Venomous Maximus‘ new 12 inch is an extremely fun to listen to hard rock romp. The title track “The Mission” is full of thundering guitars, hard enough to be metal but groovy enough to rope in casual hard rock fans who dig bands like Wolfmother or Queens of the Stoneage. The second track, “The Rider” goes even harder starting off with a galloping, chugging guitar intro before descending into operatic vocals about mystical forces.

It’s all standard hard rock fare but that’s not a bad thing. VM’s 12 inch exemplifies everything hard rock should be: dramatic, slightly funky, and exceedingly ferocious.

Come out for the release party on August 19 at Fitz. This will be a headbangin’ good live show.

-Jack Daniel Betz