death metal – The Cosmic Clash

Live music review: inaugural Mayhem Fest at new Crow Bar ended on blistering note

August 2, 2026 Case Cockrell 101 Views Acid Bath, Cheese Grater Masturbation, concert, crust punk, death grind, death metal, doom metal, extreme metal, hardcore, Imminent End, live music, Mayhem Fest, metal music, Mortar Siege, music festival, noise rock, Review, sludge metal, Stabbing, Swans, Throat Piss, Tortures, Whores

Austin metal venue, The Crow Bar hosted Raven Mayhem Fest 2026 ended on a blistering note on Saturday, July 25 featuring bands from all across the Austin heavy spectrum and beyond for the inaugural three-day long extreme metal music festival at the newly reopened Crow Bar in far East Austin off Highway 183 at 523 Thompson Lane. Since reopening for SXSW 2025, co-owner Aryn Jonathan Black and booker Jay McDowell have been curating some of the heaviest-hitting bills in the Austin area. After the first Crow Bar location was lost to arson, owners Black and Steve Gee are back with a vengeance, and there’s been hell to pay since getting the underground-leaning establishment back up and running.

SubparSnatch 4 13th Floor HSN 2026 Drew Doggett

Case Cockrell Live Music Photos

Photo Gallery: Hot Summer Nights 2026 brought the heat to Austin’s Red River District

July 22, 2026 Case Cockrell 432 Views Bat Lips, Creeping Death, death metal, French Film, garage rock, High Cost of Playing God, Hot Summer Nights, indie rock, live music, metal, mohawk, Mugger, photos, punk rock, rock n roll, shoegaze, Swan Dive

The annual sweat-fest, Hot Summer Nights returned to the Red River Cultural District last weekend, marking another successful year of cover-free showcases that benefit local businesses throughout downtown Austin. The RRCD neighborhood non-profit presents the free showcases to keep venues and other establishments busy during the summer slow period in both the service and music industries for employees and musicians until the things pick back up in the Fall.

annabellecharilegs4 APF 2026 Drew Doggett

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music preview: Hot Summer Nights promises Austin music discovery this weekend

July 14, 2026 Case Cockrell 670 Views 13th Floor, Almost Heaven, Annabelle Chairlegs, Austin Music, Bat Lips, Broken Gold, Bruce, Chess Club, Commercial Breaks, Creeping Death, death metal, dream pop, Gran Moreno, hardcore, Hot Summer Nights, Jet Cemetery, Lauren Lakis, live music, metal, mohawk, Mugger, Parker Woodland, preview, psych-rock, punk rock, Queen Serene, Red River Cultural District, Redbud, rock n roll, RRCD, shoegaze, Sodomy Cop, Stubb's, Subpar Snatch, Swan Dive, vahalla, Witches Exist

The annual Hot Summer Nights in the Red River Cultural District of Austin is a RRCD-sponsored event that features hundreds

Live Music Review Robert Dean

Live music review: Cavalera Conspiracy played Chaos A.D. in full at Come & Take It Live

October 20, 2025 Robert Dean 3853 Views Burton C Bell, Cavalera Brothers, Cavalera Conspiracy, Chaos A.D., Come and Take It Live, death metal, Dino Cazares, Fear Factory, heavy metal, Igor Cavalera, live music, Max Cavalera, metal music, Milo Silvestro, Review, Sepultura

I’ve seen a lot of bands do the whole “playing the seminal album” thing over the years. For a long time, the gold standard was Roger Waters doing Dark Side of the Moon—an experience that was incredible both visually and sonically. Despite being a much smaller affair, the Cavalera brothers gave that experience a run for its money, performing their masterpiece Chaos A.D. at Come and Take It Live on Friday, October 17. If you’re a Sepultura fan, this was probably the closest, tightest, and most raw celebration of that album you’re ever going to get.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: Levitation 2025 ramble with Pavement, Mastodon, The Black Angels and more

October 2, 2025 Case Cockrell 2196 Views A Place to Bury Strangers, Blood Incantation, Built To Spill, Castle Rat, DAIISTAR, death metal, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Fuzz Club, Hooveriii, Levitation, live music, Mastodon, metal, Model/Actriz, noisegaze, Pavement, prog rock, punk rock, Review, rock n roll, shoegaze, Skloss, space rock, stoner metal, The Armed, The Black Angels, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Wednesday

Levitation Festival 2025 took place September 26 – 28 and marked another successful installment in a new location, with more than 30 acts making their way to Austin for yet another Black Angels-sponsored party featuring talent from all over the world. With a new HQ at Palmer Events Center on Barton Springs Road, the convention center turned into Levitation’s psychedelic playground for three days over the last weekend. Each day of the event brought unique vibes that spanned the festival’s usual suspects, first-timers, and legacy acts, all of which helped bring the star-studded booked talent to life for the three-day, two-stage rager. The Cosmic Clash team made their way to the convention center for the weekend to capture the action and highlight every moment that stood out to us at Palmer.

Case Cockrell Live Music Preview

Live music preview: Seven must see bands at Levitation Festival 2025

September 17, 2025 Case Cockrell 3976 Views Blood Incantation, Boy Harsher, Castle Rat, DAIISTAR, death metal, doom metal, festival, garage punk, Hooveriii, Levitation, live music, Martin Rev, must see bands, preview, prog metal, psych-rock, punk rock, Suicide, The Black Angels, The Ravonettes, The Velvet Underground, Upchuck

Levitation Festival 2025 kicks off next week (September 25-28), with a new and improved location in tow and an array of artists to make this year’s installment one of the best yet. Festival organizers The Black Angels and famed booker and promoter Rob Fitzpatrick have chosen none other than Palmer Event Center to showcase the main festival programming, complete with two stages for the weekend of all-star cast performances. The festival will also feature late-night shows throughout the Austin area, including all the Red River Cultural District venues that have been part of the festival since transitioning to a multivenue format in 2018. The Cosmic Clash will be attending for the long weekend and has curated a list of must-sees for the weekend’s multi-genre music happenings. Night shows are sold separately, so move fast to avoid getting shut out of the post-Palmer programming. Set times can be found via the Levitation website. Hit the link at the top of the story to grab tickets. VIP passes are sold-out. There are still some GA tickets available.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: Swedish metal legends Meshuggah packed ACL Live with Cannibal Corpse and Carcass

April 18, 2025 Case Cockrell 5022 Views ACL Live, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, death metal, grindcore, hardcore, live music, Meshuggah, metal, Review, rock n roll

Heavy metal music doesn’t get the spotlight as much as it should in Austin. Multiple stacked tours skip Austin and opt for San Antonio and Houston. For a near-sold-out crowd that flocked to downtown Austin to see legendary Swedish players Meshuggah, the metal gods made an exception for the live music capital. For Tuesday night at Austin’s premiere venue, ACL Live, the unbridled barrage of extreme metal didn’t let up across all three performing acts