lightning bolt - hypermagic mountain

when did lightning bolt decide to become a speed metal band? after listening to their new one, I felt like putting on some slayer just to calm my nerves. seriously. it's kinda weird hearing them devote their energy to behemoth riffing instead of spastic frenetic melodic noise. the two brians seem much more reigned in terms of what they actually do - chippendale still spatters drum hits all over the place, but they're actually well within a discernable beat, and his singing isn't totally distorted (you can almost hear words!), while gibson still sounds like he's playing through a wall of amps the size of the sears towers, but instead of shredding, he's making motorhead look like a bunch of sissies. the sheer force of hypermagic mountain is something to be reckoned with; the only comperable thing in their discography is maybe some of the more insane moments of their debut. I think I'm a fan of this new direction, though. I would maybe like a little more of the joyous silliness of "13 monsters" from ride the skies instead of the relentless assault here, but there's enough of it in "2 morro morro land," "dead cowboy," and "bizarro zarro land" to make me happy. 
¶ 11:33 PM