Today we received word that everyone's favorite thrash band that knows how to work through their feelings have created their own music festival. Entitled the Orion Music + More, the event will take place on June 23rd and 24th of this year in Atlantic City, New Jersey. more ›

Headliners Kyuss Lives! are not on a comeback tour. more ›

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. more ›

Esteemed Californian stoner-metal outfit Fu Manchu is scheduled to rock our town later this week (Thursday at Emo’s), but more significantly pressingly, our very own metal gods The Sword will commemorate the release of a third full-length Warp Riders with a performance in the Waterloo Records parking lot this evening at 7. The Sword embarks on a tour of Australia and New Zealand (in support of Metallica) next month, returns for a quick U.S. jaunt in October, and then heads to Europe through the end of the year. Wish the band bon voyage, crack a couple of Heavy Metal Parking Lot jokes, and of course, enjoy the technically adroit, conceptually genius, and unerringly brilliant metal magic we’ve come to expect from these talented local lads. more ›

The Sword have announced a handful of 2010 tour dates, testing out new songs from an as-yet-unnamed full-length. The band will start recording the follow up to Gods of the Earth here in Austin beginning in February. more ›

Fun Fun Fun Fest has just announced the addition of The Sword to Saturday's lineup. They'll play at 4:25 on the Black Stage. More Info and tickets at Funfunfunfest.com. more ›

'Nites blog reveals information on an upcoming Black & White Years EP, Nursery Myths, due September 15. more ›

Last night's Sword show at the Mohawk was jam-packed -- sold out, in fact -- and was blisteringly brutal on all fronts. Though some fans were turned away, they'll all have another chance again tonight as the local metal outfit takes the stage for part two of their Austinist-presented stand. Photos from last night's show courtesy Tyler Nutter. more ›

As we mentioned on Monday, Austinist is pleased to present two nights of The Sword’s metal massacre at The Mohawk this weekend. We caught up with bassist (and producer) Bryan Richie recently -- check out the interview below. And enjoy “How Heavy This Axe” off Gods of the Earth via YouTube -- the video was directed by local media entity Super!Alright!. more ›

Hard rock and metal fans in Central Texas have been blessed with some amazing concerts in the last year and a half. Iron Maiden brought their nostalgic “Somewhere Back In Time” tour to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Selma last year, Metallica sought and destroyed at Stubb’s this past SXSW, and just last month, Tool’s obvious genius was showcased at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Now we can take a step back from those mammoth gigs and look to Austin’s very own metal icons to put the heavy back in metal -- Austinist is proud to present two nights of The Sword this weekend at The Mohawk -- enter the form below for a chance to win two tickets to Saturday’s show. more ›

Austin's The Sword have been busy. In 2008, after the release of Gods of the Earth (Kemado) the band toured extensively with bands like Machine Head, Lamb of God and Clutch. They also did dozens of dates with Metallica, supported them on the 2008 European Vacation Tour. more ›

Austinist is hosting a listening party and happy hour in the Mohawk's green room on June 9 to celebrate the release of Sonic Youth's The Eternal. Gerard Cosloy will DJ and Waterloo Records will be on-hand selling copies of the album. more ›

Following the Sword's tour diary with Metallica? Catch up. more ›

When winter hits and national acts slow their roll, Austin locals tend to become more vibrant than ever. With Free Week just around the corner and so many great local releases prepping for their street dates, we thought we'd take a moment and catch you up. more ›

Yesterday, White Denim is soft-releasing their new album, Exposion, online only through TopSpin Media (if it sounds familiar, it might be because Byrne & Eno just released Everything That Happens Will Happen Today on the same platform). more ›

One of Austin’s finest metal acts, The Sword builds on the promise of their debut Age of Winters with its sophomore effort Gods of the Earth. GOTE begins softly enough with the intro to “The Sundering,” but before one can have any misgivings, a crunching riff takes over and ignites what’s to come for the next 45 minutes. Sure, there are requisite song titles like “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians” and suitable lyrics such as “The gates of the keeps are all closing / And the broken men wander the roads / the farmers have fled to the forests / burning their fields as they go” (“Lords”) -- necessary tidbits that complete the Sword experience, but the heart of the content is in the thunderous rock, insistent riffs, and raw energy. The Sword is scheduled to open for Metallica in Europe come July but not before a set at the Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival in June. The band kicked off its current U.S. tour earlier this month. A must for fans of Black Sabbath and even later metal giants like Megadeth and Iron Maiden, GOTE is a full throttle assault on the listener’s ears with inventive, dueling guitars; distant howls of “greater mysteries” and “the faery queen’s armies”; and a general atmosphere of sludgy heaviness. more ›

Glasgow's Frightened Rabbit are a a three-piece outfitted by siblings Scott and Grant Hutchinson (guitar/vocals and drums, respectively), and like a handful of rock outfits past, lack a bassist. Their 2006 release, Sings the Greys, was well-received critically, but lacked the distribution to properly permeate initially. Luckily, Fat Cat stepped in and helped the band re-record and re-master Greys, setting them on their way to record Midnight Organ. more ›

Every week, Le Diamant Brut shuffles through our inbox, unearthing musical MySpace gems for you -- here at home and beyond. Enjoy. more ›

Emo’s Free Week has come and gone, but the venue and the city march on with a buffet of mouth-watering shows available for consumption tonight. Eclectic beats from Dan Deacon pace Emo’s inside stage (as a part of the Ultimate Reality Tour) while Steamroller, She Craves, Killer Crocs of Uganda, and The Banner Year rock Emo’s Lounge. more ›

Image from Scion's websiteSo you’re all set for an afternoon with the family and/or friends, tons of food on the horizon, be it Turkey or Tofurkey. Still, you need to scratch that live music itch before heading home. Well, fear not oh lovely residents of Austin, the city has a solid night of gigs on the 21st in store for the common layperson. If you’re not already planning on hitting up the Benko and The... more ›

As promised, here's the schedule of set times for this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest, sponsored in part by Austinist.com. Fun Fun Fun Fest: [official] [myspace] [tickets] Update: Download this as a pdf Saturday, November 3rd Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 12:30 PM 12:45 PM The Lemurs(12:50-1:20) Down To Nothing(12:40-1:10) 1:00 PM Djs Manny and Bigface(1-2) 1:15 PM Iron Age(1:10-1:40) 1:30 PM Zykos(1:25-1:55) 1:45 PM Viva Hate(1:45-2:15) 2:00 PM Brothers and Sisters(2-2:30) 2:15 PM... more ›

It’s finally here! Fun Fun Fun Fest kicks off this Saturday at Waterloo Park at noon. You best have bought tickets by now, or won ‘em off our various giveaways. If you haven’t, here’s another chance! Check out the following videos sent to us by Rae Davis and Prince Klassen to hype you up, and then naturally, enter to win tickets. Rae Davis spins a variety of genres nice n’ early on Sunday at 1... more ›

Somewhere in between catchy melodies on Stage 1 and pulsating beats on Stage 3 lies a catalog of punk rock bands waiting to rock your nuts off at this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. Among them, a punk act from fertile California will occupy Stage 2 at 2:40 p.m. on November 4th. CH3 (that’s Channel Three, not the hydrocarbon unit) formed in 1980 in Los Angeles and their politically charged tracks like “Manzanar” soon became... more ›

We’ll admit it. We love Girl Talk. The sight of some normal looking person leaning over the laptop on a stage generating all kinds of musical mayhem is pretty standard nowadays. And there is no one we’d rather prefer at the helm than this Pittsburgh lad named Gregg Gillis. Gillis shared his past Austin experiences while also commenting on his “trial and error” approach to assembling beats when we last spoke with him leading up... more ›

Fun Fun Fun Fest is just around the corner and today we feature Kevin Barnes and his merry gang of electro-pop connoisseurs that comprise Of Montreal. Barnes has garnered infamy this year thanks to his shenanigans, but synth-powered melodies and instantly catchy chorus’ remain his focal outlet. The wonderful folk at Polyvinyl Record Co. have provided us with the band’s brand new video, “Gronlandic Edit” off this year’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?... more ›

Fun Fun Fun Fest captured more than a few hearts last December on a cold winter evening with a three-stage-pronged attack that provided ample genres for everyone in attendance. Some of the stand-out acts included Spoon, The Black Angels, The Octopus Project, Peaches, and Prefuse 73. This year, the fest is back, bigger than before, and a month earlier to boot. November 3rd and 4th will see Waterloo Park transformed into a musical carnival featuring... more ›

Fun Fun Fun Fest captured more than a few hearts last December on a cold winter evening with a three-stage-pronged attack that provided ample genres for everyone in attendance. Some of the stand-out acts included Spoon, The Black Angels, The Octopus Project, Peaches, and Prefuse 73. This year, the fest is back, bigger than before, and a month earlier to boot. November 3rd and 4th will see Waterloo Park transformed into a musical carnival featuring... more ›

If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump. Less than a week after the Austin City Limits Music Festival packed up its gear for another year, La Grave Field in Fort Worth hosted the 2007 Wall Of Sound Festival. Presented by Spune and co-sponsored by Coors Light, the Fort Worth Weekly, and yours truly (among others), the event kicked off bright n' early on the 22nd of... more ›

What a difference a year makes—certainly in the case of this fledgling music festival. Last December's inaugural Fun Fun Fun Fest featured over two dozen bands and DJs, and showcased a good variety of indie rock, punk, and electronic music. This year, they've grown even bigger, better, and bolder: the second annual installment will span two days and has been pushed ahead by a month, to November 3rd and 4th. Staying true to their... more ›

Heavy Metal -- the phrase has been used in various connotations since Black Sabbath (arguably) generated the first metal ‘sound’ back in the late 60’s. Ever since, the genre has fluctuated between differing standards and floated through a number of decades. Be it radio friendly acts such as Godsmack, the thinking man’s Tool, the stoner riffs of Fu Manchu, or local flavor in the form of The Sword, the current state of metal crosses many... more ›