Fleshwater first appeared on my radar a year ago, warming up the stage for alternative-metal heroes Deftones at Bridgestone Arena. Judging by the packed floor, Chino Moreno and company’s fan base was already hip. The coed five-piece hails from the Merrimack Valley just north of Boston, a hot spot for intelligent hard rock dating back to Cave In, Converge and Piebald in the ’90s and Aughts — and like those acts, there’s a method to Fleshwater’s madness. Listening to the group’s latest, last year’s 2000: In Search of the Endless Sky, there’s no shortage of megaton, mosh-pit-worthy riffs, or martial, blunt-instrument drumming. But lead singer Marisa Shirar’s clear-eyed, soaring vocals go a long way toward inverting the more aggro, macho trappings of music of this ilk. Imagine a fledgling Deftones sharing a practice-space wall with Björk’s turn-of-the-’90s band The Sugarcubes and — in lieu of scheduling practice at different times because of all the inevitable sound bleed — they simply form a supergroup. Since Exit/In’s 2023 reopening, its marquee hasn’t featured many loud rock bands; Fleshwater should make for a nice change of pace. Gen-Z L.A. duo After — “Massive Attack meets Michelle Branch,” reads their self-penned bio — supports. The show is sold out.
8 p.m. at Exit/In
2208 Elliston Place
