Credit: Joshua Anthony Rodriguez (@deathtocontent)

San Antonio metallic hardcore band Joust has unveiled a new mural on the side of St. Mary’s Strip venue Paper Tiger to celebrate the release of its debut EP, Born Into This World.

The quartet also scheduled a drop party for the release for Friday, May 9, on the Paper Tiger’s main stage. Tickets to the all-ages show are $12, available now through the club’s website.

The mural is a recreation of Born Into This World‘s album cover by SA visual artist Mauro de la Tierra. Joust conceptualized and commissioned the piece to “capture the essence of human struggle from birth, our suffering and resilience as we’re cast into existence,” according to an emailed statement from the band.

The mural took two days for Mauro de la Tierra to create, with assistance by members of the band. The artwork now covers what was formerly a blank side of Paper Tiger facing the taco spot next door.

“At its center, red, demonic hands violently tear the world apart, exposing a burning core of red and orange flame,” according to the band’s email description of the mural. “The image represents the sinister grip humanity has on the planet, conveying that, if left unchecked, our evil nature could lead to our collective undoing.”

The imagery reflects the themes of the five-song EP. Standout tracks include “Hollow Shell” and “Run Out.” The release has barely been out two weeks and has already racked up 10,000 listens, according to the group’s Instagram.

At the May 9 release show, Joust will be joined by a roster of other Texas bands including Austin-based Ritual and deathcore act Six Shots in Dallas. Other San Antonio bands on the bill include hardcore act Fear of Loss, mosh-metal maniacs Public Threat and newcomers Heaven Denied.

Joust is represented by Alamo City-based record label, booking and promotion collective Out With The Goons (OWTG), which also plans to release the band’s cassette version of Born Into This World this week.

OWTG also is the distro behind the cassette release for Entropy, the new album by local dream-pop trio Elnuh. Additionally, the label has produced cassettes and merch through BigCartel for local bands including Fawn, The Wizard, Voracious Contempt, Surface Breach and Sacrificial Possession.

The distro lays out its ethos as part of everything it does: “Community over clout. Cross Culture.”

$12, 6 p.m. Friday, May 9, Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.