Know those bands where one guitarist embarrassingly outshreds the other? Think Metallica—yeah, yeah, you know Hetfield, but not for his axe-work.

Fuck all that. And yes, you should rewind that solo. Whether it was Brad Bolduc or James Violette, it came from one of two distinctly mind-blowing schools of lightning-fretting metal symphony.

And dual lead guitarists aren’t the only thing going forTERRIBLE OLD MAN; the five-piece Maine act is obsessed with speed and thrash, with Sweden and Dimebag Darrell, with beer and Cujo’s-foaming-jaws ferocity. If something doesn’t crush ears and kill James Taylor fans, Terrible Old Man doesn’t waste a single note on it.

Never forcing its technical, progressive influences,TERRIBLE OLD MANhas an organic feel for melody, as well—imagine Necrophagist and Arch Enemy fought a Viking battle in space, melded together in the duel, and were reborn with American shredsibilities and groove.

“We play heavy fucking metal, without adhering to any fleeting trends or scene bullshit,” says vocalist Ryan Fairfield. He calls the band a battalion of “metal fucking warriors,” and he’s pretty goddamned serious—the group’s name comes from an H.P. Lovecraft story, for chrissakes.

Fairfield, who joined Bolduc, the Violettes, and Tardiff after they spent two years carving out their sound in a central Maine basement, has a unique and sober perspective on the band’s merits: “We have a drummer who knows what the fuck he’s doing, from blasts to fucking gravity blasts, two guitarists that shred like metal gods, and a bassist who still plays with his fucking fingers and slays whilst doing so.” Fairfield fails to mention in addition to his own fierce, demented vocals, he’s a multi-instrumentalist maestro and the creator of one-man experimental doom monolithHALLOWED BUTCHERY.

Slashing forward with three demos recorded by Scott Webber of Westie World Studios, AJ Harvey ofLAST CHANCE TO REASON, and Tom Waterhouse, the quintet is writing new material and preparing to slay live shows imminently.