Early Man

Early Man's recent album Death Potion takes the vision of its first, 2005's Closing In, and expands it into a bloody mess of evil, lightning-hot riffs and kiss-off lyricism. The Brooklyn-based metalheads spent about five years working on Potion, in the meantime releasing a handful of EPs while touring with bands like Valient Thorr, High on Fire and Exodus. Legendary grunge producer Jack Endino, who helmed seminal releases by Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, sat behind the boards for Potion's 12 tracks. It's a grizzled collection of unfrozen thrash-guitar work, with every song built for maximum headbanging and fist-shaking. Expect plenty of beards and trucker hats at this one.