Don Caballero

Earlier this year, in a departure from its usual practice of signing Metalpalooza bait such as High on Fire and Nile, record label Relapse picked up a few instrumental-only bands, the most prized of which is semi-legendary progger Don Caballero, whose members are free on waivers from Touch and Go. Because Relapse is cutting the checks, fans would have every right to expect a return to the dizzying Slayer vs. ELP mishmash with which the band had flipped out the world in For Respect. The band’s whiz-bang talents concentrate on fragile, clunky, and appropriately mangled emo sounds suggesting the likes of Mineral, all of their metallic violence expended on liftoff track “Mmm, Acting, I Love Me Some Good Acting,” a stab at what might result from Ministry’s trying to work off some nasty microdot.