Tonight: Venomous Maximus, Saint Vitus, From Beyond, & More, at Fitz

Okay, so I know the “big” news of this week is Summerfest, but what the hell, it’s not like the musical world’s stopped turning completely in anticipation of that, the same way it doesn’t for SXSW. Shows still happen, and some of them, yes, are badass.

Like, say, this one, tonight at Fitzgerald’s. For one thing, I truly, truly dig those {Venomous Maximus} guys more and more with each release they put out, doom-y guitars, witchcraft-obsessed lyrics, and all. They thunder along like The Sword if that band were more about leather and getting into fights than they were Robert E. Howard stories (no offense meant, btw; I love The Sword, too). Here’s most recent release The Mission:

These guys basically take the modern form of doom-metal and drag it backwards ’til it sounds like it might’ve if Phil Lynott & co. had gone through a “doom period” prior to Think Lizzy’s demise.

Which kind of makes sense, actually, considering that headliners Saint Vitus got their start back in 1979 and these days call themselves “The Godfathers of Doom Metal.” Hell, with that lengthy a lineage, they may damn well be right. I haven’t heard a whole lot the band’s done, but their video for “Let Them Fall” is downright chilling:

It’s sludgy, gnarly stuff, and pairing it with the various footage of people trying (and succeeding?) to end it all is pretty damn perfect.

Plus, there’s also relative newcomers {From Beyond}, a “space-doom” crew about whom both {29-95.com}‘s Ramon Medina and the {Houston Press}‘s Jef With One F have rightly raved and who’re celebrating the release of debut EP One Year tonight. I’ve only heard clips of them, too, unfortunately, but what I have heard is fucking great, in a seriously Red Fang/Federation X kind of way, all thick-ass, bassy guitars and fist-in-your-face fury. Here’s the little bit I’ve gotten to listen to so far:

All three are well, well worth checking out. The show starts at 7PM, and Austinites Dixie Witch & Pushmen, local boys {TeXXXas} & {Sanctus Bellum}, and San Antonians Pillcrusher are all also playing, so it may damn well start at 7PM, unlike most shows I’ve been to lately. Tickets are $15…