We’d like to take a minute this morning to officially extend a warm welcome to some old friends.

Say hello to Hog.

Hog’s debut EP Archetypes is available now in the Churchkey Records online store.

The metal cliche of rising from one demise to another triumph doesn’t interest any of the members of Durham’s large, lumbering Hog. Hog was born made of three members (guitarist Rich James, bassist Ryland Fishel, and drummer Noah Kessler) of Tooth, the metal juggernaut that for two years slayed NC clubs with a fast metal attack that threw out big, beefy riffs with razor-sharp accuracy. Hog rounded out its lineup by adding guitarist Alec Ferrell before heading to the studio to record its debut EP.

Archetypes, produced by Phillip Cope of Kylesa, will be in stores May 17th via Churchkey Records. As with Kylesa, Hog’s songs meander down gloriously tangled riffs and bass lines that are as explosive as they are intricate. The sludge here doesn’t bubble up slowly from the ground, it explodes outward in continuous bursts like an erupting volcano. They manage to sustain this force, creating elongated jams that never lose their forceful grip.

Hog aren’t risen from the ashes because they never burned down what made their previous work great. Smartly, they choose to build on it, refining the tools at their disposal and creating a new style all their own. Neither forsaking nor dwelling on what made their prior band great, they have built a sound that respects its heritage and harnesses it to reach even loftier heights.