Veteran bands seeking to grow as artists without alienating 'core fans learn to wear multiple hats. For Akimbo this means straddling the line between hardcore and post-hardcore: Following an unrelenting three-minute ditty with a song that spruces up the usual hardcore elements (guttural screaming, pummeling drums) plus a split-second stoner rock breakdown that recalls Kyuss and the Melvins. The lulls, as on "Circle of Hair," when Jon Weisnewski chants, "Gonna take your white stripes/ Gonna paint 'em black," are breathers for recharging the batteries before charging full steam back into the mosh pit. Akimbo gives metalheads of all ilks something to bang their heads over, whether they prefer their 'core straight up or on the rocks.

Fri., March 10, 7:30 p.m., $8, with Genghis Tron and Balboa, First Unitarian Church, 22nd and Chestnut sts., 866-468-7619, www.r5productions.com.