Well-pedigreed trio Lair of the Minotaur are no longer notable for their members' past/current groups (Pelican and 7000 Dying Rats among them), but for their blistering brand of detuned, resin-caked metal mayhem. A teaser for the forthcoming
Ultimate Destroyer full-length, this two-song EP is full-blown, bile-spewing carnage from the word go. Riffs chase the drums in a style reminiscent of former labelmates Loincloth, often circumventing patterns for vicious sprees of scattered notes and graveyard atmospherics. The title track is grim and murky, like Celtic Frost dipped in bong water and rolled in sheets of broken glass, while "Horns of the Witch" is powered by Larry Herweg's Thor-like drum-pummeling and a riff so crusty and black you'd swear the group must have disemboweled K.K. and Glenn to piece it together.
The album also includes a Quicktime version of Thomas Dennen's incredibly phantasmagoric video for "The Wolf" -- which, unless you happened to tune into Metal Mayhem Videos at 2:00 a.m., you've probably never seen. Borne of both technical progression and doom-laden regression, this taster will have your jowls all juicy in anticipation of LOTM's next grand proclamation.
