Album Type : EP
Date Released : 29/11/2013
Label : Magic Bullet Records
Helium Head,
track listing :
1). Gnarcissist 02:32
2). Scavengers 02:48
3). Scrape the Walls 02:11
4). Friday the 13/8 02:38
5). Sacriledge 02:00
6). Lost in the Hive 02:13
7). The Manimals 02:29
Bio :
The energy these MUTOID MAN guysnaturally
create when they jam-out is almost unspeakable. A jacked-up album firing on all
cylinders as well as a few nitro tanks and rocket boosters opened to the max, Helium Head is like classic rock on
bath salts and a case of energy bars. One envisions Brodsky’s hands literally
combusting as prog-fueled rock leads and hammering riffs reduce speaker
cabinets to smoldering piles, his soaring vocals carrying not just an
appropriately harmonious clean edge but also bringing out some of that searing
wrath only the earliest of Cave In’s catalog will document. And Koller’s
ridiculously intense, rabid percussive attack is of course in top form,
unstoppably up-tempo and plied with more textured fills than all of Interstate
95 in both directions.
“To come up with all this stuff, Ben and I riffed-out at a rehearsal space in Brooklyn for about a year” explains Stephen Brodsky. “The material picks up from where we left off with the Cave In Shapeshifter/Dead Already cassingle, written with Ben in the band. The two of us ran with that sound and formula and took it as far as we could go.”
“To come up with all this stuff, Ben and I riffed-out at a rehearsal space in Brooklyn for about a year” explains Stephen Brodsky. “The material picks up from where we left off with the Cave In Shapeshifter/Dead Already cassingle, written with Ben in the band. The two of us ran with that sound and formula and took it as far as we could go.”
The Band :
Stephen Brodsky
Ben Koller
Review :
There has been
much fanfare surrounding Mutoid Man of late and
deservedly so. The band, made up of drum
god and Converge sticks-man Ben Koller, Cave-In’s Stephen Brodsky and bassist
Nick Cageo, have unleashed a propulsive, adrenaline fuelled and hook laden
record with Helium Head.
Taking the
kinetic energy of Converge and early Cave-in, the intricacies of 70’s prog and
Torches pop-sensibility, Mutoid Man have crafted a record that refuses to let
you go from the first track.
Throughout the
album Brodsky treats us to a feast of off kilter and psychedelic riffage,
whilst Koller tirelessly unleashes a whirlwind of percussion, never resting on
his laurels for a second. Brodsky’s feral scream peppers the albums heavier
moments while his unmistakable singing voice takes centre stage on the records
hookier moments, reminding everyone that Cave-In should have been the biggest band
on the planet in late 90’s and early 00’s.
Away from the
conceptual and emotional shackles of their main bands, the most striking thing
about Helium Head is how much fun the two main contributors seem to be having.
Allowing their breakneck riffage and hook-tastic melodies to intertwine over
the seven presented tracks leaves barely enough time to take breath or
over-analyse the complicities of the music, allowing for maximum fun and also
great replay value.
Make no mistake,
Helium Head is a fantastic and well balanced effort, shining a light on a seldom
scene side of two well-known veterans of the scene. Sit back, relax and let
Mutoid Man taker you away to some place more fun.
Words by : Richard Powley
For more
information :
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mutoid-Man/565982076754955
http://www.facebook.com/magicbulletrecords
https://twitter.com/magicbulletrecs
http://www.magicbulletrecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/magicbulletrecords
https://twitter.com/magicbulletrecs
