Maryland deathcore band Thus Spoke Zarathustra goes underground on Broad's back side, Nov. 11

Fresh off a new single on Prosthetic Records, the band brings its November tour with Girls of Glass and XMERCYX to Joe's Underground on a Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, Nov. 11, 144 Eighth Street belongs to Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a deathcore band from Maryland who play Joe's Underground on a November run through the Southeast.

The band named itself after Nietzsche, which tells you something about its ambitions. Its new single and video, "In My Dreams…," are out on Prosthetic Records, a label with a long history in heavy music. To support it, the band is touring this month with Girls of Glass and XMERCYX before going on to headline with Destroy All. The tour announcement lists Nov. 11 — Augusta, GA — Joe's Underground, with Chapel Hill the next night.

That routing is good for Augusta. A heavy tour on its way from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas could easily have skipped this city for Atlanta or Columbia. Instead it stops downtown, on a weeknight, which is how most people around here have seen their favorite heavy bands for the first time. Our records show no earlier Augusta date for Thus Spoke Zarathustra, so for most of the crowd this will be the first time hearing them live.

Joe's Underground suits this kind of show. A deathcore set, with breakdowns, guttural vocals and a drummer working as hard as anyone in the building, sounds better in a room like this than it ever will through earbuds. Bands on the way up like Thus Spoke Zarathustra usually headline rooms of a few hundred people.

A three-band bill on a Wednesday means you'll want to get there early. Girls of Glass and XMERCYX aren't filler; touring support on a Prosthetic band's run is worth catching, and the openers are often where you find the band you'll be talking about next year. Tickets are sold through the event's Shotgun page, which is linked from our show listing. Set times and prices weren't posted when we checked, so look before you head downtown.

The usual heavy-show rules apply. Bring earplugs, especially if you plan to be anywhere near the front. Expect a pit. And remember it's a school night for a lot of people, so the room may not be packed until the headliner is on.

Augusta's heavy scene has always depended on nights like this: a touring band nobody had to drive to Atlanta to see, a small room, and a weeknight crowd that turns out anyway. Show up, buy a shirt off the merch table, and you'll help make sure the next tour stops here too.

Sources: THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA Share "In My Dreams…" Video, Set Three-Leg US Tour — The MetalList (themetallist.com); THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA: Maryland Deathcore Practitioners Debut “In My Dreams…” Video/Single — Earsplit Compound (earsplitcompound.com); Girls of Glass / Thus Spoke Zarathustra at Joe's – Shotgun (shotgun.live); Joe's Underground (Instagram) (instagram.com)