New Jersey’s own Melodic Metal masters Dark Empire were playing a short tour with both Suspyre and Odin’s Court and hitting the “Old Office” club way down in the recesses of The Knitting Factory. The interesting show brought a lot of cool Metal to the table so those who might want to learn more need only scroll past the logo below. I made sure to document and photograph all three of the bands that performed so dig in.

Artist: Dark Empire
Venue: Knitting Factory: The Old Office (New York, NY)
Opener: Odin’s Court, Suspyre
Date: 8/1/2008
Label: Killzone Records

Before this particular show being discussed, I had actually been to The Knitting Factory on a number of occasions and attended performances that occurred in what is referred to as “The Main Space”. I’ve even been to the room directly below this area which is called “The Tap Room” and I have to say that both areas are perfect scenarios for bands of the heavier model. I had seen The Gathering, Unexpect, Alex Skolnick Trio and a host of others here but tonight’s gig would not be in either of those regions of the club and instead draw me down one flight further into the buildings deepest recesses – the third room in the club known as “The Old Office”. Clearly this must have been a spot where office space was once kept judging by the title, but now its been set up to have a small stage on the far left hand side, a general area for standing and some seating and a fairly decent sized bar. I thought it a great thing for the Knitting Factory to have three different areas to have bands in for this allows shows to be going on at all times and delivering entertainment to the fans who earnestly support their favorite music. I had no idea what to expect of this space having never been down this far for any reason but tonight I would get my chance as a three act Power Metal mini festival would be taking place. The bands scheduled were Dark Empire, Odin’s Court and Suspyre and while I was led to believe that Suspyre was headlining this particular show, it would instead be the guys in Dark Empire. We reviewed that bands debut CD “Distant Tides” a couple of years ago and knew what to expect from them, so the fact that they would headline didn’t matter much to me and was just par for the course of the ever changing manner in which gigs were delivered to the public. Instead the start off band or opener would be Suspyre, a band whose name I had heard in the past but never seen and now would be my chance. Here is how the night went down for those interested.
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