Hero Destroyed

Hero Destroyed, the Pittsburgh, PA outfit, created an arresting debut impression during 2008 by issuing its self-released, self-titled mini-album. That recording siphoned Mastodon's thinking man's modern metal vision through hardcore's simplifying template and math metal's stupefying algorithms. The band itself had formed three years earlier; at the time of the initial sessions—captured by Pro-Pain guitarist Eric Klinger—its roster comprised vocalist Pat McNicholas, guitarists Zach Moore and Jeff Turko, bassist Dustin Newman, and drummer A.J. Falcione, who was later replaced by Neal Andrus. The group handed out copies at hometown gigs, which in turn prompted a recommendation to Relapse Records; the label reissued the EP and then released the band's first full-length album, Throes, in 2010.