Gig Alert: I See Stars and We Came as Romans at The Door Tonight

Need a show to shake up a blasé Holiday season? I suggest you run on down to The Door and check out the noises emanating from said venue this evening.

Headlining the show is I See Stars, a sextet from Warren, Michigan, which mixes the seemingly disparate genres of electonica and screamo metal. The band's debut album, 3D, came out this year and is a wildly entertaining set of songs that highlight I See Stars' deafening dichotomy. Songs like "Save the Cheerleader," "The Big Bad Wolf" and "I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge" alternate an emo-like swoon with a diehard metal rush that one can't help but respect.

Devin Oliver handles the vocal duties on the (relatively) mellow numbers while Chris Moore does the screaming material. Somehow, this mixture works more often than not. Still headache inducing, I See Stars creates music best suited for a mental institution, which, I'm fairly certain, is exactly how the band wants it.

Also on the bill is We Came as Romans, a slightly more conventional metal act also from Michigan. The band's debut, To Plant a Seed, came out last month and is receiving high praise, despite such ponderous song titles as "Roads That Don't End and Views That Never Cease" and "Searching, Seeking, Reaching. Always."

In any case, both bands carry quite a punch and deliver the metal goods in unexpected ways.