Russian Circles w/ Young Widows and Anatomy of Habit

Drawing from the crushing math-rock of Don Caballero as well as more traditional metal influences, Chicago's instrumental trio Russian Circles has grown more nuanced with each release. On the band's latest albums, 2009's Geneva and this year's stunning Empros, the group has dramatically toned down the bruising riffs of their early work, instead emphasizing softer, post-rock passages that only heighten the songs' almost unbearable tension. It's fitting, then, that they share this bill with Young Widows, a Louisville, Ky., trio that has also taken their sound in exciting directions by mellowing it. Young Widows' new album, In and Out of Youth and Lightness, is their most restrained yet, a record that conveys its edginess through unsettled guitars and stern, lowered voices rather than sheer volume.