Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin, Boris, Primitive Man and Rain City Doom Fest at The Crocodile, El Corazon, Chop Suey & The Clockout Lounge: Nov 17 - Dec 13

The last decade has seen an explosive abundance in the national and international tours spiraling out of the global metal, doom, hardcore, and noiserock scenes. The bands that represent these sounds have now come to encompass melodicism and atmospheres lifted from shoegaze and spacerock, eruptions of heavy psych rock, industrial drumming, synth exploration and electronic atmospheres, and pure experimental noise. This winter sees a representative cross-section of all things metal in Japanese psychedelic and noiserockers Boris return to The Crocodile, for their 20th anniversary performance of their classic album, "Pink", in their ongoing pursuit of "Noise is Japanese Blues". The following week, in their "Search for a Better World", Primitive Man deliver the first live representations of "Obervance"'s explorations of sludge and doom at Chop Suey. In December, all things doom, black, noise, sludge, hardcore, grindcore, post-rock, stoner, and heavy psych are to be heard in a lineup that includes Ragana, Acid King, Mizmor, Tithe, and Electric Citizen in Rain City Doom Fest at El Corazon. The festival is representative of the expansiveness that is to be heard in 21st century metal, as documented by The Quietus in their "Untrue And International: Living in a Post-Black Metal World", with complimentary curation from this sphere found in the excellent selections of The Quietus' Columnus Metallicus. In recent years, Bell Witch, the Northwest's prime purveyors of weighty atmospheres have undertaken a series of even more tectonic works for the Profound Lore label. The first of these was a collaborative album with Aerial Ruin in 2020's, "Stygian Bough Volume I", and the beginnings of an epic trilogy, titled, “Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate”. This month, "Stygian Bough Volume II" arrives alongside an accompanying west coast tour and night at The Clockout Lounge. The Quietus spoke with Bell Witch on the eve of "Clandestine Gate"'s release, bridging such concepts as about the cyclical nature of existence and taking their time with process and creation, such as the first entry in their new triptych of albums, "Same as it Ever Was: Bell Witch Interviewed".

Peace Simulation Northwest and Rain City Doom Fest at Substation: Nov 12 & 20

With the postponement of Northwest Terror Fest and the closing of Seattle's premiere metal, hardcore, industrial, punk and doom venue The Highline due to the protracted effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Substation have risen to fill the programming void left in their wake. Two showcases in the month of November will highlight a particularly Northwest strain of sounds from the heavier end of the 21st century issuing from the mutating offshoots of black metal. The related global scene's ongoing and burgeoning development have encompassed melodicism and atmospheres lifted from shoegaze and spacerock, eruptions of heavy psych rock, industrial drumming, electronic atmospheres, and pure experimental noise. The expansiveness of this sound is further detailed in Brad Sanders' essential overview, "Untrue And International: Living in a Post-Black Metal World". Beyond this primer, deeper reading and curation from this spectrum can be found in the past decade of excellent selections in The Quietus' Columnus Metallicus column, covering releases dominantly sourced from labels like, Hydrahead, Ipecac, Deathwish, 20 Buck Spin, Sargent House, Profound Lore, Season of Mist, Roadburn, Flenser, Neurot and Relapse. These two showcases at Substation feature metal issuing from this particular low-lit landscape of experimental sludge, noise, and doom variations. The first of which presented by Peace Simulation as a popup Northwest Showcase, featuring experimental fusions by Thrill Jockey label artist The Body, doom riffs from Seattle's UN, dark ambient industrial sounds from Sutekh Hexen, Relapse Records doom metal from Portland's Usnea, and sludge and ur-metal by Denver's Primitive Man. The second of these showcases focused explicitly on the low tempos and weighty, gloaming masses of sound billed as Rain City Doom Fest. The night will feature sets from Witch Ripper, Montana's Wizzerd, and the volcanic melting of hardcore and sludge of Seattle's Heiress.