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Metallurgy

Grave Miasma likes to fuck shit up. “Yama Transforms to Afterlife,” opening cut to the London act’s fourth slab, begins with mystical sitar that’s almost soothing before slamming into filthy, doom-laden riffs, thrashing death beats, and blackened vokills reeking of malevolence. “Utterance of the Foulest Spirit” stays true to that stench, adding a knee-twisting rhythm…

by Michael Toland

Metallurgy

As Horseback, North Carolina’s Jenks Miller originally walked an experimental black metal path. Now he’s wandered so far into the woods he’s left headbanging behind. On sixth full-length Dead Ringers, Miller indulges his appetite for electronics and repetition alongside psychedelic excursions. The motorik beat driving “Shape of the One Thing,” sedate vocals of “Lion Killer,”…

by Michael Toland

Headlines

City Council’s full agenda today (Aug. 18) includes the third reading of the Mobility Bond proposition, public hearings on the FY 2017 budget, and the usual glut of contracts and contentions (see “Council Reaches Consensus on Mobility Bond” and “City Council Clashes Over 2017 Budget”) – even as City Manager Marc Ott announced he is…

by Chronicle Staff

Metallurgy

Mantar believes that fire is the purifying force in the universe, so the German duo does its best to bring that notion to life on second LP Ode to the Flame. Guitarist Hanno and drummer Erinc throttle elements of thrash, doom, and NWOBHM, dragging them down the train tracks with a Motörhead-esque death choogle. What…

by Michael Toland

Metallurgy

As half of avant-metal authorities Corrections House, guitarist Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and soundscaper Sanford Parker (Minsk, Buried at Sea, a million productions) trudge moodily through the intersection of noise metal and ambient electronics. Mirrors of Psychic Warfare, the duo’s project away from their busy bandmates, steps closer to the latter side while still scanning metal.…

by Michael Toland

2016 Contest & Festival Facts

Admission The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival requests that you pay an admission fee in the form of three nonperishable food items to be donated to the Central Texas Food Bank or a $5 cash donation. A collection site will be set up at the entrance to Fiesta Gardens. No Dogs – No Coolers -…

by Chronicle Staff

Metallurgy

Nails hates you. They hate your mother, sister, grandmother, and your dog. What the California triad despises most are trend jumpers, sycophants, and hangers-on – anyone who attaches themselves to something because of a perceived cool factor, rather than passion or belief. That loathing permeates the band’s third album like xenophobia at a Trump rally.…

by Michael Toland

Celebrity Judges

This year’s distinguished panel of judges includes … Brandon Watson (Head Judge): Food editor, Austin Chronicle Héctor González: Mexican food preservator, Mexicanity Mariam Parker: Executive director, Austin Food & Wine Alliance CJ Morgan: Radio personality, KLBJ Nadia Chaudhury: Editor, Eater Austin Austin Ewald: Sous chef, Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile, Grizzelda’s Anastacia Uriegas: Food writer, Time…

by Chronicle Staff

Metallurgy

Political and social turmoil nourish angry bands. Between the austerity measures levied on an unwilling populace and the riots rising out of that discontent, Greek quintet Sarabante chews on plenty of foul gristle on second album Poisonous Legacy. Their metallic hardcore seethes with righteous rage on freight-train torpedoes “Ruination” and “A Day With No Sun…

by Michael Toland

Metallurgy

Unlike most black metal acts, Myrkur – Amalie Bruun of Ex Cops – committed the unforgivable sin of woodshedding in the deeply uncvlt realm of indie rock. On second LP Mausoleum, recorded live at an actual sepulchre in Oslo, the Danish auteur eschews metal completely, refashioning her catalog acoustically. Accompanied by piano, ex-Ulver shredder Håvard,…

by Michael Toland

Metallurgy

Withered works furiously to erase any perceived lines between black and death metal. Grief Relic, the Atlanta quartet’s fourth album and first in six years, boasts high-powered lineup changes, with virtuoso bassist Colin Marston and Primitive Man guitarist Ethan McCarthy joining leader Mike Thompson and drummer Beau Brandon. Experienced blood gives brutal powerhouses “Withdraw” and…

by Michael Toland

Metallurgy

Heaviness is a function of subject as often as downtuned guitars and bass distortion, and that blend of cochlear bludgeon and emotional distress finds its fullest flower in doom metal. The petals open widely on Cough’s third disc. This fearsome Richmond, Va., foursome indulges its love of all things dark and dreary through the viscous,…

by Michael Toland

Cooking Tent Demos

We want the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival to stick with you long after the doors close, but we are not talking about heartburn. We asked two of Austin’s leading chefs and one of San Antonio’s brightest to come up with hot sauce-inspired recipes especially for the event. They more than delivered, creating dishes that…

by Brandon Watson

Metallurgy

Like a Robert E. Howard novel through an Orange amp stack, Eerie slays snow beasts and evil wizards with the almighty riff. The bicoastal project seems to draw inspiration from guitarist Tim Lehi’s gruesome, EC Comics-esque cover. On “Master of Creation” and “Yeti,” he and bassist Dave Sweetapple (Witch, Sweet Apple) ladle psychedelic doom prog…

by Michael Toland

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

In 2004, the FDA approved maggots as a medical device. Model Gisele Bündchen was discovered in a Brazilian fashion mall. According to ThinkProgress.org, in 2016 Olympics boxing, 250 men will compete, compared to only 36 women. USA Boxing didn’t lift its 106-year ban on women competing until 1993. Back in the Seventies, the Pennsylvania State…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Soccer Watch

The UT Longhorns beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-0 in a preseason exhibition last Friday; they got a pair of goals from junior forward Olivia Brook and another from soph Katie Glenn, but were rarely tested on defense, where they used all three veteran goalies. The Horns open the season for real this Friday, Aug. 19,…

by Nick Barbaro

Metallurgy

Progressive metal remains perfect for Berklee music school nerds and hardly anyone else. The big difference between pioneer Fates Warning and acts they inspired over 30 years becomes pretty obvious when Theories of Flight launches: hooks. The 12th album by the Hartford, Conn., quintet fields as many sing-along choruses as it does non-4/4 tempos and…

by Michael Toland

Quote of the Week

“I love Austin, I love living here, I love the people here, and I have nothing but good things to say about Austin.” – City Manager Marc Ott, responding to Mayor Steve Adler’s congratulatory remarks on his acceptance of the executive directorship of the International City/County Management Association

by Chronicle Staff

Metallurgy

Ever since Metallica went from the world’s heaviest cult band to its biggest rock group, most major metal acts have wondered if they, too, could balance integrity and mainstream success. French prog-death masters Gojira take their shot on sixth LP Magma. Doubling down on the egalitarian edge of 2012 breakthrough L’Enfant Sauvage, vox populi Joe…

by Michael Toland

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