Austin’s musical melting pot forever blurs genre boundaries, but even so, metal remains a local designation lorded over by a select few. Pulling the Sword from stone in 2003, this homegrown quartet rode shotgun to Metallica right out of the gate before seemingly hitting a wall pre-COVID following 2018’s seventh full-length Used Future. Last October, the ATX-launched Reverberation Appreciation Society issued lean, muscled Live at Levitation, followed by November’s uncanny Jethro Tull cover “Locomotive Breath.” A trio of Texas shows concludes with Record Store Day at End of an Ear celebrating the 15th anniversary remaster of third album Warp Riders prior to half a dozen European summer festivals. – Raoul Hernandez
