Nuno Ramos hails from Portugal. He's the force (and most of the studio presence) of Hoofmark. If you missed my 2018 review of the band's first album, let me recap: Hoofmark is probably the first band that could conceivably claim Captain Beefheart and Emperor as equal influences. The songs veer between black metal and punk blues, with an irreverent approach throughout. Hoofmark is totally over the top--and knows it.

Hoofmark Evil Blues (Miasma of Barbarity)

So write songs with titles like "Anguished Demon Blues" and "The Land Suffices If You Lend a Hand" and then play the hell out of them. Oh, and sing the lyrics in whatever style (and language) you prefer. More than once I flashed back to Slint, though I'm pretty sure Ramos has never heard Tweez.

Bands who throw a pile of sound into a bowl and then jam down the immersion blender generally tend to destroy everything and make a mess. Hoofmark makes one hell of a mess, but the album holds together. I know I said this when I reviewed the band's first album a couple years ago, but no one sounds like this. No. One. The ferment on this set is inspired, and the feverish playing alternates between frightening and enthralling.

Then throw in a buzzsaw alt-rocker like "Drop By at Night," which sounds a lot like Superchunk on a PCP binge, and the picture is complete. Or not. Hoofmark doesn't care what I think or what you think or what anyone thinks. There's so much going on here that is impossible to take in. That's okay. If there's anything I know about Hoofmark, it's that I'll be going back time after time to see what's new. This is not normal. It's utterly amazing.

Jon Worley