Mutoid Man

War Moans

FILE UNDER: METAL UP YOUR ASS

ROCKS LIKE: Iron Maiden, Kyuss, Testament

WHAT’S DIFFERENT: There’s no room for weak links in a power trio, and Mutoid Man—guitarist/singer Stephen Brodsky, drummer Ben Koller (Converge, All Pigs Must Die) and bassist Nick Cageao—are as mighty as trios come. Unabashed, unironic and unapologetic in their reimagining of classic metal tropes, the trio pack War Moans with a war ensemble’s worth of raging.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: War Moans has its predecessors: Iron Maiden’s gallop; Van Halen’s vicious virtuosity; the sunbaked doom of Kyuss; the gyroscopic chug of Bay Area thrash. But the album also delights in atonal curveballs and mathematically precise changes—no surprise, given that progressive hardcore is in Mutoid Man’s DNA. Just don’t blame them if hipsters approve—Brodsky and Koller can’t help where they started. 

OUR PICK: “Date With The Devil”

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