✦✦✦✧ This is Mutoid Man’s most restrained effort, but it’s still energetic and catchy and raw. Stephen Brodsky just keeps aging like wine, as both a guitarist and vocalist. Ben Koller doesn’t miss on the skins. And High On Fire bassist Jeff Matz really shines. Also, it’s been a bit since I’ve heard Kurt Ballou’s production on something new.

✦✦✦✧ A funkier, nastier, but still rollicking followup to their 2015 debut, “War Moans” does not stray far from the territory that the band has already claimed: tone-rich bass, propulsive drums, and Steven Brodsky’s memorably eclectic guitars and vocals are all in full effect here. If anything is a progression here, it’s the slightly more expansive sonic soundscape (more obvious on the title track than anywhere else).

★★★☆ Take the best parts of Converge and Cave-In (naturally, given this supergroup’s members and Kurt Ballou at the helm), and add a touch of Queens Of The Stone Age. While there are very few pretentions here in the path between their fists and your face, the band do explore unusual music territory just enough to keep your interest.