On October 16, The Haunt rolled in to take over Empire Underground in Albany. Vocalist Anastasia Haunt’s siren song cutting through the dark as the room locked in around her.
Touring behind New Addiction, their debut album, the Florida-born siblings Anastasia and Maxamillion Haunt turned the venue into a pressure cooker of adrenaline. It was clear this wasn’t a band trying to arrive. They already had.
Empire Underground isn’t glamorous, but it’s everything a rock venue should be. Literally beneath the street, its low ceilings and rough edges trap the sound until it’s rattling inside your ribs. With a max capacity of around 400, the room forces the band and fans into the same orbit—no distance, but serious connection. The Haunt thrived in it, coming out swinging with total command and no wasted motion.
They sound like the redheaded stepchildren of The Pretty Reckless and Paramore, polished enough to cut, raw enough to sting. Max’s guitar sliced through the mix, lean and deliberate, while Anastasia prowled the stage with fearless control. Her voice is both a weapon and its wound, one verse is a whisper, the next a scream that dares you not to look away.
“Bad Omen”, turned the floor into a living current. Its dark heartbeat, part groove, part growl, pulled the crowd in—no moshing, just bodies caught up in its weight. “Claws” a fan favorite, is sharp and elastic in how it transitions, shifting from restraint to release without warning. The band fed off each other’s timing, every glance and pause stretching the tension until it snapped perfectly back into place.
“New Addiction,” is the set’s fulcrum. It’s an anthem without predictability, a confession set to distortion. Anastasia didn’t just sing it, she threw it like a challenge. The audience caught every word, taking in the chorus and shouting it back like a pact.
Watching the Haunt siblings together is hypnotic. Max stays grounded, all intent and in control; Anastasia burns at the edge, volatile and radiant. Their chemistry bends the room, each shift in tempo or volume landing with purpose. Behind them, the rhythm section keeps it sharp, giving the chaos shape.
By mid-set, the air was thick and electric. No one drifted toward the bar. The Haunt held the crowd completely, not through gimmicks but sheer presence.
Watching a band realize their own power in real time, there’s a thrill in that. New Addiction might be their first full-length, but onstage it sounds like impact.
With the final chord, the room didn’t just cheer, it exhaled. They left everything behind on that stage. The Haunt aren’t coming up. They’re already in motion—young, dangerous, and running full tilt toward whatever’s next.
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