WINDHAND
9:30 p.m. White Water Tavern.

Richmond, Va., band Windhand put out a really killer album last year. That self-titled, self-released debut was a slab of cut-above sludgy doom metal. On the strength of that record and an excellent live show, the band signed to Relapse Records and this year released its sophomore disc, “Soma.”

Whereas that first album was quite good and all, this new one is a major step forward. In the most basic sense, they’re still churning out lumbering doom metal, but there’s a vortex-like quality on “Soma” that is the mark of a band really coming into its own — the riffs are near trance-inducing, the solos are searing yet they are also deeply soulful, the tracks are loooong but never bog down nor feel like they’ve overstayed their welcome. Recommended.

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Opening this show will be the heavy-amp blues abuse of Iron Tongue and the epic, classic rock-inspired crushing-ness of Sumokem.

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