Cloakroom w/ Wander
Starline Social Club PresentsCLOAKROOMWANDERLive in the Crystal CavernMonday November 14 2022 – Doors @ 6pm$16 adv // $18 dos18+——————— From beyond the Spire and the Ward of Song echoes Cloakroom’s tertiary LP, Dissolution Wave. It’s like this: The concept of Cloakroom’s third album is a space western in which an act of theoretical physics—the dissolution wave—wipes out all of humanity’s existing art and abstract thought. In order to keep the world spinning on its axis, songsmiths must fill the ether with their compositions. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Spire and Ward of Song act as a filter for human imagination: Only the best material can pass through the filter and keep the world turning. This is the philosophical universe that Cloakroom guitarist/vocalist Doyle Martin conceived as a way of processing the last few years. “We lost a couple of close friends over the course of writing this record,” he says. “Dreaming up another world felt easier to digest than the real nitty-gritty we’re immersed in every day.” With lyrics based on an imagined cosmology, Dissolution Wave also marks a grand expansion of Cloakroom’s dreamy space-rock palette. “We often get lumped in with stoner rock bands—and I love that,” bassist Bobby Markos offers, “but at the same time, we can do an acoustic set. If we wanted to make a song completely out of synthesizers, we could. So our approach to Dissolution Wave was to do everything we’ve ever wanted to do.” You’ll hear it in the album’s first single, “A Force At Play.” Written from the perspective of the album’s protagonist—an asteroid miner who writes songs by night—the track has an airy pastoral feel, almost like a modern equivalent of the Byrds’ gorgeous 1968 departure album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. “The miner is talking about ‘bottling lightning beams,’ which is a new take on the old music industry term ‘lightning in a bottle,’ which can pertain to a fire ass track or a good bottle of homemade booze,” Martin points out. “As you can imagine, bottling lightning is a pretty hard thing to do.” The melancholy title track captures the miner’s regret as they lament that they signed up for such a long stint on the job, while closer “Dissembler” describes their anxiety about the revelator who will judge their work. “If you don’t write a good enough song in this universe, you run the risk of being forgotten and lose the opportunity to return as a meaningful form of life,” Martin explains. Dissolution Wave is Cloakroom’s first album with drummer Tim Remis (also of SweetCobra), who joined in 2019. “Even though we’d already been a band for seven years at that point, adding Tim made it feel all new again,” Markos says. “He brought a whole new songwriting dynamic to the band.” The bulk of the album was recorded in December 2019 at Earth Analog in Tolono, Illinois, the same studio where Cloakroom recorded their 2015 debut, Further Out. Subsequent overdub sessions were done at various Chicago studios. The album was engineered by the band’s longtime soundman (and Markos’ childhood friend), Zac Montez. As fate would have it, Dissolution Wave’s release in early 2022 will align with Cloakroom’s tenth anniversary as a band.
Loathe w/ Static Dress, Omerta, Unity TX
Starline Social Club and The Hard Times PresentsLOATHESTATIC DRESSOMERTAUNITY TXLive in the BallroomFriday November 25, 2022 – Doors @ 6:30pm$21 adv // $26 dos18+——————-
Holy Fawn w/ SOM & Grivo
Starline Social Club PresentsHOLY FAWNSOMGRIVOLive in the BallroomSaturday November 5, 2022 – Doors @ 8pm$18 adv // $22 dos18+——————— Through an otherworldly conjuration of heavy guitars, soothing dissonance, and textural space,HOLY FAWN invokemusic from seen and unseen corners and crevices of the wilderness. Likean ancient culture exalting the sacred spirit of nature, the music mirrors the onset of night in thewoods, a delicate push-and-pull of ominous sonic omens and blissful vocal calm.Aquiet launch landed “Death Spells”, their debut record, in the hands of a few tastemakersduring 2018, and it took up residence in the minds of fans and critics alike. Stereogum lauded itas one of the “Top 50 Records of 2018.” New Noise described it as a“sonic adventure,” andHeavy Blog Is Heavy called them, “wholly unique.” Additionally, they earned the fandom ofThrice’s Riley Breckenridge and Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe who promised, “listening fromtop-to-bottom will take you on a trance-inducing journey.”The Phoenix quartet—Ryan Osterman [guitar, vocals], Evan Phelps [guitar], Alexander Rieth[bass, vocals], and Austin Reinholz [drums, vocals]—are currently recording their sophomorefull-length album coming in 2022.
CANCELLED – Mars Red Sky w/ Greenbeard
Ennis Booking PresentsMARS RED SKYGREENBEARDLive in the BallroomWednesday Sept 21 2022 – Doors @ 7:30pm$16 adv // $20 dos18+—————Beyond a highly recognizable sound, MARS RED SKY have been opening gateways tonew dimensions with their otherworldly songs since their self-titled debut back in2011. Whether you experience their records or live performances, their hulking yettrippy brand of heavy psych rock takes you onto an infinite journey. From the earlydays, the Bordeaux trio has established themselves as an essential live act,treading upon the biggest rock and metal stage – SXSW, Hellfest, Roadburn,Desertfest Berlin and London, Levitation, Psycho Las Vegas – opening for the likesof Sleep, Dinosaur Jr., Kyuss Lives!, Killing Joke or Gojira, just to name a few.With their sophomore full-length ‘Stranded In Arcadia’ (2014), a sci-fi odyssey filledwith dystopian reveries, Mars Red Sky became a cornerstone band among the heavyrock scene, garnering praise from international critics. “Hypnotic”, “massive”,”charismatic”, “psychedelic” are some of the words used to define the prolific trio’ssound, floating atop the stoner rock constellation and 70s psych pop nebula. Twoyears and hundreds of shows across Europe and Americas later, the band releasedtheir third album ‘Apex III (Praise For The Burning Soul)’ in 2016. Once againproduced by Brazilian engineer Gabriel Zander, their behemoth sound blendsperfectly with Julien Pras ethereal vocals and guitars, opening a door to even morebewitching paths.In 2017, Mars Red Sky treated the fans to a highly collectable item with the’Myramyd’ EP – an instrumental odyssey in the form of a 17-minute live recording.After another two years spent on the road, 2019 felt like the right time to returnwith their new album ‘The Task Eternal’ on Listenable Records and Mrs Red Sound,which was set to be followed by a couple of extensive European tours. ‘The TaskEternal’ was recorded and mixed by Benjamin Mandeau at Cryogène Studio in Bègles(France).“A psychedelic experience so overwhelming it’s almost sensual.” – THE BIG TAKEOVER“A triumph in what’s becoming a tradition thereof.” – THE OBELISK“A trip to unknown worlds, dense sidereal atmospheres in which baroque psychedeliacoexists with stoner-doom sounds in perfect harmony.” – THE DOOM CHARTSThe band managed to keep on creating during the COVID crisis by setting up acouple of live streams from France-based venues. By 2021, they got back on stage,appeared on various international events and celebrated the 10-year anniversary oftheir debut album by releasing – through their own record label Mrs Red Sound – aspecial reissue including an online mixing feature to get inside the record.Mars Red Sky have set a series of studio sessions and extended European and North American tours.
Creeping Death w/ 200 Stab Wounds, Ingrown, Spiritworld, Tribal Gaze
The Hard Times Shows and Starline Social Club Present:CREEPING DEATH200 STAB WOUNDSINGROWNSPIRITWORLDTRIBAL GAZELive in the BallroomTuesday August 23 2022 – Doors @ 6pm$15 adv // $20 dos18+———- Lone Star State metallers Creeping Death combine the crushing, doom-laden brutality of Swedish death metal with the kinetic, neck-snapping drive of classic Bay Area thrash. Originating in the metal-rich town of Denton, but later based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the group was founded in 2015 by vocalist Reese Alavi, guitarist Trey Pemberton, bassist Eric Mejia, and drummer Lincoln Mullins. Frontman Alavi caught the hardcore bug at the age of 18 after attending a particularly pummeling and cramped Tattoo Parlor set by Dallas thrashers Power Trip. Inspired by classic grindcore and old-school death metal giants like Bolt Thrower and Grave, and drawing lyrical inspiration from the massively multi-player online role-playing game Runescape, Creeping Death issued the three-song EP Sacrament of Death in 2016. The band’s second EP, 2018’s Specter of War, became an underground hit and eventually caught the attention of eOne, who signed the group later that year. Creeping Death’s first full-length effort, the merciless Wretched Illusions, arrived in September 2019.
Dying Fetus w/ Chelsea Grin, Bodysnatcher, Frozen Soul, Undeath
**Moved from The UC Theatre**Starline Social Club PresentsDYING FETUSCHELSEA GRINBODYSNATCHERFROZEN SOULUNDEATHLive in the BallroomTuesday May 17, 2022 – Doors @ 5:30pm$27.50 + fees16+ – Proof of vax or negative 72 hr PCR test required——————–
Church of the Cosmic Skull w/ Black Box Revelation, Lord Buffalo, Psychlona
Ennis Booking PresentsCHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULLBLACK BOX REVELATIONLORD BUFFALOPSYCHLONALive in the BallroomMonday August 15 2022 – Doors @ 7pm$16adv // $20 dos18+—————
Full of Hell & Blood Incantation w/ Vermin Womb, Mortuous, God is War
***DUE TO THE HIGH DEMAND FOR THIS SHOW WE WILL BE RELEASING A FEW TIX AT THE DOOR. ONE THEY’RE GONE, THEY’RE GONE***Ennis Booking Presents:FULL OF HELLBLOOD INCANTATIONVERMIN WOMBMORTUOUSGOD IS WARTuesday Sept 20 2022 – Doors @ 6pm$21 adv // $26 dos18+———–
NAPALM DEATH & PIG DESTROYER w/ Mortuous & Carrion Bloom
Ennis Booking Presents:NAPALM DEATHPIG DESTROYERMORTUOUSCARRION BLOOMSaturday May 14 2022 – Doors @ 8pm$26 // 18+———
ELDER w/ Belzebong & Dreadnought
**Tickets are sold out online but we will be releasing 20 at the door. Once they’re gone, they’re gone**Ennis Booking Presents:ELDERBELZEBONGDREADNOUGHTLive visuals by Zack RodellFriday Aug 26 2022 – Doors 7 // Show 7:30$21 adv // $26 dos18+——Elder is a genre-pushing rock band that melds heavy psychedelic sounds with progressive elements and evocative soundscapes. Formed in a small coastal town in Massachusetts in the mid aughts, the band has reinvented their sound over the course of five albums to grow from a stalwart of the stoner/doom scene into one of the most unique voices in the rock underground. Their long-scale compositions unfold as journeys, running the gamut of styles from the 70’s to the present within a single song with a penchant for “sheer gatefold-era grandeur” (Rolling Stone). By continuing to incorporate new elements to their sound, Elder’s output has repeatedly set benchmarks for their peers. Beginning with 2008’s Elder and 2010’s Dead Roots Stirring, Elder made ripples in the stoner rock scene with their uniquely melodic approach to the genre. In 2015 they surprised again with Lore, a watershed moment in the band’s career (recently crowned “Album of the Decade” by The Obelisk) which brought in elements of post-, prog- and space rock into the Elder sound. Despite several years of heavy touring surrounding the album, Reflections of a Floating World was released just two years later, earning a spot at the top of many best-of lists including Rolling Stone (#5, 20 Best Metal Albums Of 2017), Stereogum and others. In 2019, a tour pitstop in Berlin, Germany yielded the experimental EP The Gold & Silver Sessions. Recorded live based off ideas largely crafted while on the road, the release showcased Elder’s softer side; motorik beats, lush keyboards and sparse compositions replaced the usual colossal riffs and dense structure. Almost a decade and a half after the first sludgy riffs were recorded and the first demo pressed, the door for Elder stylistically remained wide open.