Simply by virtue of his genre-defining work in The Obsessed and St. Vitus, Scott "Wino" Weinrich should be allowed to coast through the end of his third decade of doom rock without testing himself too much. But, as evidenced by his work with Place of Skulls, Spirit Caravan and, most recently, The Hidden Hand, Wino is ill-content to rest on his laurels. The selection of Jawbox alumnus J. Robbins as producer for Mother Teacher Destroyer is clear proof that he's not afraid of new directions. Although this album is filled with expected heaviness, there are added elements of texture and angular abrasiveness that have been absent from his thud-fests of yore. The 11 tracks here are structurally tighter and more daring than Wino's past material, while retaining all of the requisite crush. Yet, any album that ends with a noisy meltdown like "The Deprogramming of Tom DeLay" is an album that's certainly not pandering to expectations.
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