Crucial Concerts for the Coming Week

Doom, Sludge, & Death Metal

Bridge Farmers, Far Out Lounge, Friday 6

Ripplefest Pre-Party: The Well, Holy Death Trio, Swan Dive, Friday 6

The Obsessed, the Skull, Lost Well, Sunday 8

Deicide, Come & Take It Live, Tuesday 10

Herd immunity connects us all and so too ping the degrees of separation between these four upcoming sunderings across Austin.

“I feel very lucky I’m able to be a vessel for sonic possession and exploration,” offered Bridge Farmers frontman Tyler Hautala last June, so witness the local sludge locomotive barreling once again, but he did lament a canceled SXSW 2020 gig with the Obsessed. Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s seminal doom levelers now circle back around Sunday at the Lost Well. Between that vice grip, the genre godfather co-headlines at Ripplefest in New Braunfels on Saturday alongside cosmic Big D psychos Mothership.

The pre-party, however, loads into Red River haven Swan Dive on Friday with homegrown doom criers the Well and Holy Death Trio, whose September LP Introducing … on Ripple Music with Weinrich and Mothership arrives via A&R from Ozzy plucker Rob “Blasko” Nicholson.

Sharing a local stage in 2015 with Weinrich’s other gloom emantion, St. Vitus, Obsessed co-headliners the Skull constitutes the sleeper this week. “We were playing doom before it was called ‘doom,'” snorted Ron Holzner, bassist for the Skull and pioneering precursor Trouble, in 2018. Bandmate in both, legendarily ripe larynx Eric Wagner chuckled, “I got four kids and five grandkids now. It’s funny, they call me ‘doom pop.'”

That leaves Glen Benton’s demonic death metallers Deicide to rush Come & Take It Live, the same room the band set alight in 2012 when it housed Beauty Ballroom. – Raoul Hernandez

Hotel Vegas & Volstead Turn 10 … and a Half

Eastside complex beloved for local music and late patio nights, Hotel Vegas and Volstead Lounge marked a decade back in sleepy March 2021. The 10.5-year-old establishment amends with a momentous weekend. Free Thursday leads with El Combo Oscuro and DJ collective Peligrosa’s locally sourced Latin dance floor encouragement, while Fine Southern Gentlemen prints the first 110 visitors a free tee. Two following ticketed nights get blood pumping for John Dwyer’s garage punk energizers Osees, with blues blisters Amplified Heat opening Friday and mystic prog-psychers Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band starting Saturday. More hometown greats like Being Dead’s chaotic punk and Nevil’s garage slither uphold inside. – Rachel Rascoe

Maya Jane Coles

Heavy low-end engineering dance floor maven Maya Jane Coles has been moody since housing the international stage with her 2011 track “What They Say,” a jam sampled by Nicki Minaj and used as inspiration by Katy Perry. As techno alias Cayam and hip-hop and bass-music moniker Nocturnal Sunshine, Coles ties her tried-and-true thick bass and drums approach with a hooky vocal style that’s dark but bouncy, plangent but pick-me-up. Touring stateside in advance of her fifth album, Night Creature, the British Japanese producer brings her DJ’s ear for house groove to RealMusic’s dedicated ravers at Mala Santa on Friday. – Christina Garcia

Empowerment Fest

Between the mesmerizing ballads of Tiarra Girls, the psychedelic rage of Bondbreakr, and the fierce punk of Naga Brujo, Dissent Records’ Empowerment Fest puts women back on top. In addition to the queen rockers, the South Austin staple will feature womxn-run vendors and supporting organizations, such as Girls Rock Austin – a nonprofit using music education and mentorship to empower girls, plus trans and nonbinary youth – who’ll receive part of the event’s profits. All-ages, $10, doors at 4pm.  – Morgan-Taylor Thomas

Jazz PR

Formed by trombonist, composer, and UNT and UT graduate Randy Zimmerman in 1989, Jazz PR (aka Jazz Puerto Rico) played their first gig at the Hole in the Wall, before Marc Katz offered them a residency at his club Top of the Marc (later Momo’s). Alongside co-founding percussionist Willie Hernandez, the trombone extraordinaire owns the Latin jazz/salsa arena in Texas, with four albums and branches in Austin, El Paso, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. This gig, in-person and livestreamed, marks the band’s first since before the pandemic. – Michael Toland

David Shabani, Geto Gala

Born to Congolese parents in Paris, David Shabani immigrated to Canada before launching alternative hip-hop artistry in Texas. His idiosyncratic multi-city story plays out in the assured, soft-edged lines of Friday’s EP Shabani’s Smooth Sounds of the Summer. With homages to his native French and Lingala, the artist blends bouncy club beats with spacious soundscapes to let lyrics lead. Try funny “Life’s Not Fair” (“All my exes live in Texas, but my wifey’s in Toronto“) or biographical single “SJU to AUS.” Deezie Brown and Jake Lloyd open as Geto Gala, the nostalgic, Southern-centric collaboration originated in an excellent February LP. – Rachel Rascoe

This article appears in August 6 • 2021.