THE BLOW, ANNA OXYGEN
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

MAYHEM, WATAIN, REVENGE
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) Arson, murder, and suicide made the Norwegian black metal scene of the early '90s the stuff of legend, and central to it all was Mayhem. The band's debut full-length, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, is as famous for being recorded with a murderer-to-be (bassist Varg Vikernes, AKA Count Grishnackh) and his eventual victim (guitarist Øystein Aarseth, AKA Euronymous) as anything to do with the music. Still, the album helped codify the second wave of black metal, and Attila Csihar delivered one of the creepiest vocal performances ever committed to tape. The band's second act (without Vikernes) has found the group dabbling in avant-garde and prog rock, and while they've never recorded another album that holds a candle to De Mysteriis, last year's Esoteric Warfare proves they can still sound dangerous. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN

KISHI BASHI, ELIZABETH AND THE CATAPULT
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) When genre-breaking music is done well, it can sound like Kishi Bashi. The violinist/vocalist beautifully integrates looping and layered sounds with falsetto-driven indie pop that reflects his classical training, with an arrangement style that sounds like it could be cousins with Beirut. Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, Kaoru Ishibashi has worked his way around the national music scene, playing with heavy hitters like Regina Spektor and Of Montreal before making a solo splash with 2012's 151a. The confoundingly titled Lighght hit number 52 on the Billboard album chart last year. Bashi's sound is eclectic but well orchestrated, and refreshingly challenges the listener. ROSE FINN

JOY, SONS OF HUNS, R.I.P
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Adages like "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and "They don't make them like they used to" exist for a reason. Especially when it comes to solid, bluesy hard rock. San Diego's Joy definitely fit those phrases with their recent full-length, Under the Spell of Joy. If you took all the wah-wah pedal moments and wailing, flailing Stratocaster blues licks from 1969 to 1974 and condensed them all into one blistering record, Under the Spell is what you'd get. Joy densely packs eight songs with enough psychedelic freak-outs and off-the-handle riffs to send your jellied brain to outer space. ARIS HUNTER WALES