Season to Risk

After fourteen years of creative cacophony, Season to Risk is taking a possibly permanent “leave of absence.” That’s disconcerting news, especially because the group’s last recorded effort, 2001’s The Shattering, was a turbulent triumph. But even if S2R never returns from its hiatus, its farewell gigs should leave witnesses with vivid memories. On the first night, relatively newly formed noisemakers such as Ad Astra Per Aspera, Hot Children and Shots Fired line up to receive the torch — which oughta be a forest fire by the time S2R completes a set list packed with favorites from its first two albums. For the second evening, Gunfighter, featuring members of the lamentably defunct Molly McGuire, slithers and rattles through tracks from its sharp-fanged new disc The Serpent’s Serenade. Then the headliner will exhaust its devastating discography with material from its final discs. Both bills would qualify as can’t-miss regardless of the occasion. But given the energy that the band already expends during every performance, it’s mind-boggling to ponder how fast it will sprint with the finish line in sight.