I am not able to ingest caffeinated coffee, which hasn’t been the best development in my life. I mean, physically, yes, I can drink it, but the mental result won’t be fun, and there’s a good chance I’d need to immediately enjoy a Xanax in order to avoid a trip to the ER. Brains. Why do we have them? So, it takes other means to get the blood flowing, and luckily there are plenty of things that work the same way.
Take, for instance, Mutoid Man, the frenetic metallic trio that’s spent the last decade indulging in sugary and bombastic riffs and pure firepower that might not work as well as a coffee for some people but sure gives me the same boost. Just without the anxiety attack! The band is back with another powder keg of insanity with “Mutants,” their third LP overall and another that will rewire your brain with total insanity. Mutoid Man is a supergroup of sorts—vocalist/guitarist Stephen Brodsky is well known for his work with Cave In and multiple other projects; longtime drummer Ben Koller bashes away for Converge; and new bassist Jeff Matz makes up half of the rhythm section for High on Fire. Here, the band launches 10 new tracks that blaze, defy gravity, and make your muscles shake, but in a way that’ll make you feel alive.
“Call of the Void” opens with the guitars just smoking, which is hardly a surprise with Mutoid Man or anything involving Brodsky. The pace is frantic and gutting, the bass thickens and create a steel beam of a spinal cord, and the underneath gets nasty, blasting through and coming to a zany end. “Frozen Hearts” pulls back just a bit, but there’s still massive amounts of intensity. The playing turns sludgy, and then the pace gallops, driving up dust and choking you senseless. “Broken Glass Ceiling” is properly defiant, bringing filthy riffs, Brodsky toggling between his trademark clean calls and blunt barks. “I’ve got to beat this thing to be free at last,” Brodsky howls as the mashing gets more aggressive, leading everything into hell. “Siren Song” fully swaggers, feeling dirty and menacing, pumping blood through tar-caked veins. Brodsky’s yelp of, “Go!” signals the attack going even faster, the playing getting more slashing and fluid, the strength building and flexing its brawn. “Graveyard Love” is pleasingly creepy, longing for the one who puts you in the ground. The bass is sinewy, there is a mystical edge to the guitars, and Brodsky pokes, “Everyone can see she fucking buried me.” The soloing is spacey and fun, exploding as the shrieks are buried with dirt and soot.
“Unborn” explodes with molten guitars, a drilling, intense pace, and Brodsky again mixing singing and growling, giving you smooth edges with blood inside. The playing is catchy and brutal, the heat blasts through the mud, and the final surges melt the doors shut. “Siphon” begins with an insane Tom and Jerry chase-style riff, making the room spin with ludicrous energy. Shrieks menace as the leads zap, grim turns are carried on the shoulders of great melodies, and the final moments come off like a really wild car crash. “Demons” opens with the drubbing tearing open ribcages, blazing through colorful guitar work, and then the momentum zaps into a deep cavern of mud. The playing is fast and catchy, while the bass takes a grungy edge, the playing combusting as Brodsky jolts, “I’ve got my demons under control!” “Memory Hole” mauls immediately as the strong singing makes the push more palpable, the carnage pulled back a bit but not entirely. Shrieks pummel, the leads snake through blood, and the energy fully ignites, the vocals and rising smoke pushing your face in the ground. “Setting Son” ends the album with a cooling agent before the guitars scorch your full face. There’s also a bluesy edge to this thing, the smog allowed to rise, the seriousness taking over from a record that spits at monsters. “Baby we don’t have much time ‘cause I’m like a setting sun,” Brodsky repeats as the song closes, his voices going higher, the playing around him letting the storm clouds darken before slipping behind the curtain.
It’s impossible to hear a Mutoid Man record and not be overcome by total mania and energy, and “Mutants” is no exception to that thinking. This album is a total blast, an incredibly fun explosion of neon riffs, staggering power, and metallic adrenaline, something you can put on your turntable and let destroy you. This album is perfect for jarring you awake by force and filling your body and blood with maniacal spirit no human can possibly overcome.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/mutoidman/
To buy the album, go here: https://mutoidman.bandcamp.com/album/mutants
Meat Mead Metal 