well as two-song finale “Falling Beneath” and “Suffer” below. The latter marked the band’s first single and has amassed more than 5 million views on YouTube, while “Uprise” was Octane’s Most Played Song for two consecutive weeks in 2020.
Kingdom Collapse, a proud-to-be independent artist that signed this past May with booking agency Dynamic Talent International, sports a pair of members fans may recognize from another San Antonio band. Norris and Work were guitarists in The Taking, with Norris now taking the reins as the primary songwriter in Kingdom Collapse.
Broken Color, serving as direct support to Kingdom Collapse, was a uniquely different vocalist/drummer duo combining metal, rap and emo that humorously warned the audience, “We’re not like the other bands on this bill. Let’s just address the elephant in the room.” Curiously, the changeover between predecessor Blood Moon and Broken Color pushed things back about an extra 30 minutes for Kingdom Collapse’s set due to extended soundchecking for the guitar and bass only to have Broken Color bring out their two friends to play only one song — a cover of Audioslave’s “Like A Stone” (ATM Facebook Live footage here).
As energetic as Kingdom Collapse’s set was, Blood Moon proved to be the heaviest and hardest group on the bill. The San Antonio quartet, which just formed under the Blood Moon moniker in 2020, demonstrated it will be a force to be reckoned with the more exposure it gets by virtue of the more gigs the guys play. Check out ATM’s Facebook Live footage of them in action on “Totality” and “Psycho” here as well as on “Here to Stay” below.
Vocalist/bassist Michael Canales, lead and rhythm guitarist Nicholas Ramos, lead guitarist Mike Dean and drummer Joel Valdez have all carved their niche in various original bands and tribute acts such as Maiden Killers, Brave New World, Lamb Of God tribute Laid To Rest and cover outfit Chill Factor.
Surge, out of Uvalde, Texas, and fronted by Kat Jacksin, rocked hard on a few originals and a cover of Krokus’ “Eat the Rich” (ATM Facebook Live footage here). Along with guitarist Dan Martini, bassist Erikk Lee and drummer Guss Locke, Surge is ready to unleash its debut album sometime next year. In the meantime, their Sunset Strip look and sound got things cooking on this night and, like Blood Moon, their energetic set was kind of like Frito Lay’s — you can’t have just one. So here’s hoping they’ll get to return to town soon and turn their music on to even more fans whether it’s at Fitzgerald’s or somewhere else.
The evening kicked off with teenage band Waves out of New Braunfels playing a mix of originals and covers. A.O. River, which was supposed to take the stage at 1 a.m. as a post-headliner act, did not make it to the bar after being involved in a car accident but was reportedly doing fine.
Kingdom Collapse’s ability to shine this weekend in the Sunshine State should go a long way toward returning the Alamo City to the national metal map as well as doing wonders and paving the way for further opportunities for the band. Already endorsed by Sirius Octane, Jose Mangin and its Kingdom Collapse Army on social media, the sky’s the limit for a group whose kingdom appears to be doing everything but collapsing. And whose outlook is “Unbreakable.”
