The Unmothered

With just one guitar and set of drums, Unmothered prove you don't need a record label, great production value or a lot of bodies to create elephant-in-the-room metal. Matt Walker and Daniel Curry are the two-man outfit behind Unmothered, and they could very well become the White Stripes of heavy music. The band's self-titled debut EP is a brilliant display of powerful, lo-fi doom metal with a Southern twang ― think Venom with a dose of Southern Comfort and garage rock. With equal amounts demonic growl, thundering riffs and epic attitude, Unmothered are sure to satisfy fans across the metal spectrum. Hailing from Austin, TX, Unmothered bring the kind of innovation that could only come from the city that brought the world The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Opener "Leviathan" is pounding and sludge-inspired, with dissonant riffs ― this track is so thick I'm surprised my iPod didn't freeze. "The Awakening" is a foot-tapping ghoul groove that starts to show the band's Southern roots. "Spectre" speeds up for a thrash number that builds into the band's most accomplished solo here. On "Heartache," they slow down again with more echo-y dissonance before wrapping up with "Trancendor," a quick exercise in Dimebag Darrell-esque shredding and moody solos. Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, Unmothered's debut is a fast listen and a good sign of things to come. It's also available as a free download on the their Bandcamp page.