Getting a bit bored of ‘prog’? had enough of ‘sludge’ yet still hanker after a bit of mindless, unforgiving sonic violence every now and then? Then I may have the answer to your woes in the form of the quite excellent Mothman and the Thunderbirds!

First-off, I should mention that this actually is a pretty progressive record, but thankfully MatT don’t subscribe to the accepted idea that ‘progressive’ has to equal ‘long winded and overblown’. Infinite Ocean, for instance, is about as good as it gets as far as progressive sludge is concerned in 2021, yet it manages to get the job done in under four and a half minutes; consequently you’ll be asked to get your head around a lot of concepts in a comparatively short space of listening time (eleven tracks in half an hour, to be precise), but once you’ve taken your motion sickness tablets and got with the swing of things you’ll find this no problem at all.

The superbly named The Simpsons=Real Footage is probably your humble interlocutor’s fave track, featuring as it does some fabulous and slightly kooky lead vocals from guest Kirby; but the album is so varied that your own affections will probably swap as the mood takes you. Agarthan Riders, which sounds like hippy uberlord Steve Hillage after a three day bender fuelled by Speed and Motörhead, is another highlight, but I’ll stop there with the recommendations. This is an album every last one of you needs to spend some time with in private, with your stimulant/depressant of choice, and a suitably open mind. Give every track the consideration it deserves, and quickly you’ll find that this is a unique an rewarding listening experience that’s not to be missed. All credit to Alex Parkinson (for he is The Mothman of titular mention) for putting this together. If your tastes range from anything  – Devin to Gravehuffer, then back again, stopping off at all points in between, for instance, then you could do a lot worse than picking this little gem of an album up…

Into The Hollow releases on May 21st.