Megachurch – Megachurch 2: Judgment Day

There's plenty of bands out there adept at tight, fast-paced rock, but this Cleveland trio have a couple of notable quirks to separate them out from the crowd: firstly, they sport an extra bassist where a guitarist should be, and secondly, they substitute conventional vocals with sampled ravings of government officials and religious nutjobs. It feels like you're being placed in the midst of a nightmarish sonic congregation, and there's no way out. It's apocalyptic, but far from po-faced.

Though the stripped-down, no-frills nature of their set-up means that their music lacks variety, the band's limited arsenal is put to good use: this is a relentlessly hyperactive, stamina-draining follow-up, packed with mathy time-signature changes (check those flawless switch-ups in Exorcism and Speak in Tongues) and a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour. It all amounts to an entertaining, riff-riddled backdrop to an apocalypse that never happened.