Yesterday, I attended a metal concert at The Inkwell. For context, The Inkwell is a venue in Allentown, PA, and honestly one of the best spots for live music in the city. Last night they hosted a concert celebrating Ann Schlottman’s birthday. The bands that played were So Much Hope, Buried., Heartbent, Watersdeep, and Dead Within Days. I personally enjoyed Dead Within Days the most but the other ones were really good aswell.
So Much Hope, Buried.
So Much Hope, Buried. is a post-hardcore band from Wilkes-Barre, PA with a vocalist who plays the piano. You may be wondering, “A metal band that plays piano?” Yes, you heard that right, their lead vocalist Derek Nowak sings while playing the piano and it’s pretty awesome. Their guitarist is Andrew Blank and their bassist is Gavin Jacobs. Their drummer, Eric Novroski, is their producer aswell. This is because they are independent in order to allow them to go in whatever direction they want to without a label controlling them and that’s really cool.
Heartbent
Heartbent from North Carolina is an emo band, but they mostly focus on the aspect of vampires. More specifically the dark romance aspect. It’s not what I typically see at The Inkwell. It was a strange but nice change of pace. Their lead singer is Alex Folmer and he’s an especially interesting character. Elle Boyd, their bassist, was not there so I have no comment. The rhythm guitarist is Nate Crespo. However, he played bass this time around and did great. Neel Massey, their lead guitarist, was a pretty chill guy judging from our conversation after their set. Austin Collins was their drummer and was awesome.
Watersdeep
Watersdeep coming from Washington D.C. is a emo/post-hardcore band much like So Much Hope, Buried. but including elements of metalcore. Gabe Jaar is their lead vocalist and the guy really likes rubber ducks. So much that he sells signed ones at his merch stand. They also have a giant one that they typically would throw into the crowd but they didn’t this time around due to concerns about damaging the paintings on the walls of The Inkwell. Photo of the duck below.
Moving on, their guitarist is Tanner Campos, Ize Ryan is their bassist, and their drummer is Rohan Enamandra. The lead singer also mentioned that this was his first time in Allentown, and that he was a little nervous.
Dead Within Days
My favorite band at the venue by far was Dead Within Days. From New York, their lead singer is blind. They play mostly hardcore punk and metalcore. Their lead, Joel Sofia, as I mentioned is blind and he kept mentioning that he was nervous to fall off the stage due to being unable to see the edge. Robert Pepe, their guitarist, is genuinly chill based on our conversation after the set and before. The secondary guitarist is Matt Chinkel, with their bassist being Tom Bove, and their drummer being Anthony Latorre. I also may be a little biased due to them giving me a free shirt.
Free shirt from Dead Within Days
The reason they gave me a free shirt was because while I was checking their social media I saw that they made a post about being able to get a free shirt if you’re one of the first 5 people to use their new song The Cutting Edge on any Instagram post. I made a post and thought for sure that I wouldn’t get anything but then they messaged me saying that I won and they asked for my address to send the shirt in the mail but when I mentioned that I would be at their concert tonight and that they could just give it to me there they said that would be fine.
Then, when I got there I showed the guy at the merch stand the DMs and he seemed confused. He said I was probably talking to Robert their guitarist. When he brought him over we talked for a bit and I told him how I was just checking the bands out before I came, stumbled upon their social media post, and so on. We talked for a bit and then he gave me the shirt. It’s a really cool shirt and I’ll include a photo below of what it looks like. Overall, it was an awesome concert.
Shows like this are a real reminder of how strong the local scene really is. Every band brought a different style, and the crowd made the night unforgettable. If you’re in the Allentown area and haven’t checked out The Inkwell yet, you’re missing out. Happy birthday Ann, it was nice meeting you