Their self-titled debut album for Vagrant Records twists and turns through a psychedelic hard rock haze that's as hypnotic as it is heavy. That heady combination is embodied on 'Stallone' which glides from a guttural stomp into a resounding refrain, while 'Concertina' rises and falls with a dark elegance, and album closer 'April' blasts off on the fumes of a final ethereal hum. Four individual sonic personalities converge to make this music. There's bassist Kyle Sanders [ex-Bloodsimple], drummer Bevan Davies [ex-Bloodsimple, Danzig], guitarist Juan Montoya [ex-Torche], and vocalist and guitarist Charlie Suarez, and they're ready to take flight.

MonstrO came to life in early 2009. Post-Bloodsimple, Sanders had been itching to start a new band. He ran into Montoya at Torche's final gig during the Melvins-hosted All Tomorrow's Parties, and the two discussed jamming back in Atlanta. They linked up with Davies behind the kit and began playing for three or four hours at a time. The trio immediately started generating song ideas, but it wasn't until Montoya contacted Suarez in 2010 that MonstrO was truly born. The band members shared a desire to start fresh, and their collective fire had been lit.

On the self-titled debut, MonstrO sets a precedent of their own. Without any regard for the zeitgeist's whims, the band entered an Atlanta studio with Alice In Chains vocalist William Duvall in the producer's seat and, over the course of 14 days in 2011, they recorded the entire album. They wanted to end up with a sound that reminded them of their heroes without blatant imitation. What they arrived at was so much bigger. The quartet conjured a style that draws upon everything from '60s psychedelica to shoegaze to heavy metal.