Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Venomous Maximus + Featherface + New York City Queens + The Lotus Effect + Structures + Vildhjarta + More

Alright, y’all — running late-late-late tonight, I’m afraid…sigh. Which sucks, because tonight — Friday, November 15th — sure has a bunch of awesome stuff going on, and it’s not too late to get out for some of it. We’re gonna have to keep it brief, but here we go:

Venomous Maximus/Eagle Claw/Bowel/Moonrazer @ Fitzgerald’s
Yes, yes, yes. It’s a full slate of sludgy, doom-y, murky metal awesomeness tonight at Fitzgerald’s; the headliners are absolutely the draw for me, though, because {Venomous Maximus} have risen over the past few years to become one of the most badass metal bands in town. If you’re a fan of the Judas Priest-esque twin guitar attack and The Sword-esque songs with Cthulhu-leaning, foreboding lyrics, this band is for you, trust me.

If you don’t believe me, here’s some proof, in the form of the video for their song “Moonchild,” off of last year’s Beg Upon The Light (for which, btw, there’s a review up now over here):

Paste Untapped Official Pre-Party, featuring New York City Queens, Featherface, & DJ David Graham @ MKT Bar (1001 Austin; 7PM, free!)
This one’s partway over already, I’m afraid, but dangit, make it out if you can — it’s a “pre-show” for the Paste Untapped Festival tomorrow downtown, and it’s almost as awesome, bands-wise (okay, maybe I’m biased).

I totally, totally adore {Featherface}, for one thing, with their hazy-yet-energetic, head-nodding breed of psych-pop — those guys can write some awesome songs, and I’m bummed to learn through the grapevine that they’ve kinda-sorta moved up to Austin these days. (Seriously, guys; tell me it’s not true, please?) And then there’s headliners {New York City Queens}, who are none of the things their band’s name says but are ridiculously good besides, crafting a tightly-wound, desperate-ish indie-pop sound that’s hard to resist (and no, you shouldn’t try). Oh, and the show’s free; do it, people.

The Lotus Effect/Henly/Another Pearl Harbor @ The 19th Hole (The Woodlands)
For all those folks up on the north end of town, hey, you’re not totally screwed for tonight, either — head on up to The 19th Hole in The Woodlands and check out some damn, damn, damn good flat-out alternarock, courtesy of {The Lotus Effect}. These guys are excellent, and I’m still looking for that followup album to their debut EP (y’all listening?), hoping for more tunes like “Fireflies” or “Mercutio”…

Veil of Maya/Structures/Northlane/Vildhjarta/Here Comes the Kraken/An Oath of Misdirection @ Walter’s
And last but not least, Walter’s tonight has a whole bunch of heavy-as-fuck deathcore, chock full of shredded-throat Cookie Monster vocals, guitars that sound like gigantic pieces of machinery, and trip-hammer beats that make your spine deform. I’ll freely admit that I’ve never been big on this kind of thing, but hell, this actually seems like a pretty good lineup.

Veil of Maya is probably the most straightforwardly deathcore of the bunch, with a serious resemblance to Emmure (albeit with less of the streetwise posturing and more unintelligible lyrics). The ones I’m more impressed by, though, are Structures and Northlane, both of whom meld elements of prog-rock with the metalcore stuff, with these intertwining guitar lines weaving in and around off-time rhythms and weird little electronic bits, and Swedes vildhjarta, who really are a prog-metal band, more than anything else, albeit with a whole lot more weight behind it.

Go and try to bang your head, at least, without giving yourself a headache.

Runners-Up:
The Beans @ Aloft Houston (5415 Westheimer)
Kate Nash/La Sera @ Fitzgerald’s
Henry Kaiser/Sandy Ewen/Ryan Edwards/David Dove/Christopher Nelson/Damon Smith/Abel Cisneros @ 14 Pews (800 Aurora; 8PM, $10)
Young Mammals @ Cactus Music (5:30PM)
Darwin’s Finches/Fire Moth/The Mavens @ The Continental Club
Circus Opera/The Girl Behind The Mirror/Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands/The Traffik James/The Easy Credit Dance Theater @ Eastdown Warehouse (850 McKee)
A Fistful of Soul @ The Big Top