Tuesday, March 25, 2025
The Cosmic Clash

hard rock

Tear Dungeon 2 HV SXSW 2025 Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: SXSW 2025 finished with Space Agency Booking, Webberville Block Party

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Austin’s South by Southwest finished things up with countless showcases that made the last two days of the music festival a pick-and-choose affair that didn’t let up until the crack of 2 a.m. on Saturday night. For most festival goers, energy can run slim on these last two days, and seeing what you can before the festival’s end is essential to closing the book on yet another March festival edition. Here’s who we closed out our SXSW with on the final two days of our festival experience at Hotel Vegas for Space Agency Booking’s annual showcase along with a closing festival celebration at the Webberville Block Party followed by a return to Hotel Vegas to close out SXSW 2025.

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BOCPURPLEWIDE Casey Chumbley
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: 50 years of Blue Oyster Cult at Paramount Theatre

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For Long Island’s Blue Oyster Cult, the heavy metal and hard rock foundations still burn through as an enormous source of inspiration for artists both past and present. At the historic Paramount Theatre, in a rapidly gentrifying Austin, fans of all different backgrounds made their way to Congress Avenue to witness a legacy over 50 years in the making.

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Chat Pile 2 Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Sludge metal act Chat Pile pummeled Mohawk fans Sunday

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A lot of Austin residents consider Interstate 35 to be an existential crisis. If you drive far enough north, you might eventually hit the cursed town of Oklahoma City. Even though most of us would never make such a wretched trek, the Oklahoma noise rock quartet Chat Pile emerges from the depths, delivering their socially aware brand of sludge metal for fans that have been indoctrinated into the music blogosphere from their spotty at best college dorm WiFi. On yet another frigid Sunday night in Austin, fans of the outspoken loud rock act packed out the Red River Cultural District stronghold Mohawk for a thought-provoking excursion that pummeled attendees’ eardrums as well as giving a powerful message of social reform

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Austin Psych Fest 2025 promo FOL 1
Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Austin Psych Fest announced masterfully curated lineup today

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Levitation’s Austin Psych Fest will return to The Far Out Lounge & Stage in South Austin on April 25 – April 27 for yet another year of a masterfully curated lineup by famed booker Rob Fitzpatrick and Resound Presents. Since returning to a Spring edition on top of the regular Levitation Fall Edition, Austin Psych Fest has both stayed in touch with the current world of independent music at large and the roots of what made the festival the coveted phenomenon it is in the present day.

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Rickshaw Billies 2 Antone's Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol sold-out Antone’s

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At the sold-out Austin staple Antone’s Nightclub on a frigid, Friday, January 17 evening, Austin heavy-hitters Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol kicked off their 2025 with an indoor, deafening statement-maker for their year that is sure to be massive as their upswing to fame has shown to have no conceivable ceiling.

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King Gizzard at Germania
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: King Gizzard played marathon three hour set at Germania Amphitheater

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The trek out to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas racetrack where Germania Amphitheater is located is a daunting one. From taking in an hour of traffic, ludicrous drink prices, and baffling ticket expenditures, the Formula 1 Racing spot has most Austin music fans disinterested in driving out to the sticks to experience its monstrosity. (17 miles outside of the downtown area to be exact.) In last Friday night’s case, fans of a certain Australian band made an exception.

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The Black Angels Levitation 2024
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Day one and two of Levitation brought world’s best independent acts to Austin

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The first two days of Levitation Festival 2024 featured multiple stacked bills for a plethora of packed venues in the downtown Austin area and beyond. The Cosmic Clash team was in attendance to capture the action and highlighted some of our favorite acts that made their way to Austin for the action-packed Halloween weekend. From the Red River Cultural District to South Austin, the carefully curated talent brought their best for the masses that flock to the local music joints to watch the coveted Black Angels produced weekend with some of the independent music world’s best acts.

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Case CockrellInterviewsLive Music

Interview: Austin stoner metal act The Sword talk return, Austin scene, weed, to play Levitation this weekend

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Revered Austin metal act The Sword is back and locked in for a performance on Sunday at Levitation Festival in Austin, Texas. The doom act announced their breakup in 2022 after 19 years as a band and fans have been feigning for a reunion ever since. The local heavy act will close out the Black Angels-produced festival with a headlining set at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre in the Red River Cultural District in the downtown area and will be joined by local acts Gran Moreno, The Well, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, and also famed proto metal act, Pentagram. Frontman/guitarist John D. Cronise, bassist Bryan Richie, drummer Jimmy Vela, and lead guitarist Kyle Shutt all showed up to deliver their insight on why it made sense to come back. To get a feel on how the band returned and what the quartet has been up to in the interim, we sat down with them after their rehearsal and discussed what the reunion means and how it all came together.

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Fuzz - Pooneh Ghana
Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Seven more bands to see at Levitation 2024

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The 2024 edition of Levitation is coming up fast this Halloween weekend. Each year, Austin’s The Black Angels and trusted booking powerhouse and Festival Director Rob Fitzpatrick continue to deliver star-studded lineups and cutting edge acts that never disappoint local and out-of-town music fans traveling to Austin for the annual multi-venue programming. The Cosmic Clash team is here to provide another list of bands you need to see over the four-day festival takeover at venues all over the Austin area. Fans have the option of purchasing access to the entire lineup or purchase individual shows. Set times and tickets can be found on the Levitation website for fans to plan their daily excursions to see all the music they can throughout the weekend. 

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High On Fire at Mohawk
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: High On Fire sold-out Mohawk with Weedeater and Burnt Skull

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When it’s October in Austin, Texas and it’s still 95 degrees outside, outdoor sold-out shows can feel like the Summer season never changed. With Austin Italian cuisine staple Marinara Miracles slinging their signature dishes and Lone Star Beers overflowing the venue trash cans, fans in attendance at Mohawk on October 5 were indulged and ready to see a modern heavy metal favorite deliver a gig doing what they do best. For Oakland’s High on Fire’s second Austin appearance in just under a year on Saturday night, stoner metal fans came in full force to experience another helping of crushing riffs, bombastic drum beats, and relentless stampedes of bass that have become their trademark since being assembled in 1998. 

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Buzz Electro PR photo
AlbumReviewRobert Dean

Album review: Spare Parts by Austin act Buzz Electro features loud guitars and nasty riffs

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Guitars should be loud, and riffs should be nasty. The drums should sound like they hold the keys to the entryway to hell. Luckily, Buzz Electro got the memo. On their newest record, “Spare Parts,” the band gives it their all as one of the acts in Austin doing their best to be the loudest, horns up, drinks spilled version of rock and roll out there.

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