stoner metal – The Cosmic Clash

Live music review: Weedeater played Austin metal stronghold The Lost Well

December 24, 2025 Case Cockrell 1222 Views concert, Dave Dixie Collins, doom metal, heavy metal, live music, Review, rock n roll, stoner metal, The Lost Well, Weedeater

If you haven’t taken a trip to the new location for Austin’s legendary metal stronghold, The Lost Well, put a pilgrimage to the East Austin music venue high on your to-do list. The Lost Well returned in August this year with a vengeance, and the gig calendar has been stacking back up to a blistering, business-as-usual. According to owner Marcello Murphy, Tuesday night (December 16) for Wilmington, North Carolina doom metal act, Weedeater was the new Austin space’s biggest ticketed show yet.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

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

October 2, 2025 Case Cockrell 1500 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.

Live Music Review Robert Dean

Live music review: Acid Bath, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol led Levitation 2025 metal day

October 1, 2025 Robert Dean 1579 Views Acid Bath, heavy metal, Levitation, live music, metal, music festival, Palmer Events Center, psych-rock, Review, Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol, rock n roll, stoner metal, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Sword

Hats off to the folks behind the scenes at Levitation Festival. They pulled off a diverse event at a little-used location to great effect. The Palmer Events Center sounded great and showed a lot of promise for what the festival can be in the future. Keeping parking at $10 a day was a smart move that kept fans happy. The food and drink options were crazy expensive, but I understand that goes with the territory of putting a festival on – but on the real? $19 for a brisket sandwich is banana town. Just walk down the street to Whataburger next year.

Case Cockrell Interviews Live Music

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

October 30, 2024 Case Cockrell 4183 Views Bryan Ritchie, doom metal, hard rock, Interview, Jimmy Vela, John. D. Cronise, Kyle Shutt, Levitation, stoner metal, The Sword

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.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

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

October 11, 2024 Case Cockrell 2294 Views Burnt Skull, doom rock, hard rock, High On Fire, live music, mohawk, Review, rock n roll, sludge, stoner metal, Weedeater

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.

Case Cockrell Review

Live music review: Drone Metal legends Earth performed quadraphonic show at Oblivion Access Fest

June 21, 2023 Case Cockrell 2918 Views Central Presbyterian Church, doom metal, Earth, live music, Oblivion Access Fest, Review, stoner metal

Have you ever seen a show in a church? What about a show in a church equipped with a psychedelic light display while a classic drone metal band plays their classic album in its entirety? For Seattle’s Earth, the drone legends did just that, which included a performance of their classic 1993 debut album, Earth 2, in its full glory for the record’s 30th anniversary at Central Presbyterian Church.