Metal can sometimes be a little over the top. Some put satanic lyrics or macabre imagery to the pure intensity of rapid-fire riffing and blast beats. Still, there’s a bright line between sloppy songwriting that hides behind gimmick and masterful compositions that do the genre justice. Mastodon does the latter. For 17 years, the Atlanta-based band has been melting the faces off unsuspecting audiences with their technical, prog-metal sounds, and now, in support of their latest record, Emperor of Sand, the band is stopping in San Antonio to make sure we end up with said melt-face. The quartet will play The Aztec Theatre with post metal outfit Russian Circles and The Eagles of Death Metal. In a world where bad metal seems to pass as good more than it should be able to, Mastodon harness the emotional intensity of the genre while displaying a sophisticated and intentional control over their instruments, songwriting and performances – a combination few in those spheres will ever come close to. With Eagles of Death Metal, Russian Circles.
Legendary California punk bands Bad Religion and Social Distortion brought their anthemic sounds to Boeing Center at Tech Port on Friday night. Here's…