Kyuss Lives! + The Sword [Show Preview]

Kyuss Lives!

Kyuss Lives! with The Sword and MonstrO
Saturday, October 1
Stubbs (801 Red River)
$22.50 - $25, 7pm, All Ages
[info] | [tickets]

Yes it’s true: Kyuss Lives! And to make their Saturday night show at Stubb’s even more irresistible, Austin metal masters The Sword are touring with them. The Sword has played a lot of local parties and some stunning shows at smaller venues. Oh, and they’ve also toured with Metallica in 2008-2009, and briefly in 2010. Now that metal is coming back with full force in Austin, and even chillwave aficionados have begun to bang their heads, it is absolutely bewildering that tickets are still available for this show.

In the late 1980s and early-mid ‘90s, Kyuss fused thrash, heavy metal and sludgy sounds, and became a genuinely bad-ass no bullshit metal band. Perhaps due to the sadly popular wussification of metal in the early ‘90s (see: Metallica), most of the love for Kyuss during their heyday came from metal purists. But, like many great artists, their brilliance was not widely appreciated until after their demise. Kyuss’ original guitarist, Joshe Homme, decided to sit this tour out, but the three quarters of their original lineup is back in full force with the addition of Bruno Fevery on guitar. What started as a reunion tour has become a new band unto itself: Kyuss Lives! will begin recording their debut album as soon as this tour pulls off the road.

Way too many people have oversimplified The Sword’s music as “stoner metal,” and worse yet, “hipster metal.” Some folks aiming in the right direction have characterized the band as part of the “new wave of American heavy metal.” It’s more accurate to say that with their first two albums, Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth, they went back to the roots of 1980s heavy metal without any pretense or fetishist retrofication. Actually, their sound is so genuine that they may not have had any intentions of doing anything other than being - and playing as - exactly who they are. With their 2010 album, Warp Riders, they created a thematic, heavy metal space fantasy comic book that rocks every bit as hard as their first two albums. The Sword’s live performances are not to be missed. If you’re new to Austin or for some other reason have not seen The Sword, it’s time to get on it; they truly are phenomenal.

MonstrO, with their unique twist on triumphant, operatic metal (think Torche with a touch of Hawkwind), should launch this show sky high with the first downbeat, so it’s advisable to show up when Stubb’s opens the gates at 7 PM.

Kyuss Lives: [official]
The Sword: [official]
MonstrO: [official]