Ringworm Hammer of the Witch (Relapse)

Imagine a band as unrelentingly brutal as Ringworm sticking around for a quarter of a century. Hammer of the Witch stains the earth more than 20 years after the Cleveland quartet’s debut LP The Promise, and the band’s metallic hardcore has only become fiercer since then. Longtime leader Human Furnace roars like a death head whose beer just ran out, while shredding amp fryer Matt Sorg and pedal-abusing kit destroyer Danny Zink ram bottle rockets up his nether regions. Bassist Ed Stephens holds on for dear life. “Vicious Circle of Life,” “I Recommend Amputation,” and “Leave Your Skin at the Door” dominate, but “One of Us Is Going to Have to Die” and “Psychic Vampire” boast their share of chugging hooks. The hammer comes down. Hard. (Sat., 1:30pm, Midway Field House)

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This article appears in October 24 • 2014.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.