Sometimes, with this arms race of who can nail the heaviest stoner rock to the wall, things can get muddy in a way that interferes with the visceral thrill promised by these tectonic riffs. Gladiators Eat Fire bring it with the massive sound, but they have smarts enough to parcel things out in more digestible bites. In between melting faces, they'll introduce a notably nimble bit of guitar wizardry to break up the wall of sound. Granted, melting faces is still most bands' first priorities - and no one could blame them for wanting that - so there's still the requisite eardrum-testing cacophony at play with Gladiators Eat Fire. At their heaviest, they even approach some demonic heavy metal, but they always back off before they totally blow their wad.

GLADIATORS EAT FIRE, w/ Death By Stars, the Lion in Winter, 9 p.m., The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, $5, 253.572.4020