Minus the Bear – Infinity Overhead (Vinyl LP) * * *!

Bristling with guitar acrobatics and infectious melodies, Minus the Bear’s fifth studio full-length album, 2012’s Infinity Overhead, served as not only a return to form in direction, instrumentation and creation but also stands as one of the band’s most aggressive and confident. The veteran Seattle-based fivesome reunited with former member and longtime producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, Cursive) to create a guitar-laden 10-track record that is heavy both on technicality and pop songcraft and showcases the band doing what they do best; interesting, guitar-based, big sounding rock.