Terror Fest Picks

Communion

Fri. 15, Lost Well, 4:45pm
Radically heavy Austin doom trio descends into dark and sludgy 15-minute opuses that are patient and smartly arranged and demonstrate a penchant for atmospheric middle sections. Zeus-like drummer Jeremy Jenkins pummels, while Dustin Anderson brings a Jimmy Page-like mysticism to his Les Paul, and bassist Jason Joachim burns microphones with wretched vocals. – Kevin Curtin

Of Feather & Bone

Fri. 15, Lost Well, 7:45pm
Denver currently throttles metal extremity on par with Seattle's grunge Nineties. On sophomore LP for Canadian doom gods Profound Lore, Bestial Hymns of Perversion, the titular deviation refers to the trio's brutal death metal blurting oppressively over black metal audio claustrophobia. Gas huffing asphyxiation. – Raoul Hernandez

Sixes

Fri. 15, Lost Well, 8:30pm
Fresh on their Worship Amps, Not Gods tour, L.A. sludge extremists Sixes drone through 2018's debut full-length Methistopheles with blackened doom. Frontman Stephen Cummings wails through a bacchanal of twisted bass from Zander Reddis and beats by Eddie Estrada. Hannes Bogacs blasts Armageddon on guitar. – Clara Wang

Pinkish Black

Fri. 15, Lost Well, 9:15pm
On American Idol, season 4, Simon Cowell told Daron Beck he belonged in ladies' underwear and red lipstick in an obscure cabaret. "They've seen my act," replied Beck. Today, he's half of Fort Worth synth and drums death rock duo Pinkish Black with Jon Teague. 2015's psychedelic Bottom of the Morning is informed by personal tragedy and The Price Is Right. – Christina Garcia

40 Watt Sun

Fri. 15, Lost Well, 11pm
On 2016's Wider Than the Sky, London's 40 Watt Sun blasted atmospheric, soul-baring dirges on romance and regret. Patrick Walker and Christian Leitch, both formerly of UK doom metal outfit Warning, drip minimal sludge and deeply personal 15-minute ballads alongside bassist William Spong in the trio's Texas debut. – Christina Garcia

Cough

Sat. 16, Barracuda in, 11:45pm
A dozen years in, consider this Richmond, Va., sledgehammer extreme metal's Lynyrd Skynyrd. Cough syrup tempos, concrete density, and doom outlook draw zero parallel to classic rock's triple-axe "Free Bird," except they're both as Southern as Jimmy Carter. 2010 breakout Ritual Abuse and Still They Prey in 2016 both belong to Relapse Records. – Raoul Hernandez

Exhorder

Sat. 16, Barracuda, 12:45am
Classic NOLA thrashers, Exhorder's 1986 cassette Get Rude primed the region for hostile thrash metal while Pantera was still playing glam. The ensuing underground classic, 1990's Slaughter in the Vatican, leads with Kyle Thomas killing the pope via semitheatrical wailing. Disbanding after 1992's groove metal follow-up The Law, Exhorder reunited post millennium with Thomas and founding guitarist Vinnie La Bella. – Kevin Curtin

Krallice

Sun. 17, Lost Well, 6:45pm
NYC black metal band Krallice has terrorized metallurgy technique for a decade, eight albums plus two EPs already under their iron-studded belts. 2017's Go Be Forgotten spirals guitarists Mick Barr and Colin Marston's primal riffs and kicks drummer Lev Weinstein into frenetic rhythms. Reshaping avant-garde metal with warbling synths, Krallice weaves sound densely. – Clara Wang