Wolves in the Throne Room, Kill The Client, Vorvadoss, Embolization

American-originated black metal is a strange beast: Gone is most of the pomp, mystery and makeup that shrouds the Norwegian architects of the genre, and in its place is an emphasis on that other part of it. What's that again? Oh yeah, the music. For the most part, it's a bunch of harmless hairy dudes who like to play really fast and heavy without having to pretend that they're about to go burn down your local First United Methodist. And that's a good thing.

Although the band is scarcely 5 years old, Olympia, Washington's Wolves in the Throne Room has already made a name for itself as one of the top American practitioners of the style and will bring its gnarled, blackened tunes to Rubber Gloves in Denton on Monday. For a band that plays in such a hurried, abrasive style, it's amazing that the majority of their songs are more than 10 minutes long; these aren't wind sprinters, they're marathon runners. Also of note: If Pitchfork gives a metal album a bad review (4.5 for the band's latest, Black Cascade), that means it probably rules. And it does.

Dallas based grindcore masters Kill the Client open, along with Vorvadoss and Embolization.