Rating: 4/5
Verdict: Mongrel music of the highest order
Megasus play slovenly and unhinged music, almost to the point where the songs fall apart, yet somehow the band manage to stay precise within the raging and ruthless attack they conjure up.
And with a ridiculous name like Megasus, it's clear the intention of this metal quartet from Providence, Rhode Is, is to make an almighty racket and have a hoot of time while they're doing it. But often when this is the case, it can turn into gonzo metal.
The difference with this motley lot is how they take influence from noise rock bands like the Locust and Sonic Youth, which means there is also a serious music-making side to them. So for all the band's frenzied and scummy chaos they remain tight and mean.
Fittingly, the title track (which popped up on video game Rock Band) is the most savage, as singer Jason Kendall seethes, yabbers, and yowls over the top of mangled and chunky riffs.
Swords is a seven-minute escalating epic which starts off haunting before winding into a scything Sabbath-meets-Big Black onslaught; and Paladin vs Berserker has a pummelling industrial clamour to it making it the perfect soundtrack to working in the steel mill.
And at other times it's like stoner metal, only with more static and chaos. All of which makes for a thrilling and reckless ride, and fills you with chest-beating pride and that elating feeling of being bulletproof.
