Modern Monsters
EP
(Modern Monsters)

Bay Area hard rock quartet Modern Monsters offer their new 3-track self-titled EP of hard riffing, growly metal for your submission.

Opening with “Furrow,” at once plodding with big guitar riffs in the verses and chorus then wild riffing in the instrumental breaks, it is obvious that Rich Wells (playing guitar), Brody Bass (playing bass…duh), Keenan Tuohy managing drums, Josh Weaver screaming and cackling and Wyatt Lennon on the other guitar, know this genre they are mining.

The second tune here, “Lament,” gives us a better read of Weaver’s singing and sets a good counter of guitars and bass to the drums with the verse riffing. The chorus bleeds through once again to wild driving stuff. I really dig this song, as much from how unabashedly heavy it is, as for Weaver stepping it up with his singing as his cool middle-spoken word section. The leading after this part is fast, wild, and so much fun. This tune is a hit!

“Stay Free,” opening with some specific plucked electric, warbly effects and Weaver crawling his way up to his wildest vocal of this trio of tunes, ends Modern Monsters assault here. There’s lots of space on this one to really hear what Tuohy and Bass manage as we get a song that skirts ’round old Faith No More Territory.

I like this hard-hitting, relentless, almost punky drive to end what I feel is a spot-on heavy and heard EP.