Psychic Warfare

By 1993, “grunge” had choked out '80s metal and was beginning its ascent into choking up the charts. With a few exceptions, metal and hard rock were clinging by a thread, and at the very least beginning to take on new forms. Bands like Kyuss, Monster Magnet and Maryland's Clutch were a big part of that, taking psychedelia and Zep riffs to new dimensions, in what would later be dumbingly dubbed “stoner rock.” Psychic Warfare is Clutch's 11th album, and on it the band has found new life. Continuing the momentum from 2013's Earth Rocker, the band (featuring the same four dudes who played on the 1993 debut) keeps things short and punchy. The riffs are less memorable, but the energy, and frontman Neil Fallon's bizarro lyrical themes, more than make up for it. “X-Ray Visions” is a fast-talking sci-fi rocker, among Clutch's best, and “Our Lady of Electric Light” is a sprawling opium trip through the desert. The band continues to outdo itself, which is quite a task considering no one else in the world sounds like Clutch.