From the second mezzanine, one might have guessed the thrashing six-piece onstage was some newish indie-rock-hardcore hybrid of a band, emulating the rock personae of an
earlier era. In all actuality, theyʼve been doing this sort of thing for nearly 15 years. Austin natives …And You Will Know Us By
the Trail of Dead (or simply, Trail of Dead), stopped in Brooklyn just days after the release of its latest album The Century of
Self. While the inevitable criticisms have resurfaced ( “too old,” “too ambitious” ), the bandʼs live show was still as aggressive and three-dimensional as ever.

Known for a dense, layered sound and wide-ranging catalog, Trail of Dead have progressed as one of rock’s most self-aware acts; after years of sonic experimentation and boozy self-exploration, the bandʼs collective identity conveys their post-hardcore tendencies as well as their elevated art-rock temperaments. Here is a band in which each member requires at least one slash to separate their musical functions―take Conrad Keely (vocals/guitar/piano) for instance―and can bang out an
exhausting live program for a mixed-bag of fans.

Welcomed to the Music Hall of Williamsburg with a rousing ovation, they built on slow, intensifying crescendos within moments, as one of the bandʼs best live attributes is control. For all the explosive energy and lightning-fast jams, they maintained a reverberant mash of sound and punctuated it with
precise snare shots and a furiously organized clang of cymbals.
As performers, it almost appears as though Trail of Dead channel the spirits of classic rockers: a windmilling Keely delivers the frenetic spasticity of Pete Townshend while drummer Jason Reece, the deafening forcefulness of Keith Moon. And speaking of Keely and Reece, the two frequently found themselves switching off duties―in one case, the former relinquished the mic and sat at the keyboard while the later took on guitar and vocals―giving Keely a break from his melodic
half-croon, making way for Reeceʼs half-scream.

Possibly the most notable thing about Trail of Deadʼs live set-up is the bandʼs penchant for double drum kits. Because their songs are very much grounded by percussion, like the laborious “Mistakes and Regrets” and “Bells of Creation,” two drummers in unison, then dueling, then converging again, obviously had a heavier, more cathartic effect. They managed to cover “Clair de Lune,” “Caterwaul,” and other favorites from Worlds Apart and Source Tags & Codes before testing out “Fields of Coal” from the new album. Keely thanked the crowd, shared his gratitude for “atheism, existentialism” and other ideologies that only a rocker could ponder aloud and get away with, and called it a night.