San Antonio heavy rock act Donella Drive will celebrate the release of AXON — an ambitious new album that adroitly blends metal, prog and psych — with a gig Saturday, Sept. 20, at Paper Tiger.
Sloth, Powdered Wig Machine and Mary Maria will open the all-ages show, and Donella Drive will have physical copies of the 10-song release for sale.
After more than a decade tearing up Alamo City stages, and with brothers Aidan Escalante (guitar and vocals) and Andrew Salazar (bass and backing vocals) comprising the core lineup, Donella Drive has solidified into a band confident in taking chances.
Although Escalante’s clean and soaring vocals and the band’s ability to wrangle a groove give the music plenty of accessibility, the brothers clearly aren’t eager to settle into a formula. Is it prog-metal? Is it post-hardcore? Are they channeling early Mars Volta or looking to be a much harder-edged Jane’s Addiction?
Perhaps it’s best to stop trying to slap labels on what these guys do and let the music on AXON speak for itself.
The album’s seven-minute single “Mindless Embryonic” offers a sampling of just the kind of sonic journey the brothers and drummer Steven Edward Rodriguez are capable of unleashing.
The track starts out as eerie space rock before transforming into a propulsive chugger with dizzying guitar work and a riff that wouldn’t feel out of place on Led Zeppelin’s Presence. The evolution continues from there, carrying the listener through more atmospheric passages before a taut and crunchy close.
In short, AXON is a burner, long on both energy and aspiration.
$10, 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, Paper Tiger (Side Stage), 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.
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