The opening track of the Band of Heathens' One Foot in the Ether is classic electric alt-country, but a listener unfamiliar with the Texas quintet would be wise to withhold judgment or expectations. "L.A. County Blues" casually segues into soft harmonies recalling the 1970s in "Say," and then "Shine a Light" digs heavily into soulful, organ-heavy gospel.

That diversity of styles befits a group with three primary songwriters who each play multiple instruments, but it also reflects an understanding of the essential similarities shared by different branches of roots music.

"I've never seen blues music or soul music being very far away from country music or bluegrass," singer/songwriter Ed Jurdi said in a recent phone interview promoting the Band of Heathens' November 4 performance at the Redstone Room. "The approach is slightly different in terms of who's singing the song and what they sound like."

Songwriters Jurdi, Gordy Quist, and Colin Brooks - with bassist Seth Whitney and drummer John Chipman - are celebrating the fifth anniversary of their band this month, yet rather than settling on a sound, Band of Heathens has embraced a stylistic sloppiness.

Images by photographer Chris Jones from Thursday's Papa Roach concert at the i wireless Center, with openers Skillet and Trapt. Click on any photo for a larger version.

Papa Roach:

In 2007, Rolling Stone named Matt Pike one of its "new guitar gods," and the High on Fire frontman is notable for being among the two or three least-known people on a list that included John Mayer and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco, Tool, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Radiohead.

Pike is certainly a luminary in the world of metal - both the heavy and the stoner varieties with which he's associated - but he'd probably prefer to keep his appeal selective. High on Fire - performing at RIBCO on October 8 with Kylesa and Torche - is for metal purists, fans of Metallica's Master of Puppets who think that band has been pandering and floundering for the past two decades.

There's none of that desperation for acceptance with High of Fire, partly a function of its method. The songs are less organic than constructed out of often-disparate parts, and therein lies the key to both the music's appeal and difficulty.

It's a sentiment that should come standard-issue with any virtuosity.

"I do have to check myself, because sometimes I can find myself doing overly complicated things, and I think, 'Wait, am I doing this because it makes the song good or because I'm trying to show off?'" said Kristian Dunn in a recent phone interview. "It usually ends up being the latter, and it gets cut. You've got to be tough with yourself in this kind of situation."

"This kind of situation" is pretty funny, because it's unlikely that El Ten Eleven has much company in what it does. An instrumental duo featuring Dunn on guitars (often a double-neck) and drummer Tim Fogarty, the band makes extensive use of looping and effects pedals to build tunes that would seem to need three or more players. "Fat Gym Riot," from 2008's These Promises Are Being Videotaped, climaxes with thick bass and twin (or perhaps triplet) lead guitars.

But when El Ten Eleven returns to RIBCO on September 27, there will be just Fogarty and Dunn and the latter's 13 pedals, trying to make the extraordinarily complicated seem like merely good music.