Ancient VVisdom

A Godlike Inferno (Shinebox)

Unplugged doom? Austin brotherhood Ancient VVisdom (pronounced “wisdom”) pairs Nathan Opposition and his brother Michael Jochum, both late of Cleveland metalcore legacy Integrity, with Iron Age metallurgists Justin Mason and Alex Hughes in a quartet of Satan-worshipping Americana subverts. Opening convocation “After Reality” tolls with Shriners-deep vox matching the steel-string resonance of an acoustic guitar and the decidedly Arthurian waft of dead maiden atmospherics, all of which comes to fruition in folky clapboard percussion and the song’s first lines: “This is life’s journey/See what tomorrow brings/We are the end of everything.” As with the creek-bed hues of 2009 Alice in Chains reboot Black Gives Way to Blue, AVV’s metallic omnipresence grounds an ominous majesty, front and center on the Sabbath/Zeppelin/Blue Öyster Cult lumber of “The Opposition” (“Hail to thee Lord Lucifer”) and classic metal déjà vu melodicism of “Lost Civilization.” A sole guitar, handsome vocal dirge, and bowed bass tones on “Children of the Wasteland” seal the tomb. Satan & Garfunkel.

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This article appears in July 1 • 2011.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.