FRIDAY 7/15

OREN AMBARCHI, ELUVIUM, MARCUS FISHER, CRYS COLE

Oren Ambarchi's avant-music pedigree is formidable, having played in Phlegm, Sun O))), and with Boris, but he's most known for his immersive ambient/drone solo work. One of the most left-field thinkers to ever pick up a guitar, Ambarchi wrings sounds from the instrument that you wouldn't think possible. It might be useful to think of him as the Chuck Yeager of guitar music—he's less ruggedly macho, but he's most definitely exploring the perimeter of sonic possibilities, breaking down barriers and boldly forging ahead on strange, untraveled paths. Opener Eluvium is a lauded Portland ambient artist whose piano-based compositions are reliably breathtaking. Chapel Performance Space, 7 pm, presale only at www.irisarri.org/substrata, $35.

SATURDAY 7/16

LITURGY, TECUMSEH, THOU SHALL KILL, EVILSMITH

For a black-metal band, Liturgy sound remarkably... bright. There's something affirming about the major-chord über-riffage on their latest, Aesthetica, a record that pummels your inner ear with all the force and furor of the Ragnarök. It also contains some of the most brazenly intellectual music you're likely to hear all year. Frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's dissertation on "Transcendental Black Metal" is Google-able (punch "Hideous Gnosis" into Google Books), and he freely references William Blake, Allen Ginsberg, and badass philosopher/psychoanalyst Slavoj iek in interviews. Here's an actual quote from the man himself: "I'm more excited about the idea of metal and fine art merging into a sort of higher Wagnerian unity, obviating the question of crossover." Liturgy are the real deal, rocking artfully and ecstatically while still managing to be heavy as all fuck. El Corazón, 7 pm, $10 adv/$12 DOS.