Death metal has roots in numerous bands and places, most significantly in the humid, blood-soaked, stimulant-crazed state of Florida, a peninsula cursed since the days of the Spaniards, if not before. Its tentacles have spread across the globe, including to the poisoned wastes of Iowa, which brings us to the subject of this article.

The Tubs (confuse with the Tubes at your own risk) are a Welsh band, relocated to London and now touring America for the first time. On first listen, their newest album Cotton Crown is a glorious wash of '90s college-rock guitar, a warm shower at midnight in a gently-lit bathroom, radio-ready four-chord nostalgia for hipsters and Blues Traveler fans alike. Taken at the most superficial, background level, it's an energizing shot of musical positivity.

The three live-music events scheduled at Rozz-Tox (2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL) in May pair talented local artists with respectable regional bands, and, on May 18th, a topnotch, brand-new, international heat-seeker.

Apocalyptic in its vision and ambitious in its musicality, High on Fire’s first album since 2018 is an explosion of pent-up heavy metal energy from one of the finest and most progressive bands active today.

Black metal was born in Scandinavia more than three decades ago, the devilish creation of bored, angry, and misanthropic teenagers who sought to take the rawness of thrash and carry it to faster and more sinister extremes. Thirty-plus years later, the style is more popular than ever, but many bands have realized that reinventing the diabolical wheel is not enough.

There are a number of fine performances scheduled at Rozz-Tox as detailed on their Web site, but the arrival of the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet on May 4 is unique even by the standards of that most eclectic of QC venues.

Something is coming, looming on the horizon like madness in the spring, leaving chaos and destruction in its wake. GWAR is coming on March 26, and there is no escape.

In the 2020s, the “doom” or “sludge” tag is increasingly self-applied, as an ethos as well as an aesthetic, by bands who create oppressive, cathartic music intended as a reflection of our dismal times. Such are the three bands – Body Void, SERAC, and Everlasting Light – playing Davenport's Raccoon Motel (315 East Second Street) on Friday, December 8.

Fifty-plus years into a career of evil that's spawned 14 studio albums including 2020's The Symbol Remains, Blue Öyster Cult are returning to Davenport for a show at the Rhythm City Casino on Saturday, November 18.

Sarushibai (猿芝居) are a three-piece from Fujioka City, Japan, crashing merrily around the USA in support of their new album 日​陰​者​の​矜​持 (loosely translated to Pride of a Person in the Shadows.) It's a slim, clamorous ten-song rush of energetic power-chord chug.

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