Hey Colossus have many hard rock contemporaries, but have been suspiciously absent from broader conversation for the duration of their nine album career. They don’t have a Wikipedia article. Their presence in their home UK has always greatly outsized it elsewhere. Their records In Black and Gold and Radio Static High, secretly two of the smartest and best records of 2015, made few end of year lists. Why the band aren’t brought up in the same conversation as Electric Wizard, Sleep, or even Ty Segall is beyond this writer.

There’s a chance I’m getting all of this wrong, that they’re more than just a secret go-to for when I need a heavy fix. This would be in keeping with their general pastiche of totally kicking ass. Metal fans of the brazen drug abuse of Amon Duul II or the sludge pioneers of eighties black metal could find a nice home in the amounts of attention and creativity Hey Colossus add to their tones.