THRASH METAL | Ghoul
w/ Black Anvil and Dirty Circus
Sun. Sept 14
9 p.m.
$12/adv., $15/door
Tin Roof

The quaint European town of Creepsylvania has a rich and storied past. Its history books are lined with legendary names such as Attila the Hun, Amerigo Vespucci, and Henry Ford. However, the town’s greatest feat has to be Ghoul, a four-piece thrash-metal band who has traveled to America to take over by spilling blood and shredding solos. Fans of Municipal Waste and Agnostic Front will happily crush each other through a Ghoul mosh pit. The burlap-masked fiends manipulate the stage so well that fellow monsters GWAR took them on tour in 2011. Although Ghoul delivers a seriously raucous live show, they take to social media to deliver the funny. You can listen to their post-mortem collaboration with rock ‘n’ roll great Lou Reed via their Bandcamp page or get some of life’s hardest questions answered in Ghoul’s advice column, “Burning Questions,” on YouTube. Surprisingly metal has been banned in Creepsylvania since the ’80s. In fact, anyone found head-banging in the streets of Creepsylvania faces a stiff fine, so Ghoul plans to get it all out on this American tour. —J. Chapa SUNDAY

BLUEGRASS FOLK | Fruition
Tues. Sept. 16
9:45 p.m.
$8/adv., $10/door
Pour House

Fruition is a band that’s easy to like. Varied influences abound on the band’s 2013 release Just One of Them Nights — from Bob Dylan to Ryan Adams to Simon and Garfunkel. The Portland, Ore.-based band makes music that inspires bar-room dancing as easily as it evokes pensive and somber thoughts — and the quintet does it all in a wholly absorbing way. For starters, there’s the blitzkrieg bluegrass number “The Wanter,” whose dizzying banjos and guitars augment singer Mimi Naja’s vocals as she zips through lyrics about “running from a wedding ring.” The more country/folk-oriented “Broken Hearted” draws listeners in with its tender narratives and easy-going melodies. And even when the band gets region-specific on the folk track “Portland Bound,” it’s done in a way that doesn’t exclude anyone unfamiliar with the Northwest Coast. Rather, it helps you get to know them better, and that sure is a nice touch. —Brian Palmer TUESDAY

ROCK | Metronome Second Anniversary Party
w/ Lindsay Holler’s Western Polaroids, Scott Dence, Danielle Howle, and Sexbruise?
Sat. Sept. 13
9:30 p.m.
$7
Tin Roof

A 2014 City Paper critics’ pick winner for Best Live Music Reviews, Metronome Charleston is celebrating its second anniversary this week. To honor the occasion, founders Ballard Lesemann and Jessica Mickey are throwing a party complete with rock ‘n’ roll trivia and prizes. Lots of local music will follow, including alt-country from Lindsay Holler’s Western Polaroids, the one-man-band wonder Scott Dence, the Americana sounds of Danielle Howle, and electronic hip-hop from Sexbruise?. The day also happens to fall during Lesemann’s birthday weekend, so there’s even more of a reason to raise a glass. Proceeds of the event will benefit the bands, along with Metronome’s website expenses. A portion also goes to Camp Happy Days, an organization that provides help and financial support for South Carolina children with cancer. —J. Chapa SATURDAY

PSYCH ROCK | Ancient Cities
Thurs. Sept. 11
10 p.m.
$5
Tin Roof

Charlotte-based Ancient Cities is an indie band with psychedelic sensibilities. Despite Stephen Warwick’s success as a solo folk artist — some of his songs can be heard in the flick Wicked Blood (2014) — the Ancient Cities frontman decided to expand his sound to include a little more kick and a lot of vintage rock influences. “I listened to a lot of my dad’s records, and it was all like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin,” he says. “I remember one of my first cassettes was The Doors’ Greatest Hits. I was actually wanting a Kinks song, and I was humming the melody and my dad said it sounded like ‘Hello, I Love You.’ But it was ‘All Day and All of the Night’ by The Kinks that I was referring to. But he said, ‘I think that’s The Doors,’ so I got that tape kind of as a mistake thinking it was something else, and I ended up loving The Doors.” Ancient Cities also did a tribute night after The Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek passed away from cancer last year, donating the proceeds to a cancer charity for children. Coincidentally, when speaking with Warwick, we were also minutes away from speaking with The Doors’ drummer John Densmore, so we mentioned the Ancient Cities’ tribute to him. Densmore was touched, and kindly asked us to call Warwick back and let him know. How’s that for some crazy full-circle feel-goods? —Kelly Rae Smith THURSDAY

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