Monster Magnet Set To Reissue Two Early Recordings

By Dave Pehling

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Influential '90s psychedelic metal band Monster Magnet is preparing for the reissue of it's first two recordings through Napalm Records on CD and vinyl on September 1.

Along with legendary down-tuned desert rockers Kyuss, the New Jersey-based outfit helped codify the stoner-rock template with the monolithic, acid-damaged riffs heard on the band's 1992 debut Spine of God and the even more lysergic follow-up EP, Tab. Led by visionary singer/guitarist Dave Wyndorf, the band continued to refine its Hawkwind-meets-Cactus attack for major-label albums Superjudge and Dopes to Infinity, eventually dialing down the psychedelic element on the 1998 commercial breakthrough Powertrip.

Monster Magnet struggled for much of the '00s as Wyndorf battled prescription-drug addiction and a string of lackluster efforts, but returned with a vengeance on its 2010 comeback album, Mastermind. Wyndorf and the band have continued to mine a more psychedelic vein of hard rock since then, releasing The Last Patrol in 2013 and making the unusual move of issuing re-imagined versions of both those albums that featured new recordings of the already released songs, different mixes and some altogether new material.

Wyndorf is reportedly at work on a new Monster Magnet album.

The CD and vinyl reissues of Spine of God and Tab are available for pre-order on the Napalm Records website. Both records are available in special limited edition colored vinyl pressings.