Fall of Olympus

This four-piece outfit is not to be confused with, oh, Walls of Jericho or Fall of Troy or any number of the other heavy acts out there with vaguely ancient-sounding names. These guys hail from the northern reaches of Palm Beach County, where they've been slowly churning out their "100 percent pure brutal South Florida metal" for a little more than two years. Rather than the shrieky, mystical form of brutal, though, Fall of Olympus' sound is down-to-Earth — frontman Ken Hays is pissed-off, all right, but his is more of a meaty, Everyman groan. The music too seems to be in an epic battle with gravity — quick-tempo bridges crash into sudden heavy thuds like the pulsing of a heart. The band cites Swedish smarty-pants Meshuggah as an influence, and there's a bit of that group's tempo changes in the pulse-quickening stops and starts led by skilled axman Jason Nugent. But mostly, this is a swamp stomp — think Hatebreed, maybe —but even further jacked up, stirred in with some of the newer hard rock you might hear on "active rock radio" and seasoned with occasional industrial programming. Serve hot and enjoy.