Saviours

Rescuing heavy metal from the back rooms of American sports bars and putting it in the earbuds of indie-rockers has earned bands like Mastodon, The Sword, and Saviours the backhanded sobriquet “hipster metal.” Still, that’s hardly a fair assessment of Saviours’ sound, which crams black-tarred gobs of Venom and St. Vitus into a frenzied, buzzing, welt-raising assault with zero irony. 2008’s sophomore effort for Kemado, Into Abaddon, is every bit as punishing as fellow thrash revivalists Skeletonwitch; its 2009 follow-up, Accelerated Living, continues to sift through the darkness in the pursuit of sick riffage. The band’s touring behind its new record, Death’s Procession, recorded with Trans Am’s Phil Manley.

Updated 11/21/2011