10. CECIL'S PUB This West Gray institution is best known for its cheap drinks on Mondays and gigantic, covered patio, but its darkened, Bohemian charm and bitchin' jukebox have long made it a favorite among Montrose metalheads. Expect to hear a healthy dose of the heavy stuff inside, especially on weekends, when the old-school juke is pumping out everything from Iron Maiden to the Deftones. Keep an eye peeled for fresh gig flyers, and don't be afraid to strike up a conversation with a few of the longhairs puffing away outside.

600 W. Gray, Facebook page

9. DIRT BAR No live music is played here, however metal is the music of choice played by patrons on Dirt Bar's Internet jukebox, and the bartenders also leaned toward the heavy stuff the few times we went and the jukebox was down. Dirt's original Heights location opened back in 2005 as a place for Houston headbangers and hard-rock fans to go out and drink where they could listen to the kind of extreme music they like, and the move to its downtown spot across from House of Blues in 2009 has continued this tradition.

When a metal show comes to House of Blues the band's fans take over Dirt before and after the concert; we saw a group of young professionals walk in and leave abruptly with a horrified look on their faces as death metal blared from the jukebox on the night of the recent King Diamond concert.

1209 Caroline, dirtbar.com

8. CONCERT PUB NORTH Like its sister location in the Galleria area, Concert Pub North hosts its fare share of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath cover bands but has also have moved on to hosting national touring acts, with an emphasis on hard rock and glam-metal acts. Some nights the place can feel like you have been transplanted back to L.A.'s infamous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in the '80s: Lita Ford, Kix, Sebastian Bach, Bret Michaels and others have all either played here or have upcoming concerts on the CPN schedule. Eddie Trunk, host of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, is due in next month.

Of course some metal fans may deride a lot of these artists and dismiss them as "hair metal"; we say give them a shot and you'll probably have a great time, or just wait for some of the heavier touring acts or next local Megadeth cover band to come through.

2470 F.M. 1960, Web site

7. RUDYARD'S PUB Sitting downstairs and chatting with neighbors at Rudyard's Pub -- long hailed as "Montrose's Living Room" -- patrons often have little idea that there is an outrageous metallic maelstrom raging overhead. Upstairs, however, lies a fully realized music venue that has become a pillar of Houston's homegrown metal scene.

Its smallish corner stage boasts a loud sound system favored by the local likes of Project Armageddon, Funeral Horse, Kruller and the Linus Pauling Quartet, and the room is big enough to host noteworthy touring acts too, such as Cannabis Corpse. If you're thinking about attending, be a dear and offer to help a band or two lug their gear up that treacherous back staircase.

2010 Waugh, rudyardspub.com

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