Melvins

Sludgier than a wallow in a tar pit, Melvins were one of the weirder acts to get signed to a US major label in the wake of Nirvana's success in the early '90s. Core members King Buzzo (guitar, vocals) and Dale Crover (drums) are still soldiering on today, and sounding even heavier since recruiting Seattle bass-and-drum duo Big Business in 2006. Last year's The Bride Screamed Murder didn't rank among the group's more essential releases, but recent shows have found them revisiting classic albums such as Houdini and Bullhead in their entirety, so you can expect plenty of old hits at their Tokyo show. They're accompanied by High On Fire, the well-buffed trio led by former Sleep guitarist Matt Pike, whose Snakes for the Divine topped a fair few metal critics' 2010 best-of lists. Bringing up the rear are Unearthly Trance, the spectacularly bleak New York-based doom trio, making their long-overdue Japan debut in support of new album V. In a word: viscous.