Forever metal

Mushroomhead, Shadows Fall, High on Fire, Avenged Sevenfold

Tomorrow, 6 p.m.

Club Laga,… Mushroomhead, Shadows Fall, High on Fire, Avenged Sevenfold

Tomorrow, 6 p.m.

Club Laga, $15 advance/$17 at the door

(412) 687-4636

Metal returns to Pittsburgh tomorrow when Mushroomhead, Shadows Fall, High on Fire and Avenged Sevenfold make their way toward the Steel City.

Mushroomhead visited a few months ago, bringing its ensemble of members (we’re talking about the same number of members as Slipknot here) through with a few metalcore bands. This time, they return, playing Laga with another slew of bands, most noticeably Shadows Fall and Avenged Sevenfold.

Mushroomhead continues to be one of Cleveland’s more successful bands in the nu-metal genre, with eerie and spooky songs filled with blood-curdling screaming and intense riffs. They are continuing touring in support of their latest LP, XX.

Shadows Fall is where it starts to get interesting. Originally a band that had more hardcore roots, SF put together a show with some amazing guitar work as well as a crazy backdrop. The band’s metal-tinged showcase of sound tends to wake people up; it’s extremely good, yet impossible to contemplate the accuracy of their riffing while they’re moving all over the place.

Let’s not forget High on Fire and Avenged Sevenfold. A7X is signed to Tribunal Records, and last year rereleased its indie label debut LP, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, on its new home label. It was a sleeper hit that increased in popularity day by day. The band’s mp3.com page was primarily a means for it to expand its swarming fan base. A7X has an Orange County, Calif., sound that’s unlike any other bands in the area. It almost sounds as if Thrice became extremely more metal and faster – yet progressive in retrospect to bands such as Dream Theater, one of the most well known prog-rock/metal bands we know today. It can encompass chugging breakdowns that would make highways cry, to speedy and melodic musical mayhem.

Fans of metal in the “core” form may find this show to be the one to attend this fall. With insane antics by the headlining act, to the diversity brought on by A7X, High on Fire and Shadows Fall, it should make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside … and perhaps a bit more “metal,” too.