The Mass
United States · formed 2002 · last active 2016
An Oakland art-thrash unit fusing King Crimson-style tempo shifts and free-jazz saxophone skronk with Slayer-speed riffing, math-rock structure, and post-punk snarl. Signed to Crucial Blast for City of Dis (2005), critics placed them alongside Naked City and Yakuza for pushing metal and jazz into the same collapsing structure.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Jazzy 6 — Crucial Blast's own bio describes 'malevolent soft jazz' and free-jazz saxophone runs woven through the riffing.
- Hardcore 5 — Bio cites a blend of 'No Wave, damaged pop, grindcore, post-punk, thrash metal and math-rock' and comparisons to Napalm Death and Black Flag.
- Death 3 — Described as 'King Crimson-meets-Slayer art|thrash|core' with 'shrieking vox.'
- Technical 6 — Bio cites 'insidious tempo shifts' and King Crimson-style structural complexity across the record.
- Glitch 2 — Bio explicitly lists 'No Wave' and 'damaged pop' as ingredients alongside the metal base.
- Doom 2 — One review describes their sound as 'chopped and screwed to sludgy perfection.'
- Ambient 3 — Reviewers compare the record's quieter textures to Mogwai's post-rock.
MEMBERS
- Matt Watersvocals, saxophone
- Tom O'Donnellguitar
- Tyler Coxdrums
- Matthew Solbergbass
CONNECTIONS
- Gnaw Their Tonguespath →
Shared label roster: Crucial Blast, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- Dissonant tech-deathEI 12Brain TentaclesJazzyTechnicalHardcore
Brain Tentacles is a Chicago trio formed in 2013: Bruce Lamont (Yakuza, Bloodiest) on saxophone, electric piano, synth and voice; Dave Witte (Discordance Axis, Municipal Waste) on drums; and Aaron Dallison (Keelhaul) on bass and synth. Their 2016 self-titled debut (Relapse Records) swings between 'mathy chaos' and 'juddering grooves,' drawing direct comparisons to John Zorn's Naked City, with a guest vocal spot from Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), production by Sanford Parker, and cover art by Jef Whitehead (Leviathan).
- ZornEI 15ZuJazzyTechnicalHardcore
Zu are an Italian avant-jazz/noise-metal trio formed in Ostia near Rome in 1997, built on the unconventional lineup of Luca T. Mai's baritone saxophone, Massimo Pupillo's bass and Jacopo Battaglia's drums. Their heaviest album, Carboniferous (2009), was their first release for Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings. It features guest appearances by Mike Patton on vocals (notably on "Soulympics") and King Buzzo (Buzz Osborne) of the Melvins on guitar for "Chthonian."
- Post-metalEI 15YakuzaJazzyTechnicalHardcore
Yakuza is a Chicago avant-garde metal band formed in 1999, led by saxophonist/vocalist Bruce Lamont. They build a metal base with progressive flair, folding in free jazz saxophone and clarinet, world music, doom, grind, and post-rock ambience into a jazz-metal hybrid sometimes tagged 'jazzcore.' Their discography spans Way of the Dead (2002, Century Media), Samsara (2006) and Transmutations (2007, Prosthetic), Of Seismic Consequence (2010) and Beyul (2012, Profound Lore), and Sutra (2023, Svart Records).
- UnaffiliatedEI 18Vile DissonanceJazzyTechnicalHardcore
Vile Dissonance is the instrumental solo project of Dutch musician Edwin van Koppen, fusing mathcore and technical death-metal aggression with free-jazz harmony and ambient electronics. Across releases such as Metalheads are a Bunch of Conservative Fuckers (2020) and Music Theory Is a Social Convention (2021), phased-out low-tuned HM2 guitars and polyrhythmic drumming sit alongside analog synths and field recordings, with the artist citing touchstones ranging from Meshuggah and Knocked Loose to jazz-fusion guitarists Allan Holdsworth, Fredrik Thordendal and Marc Ribot, and ambient acts Boards of Canada and Air. The result plays like free jazz and mathcore trying to absorb one another.
- ZornEI 19ClericTechnicalJazzyHardcore
Cleric is a Philadelphia avant-metal band formed in 2003, fusing grindcore, doom, mathcore and free-jazz-informed improvisation into dense, extended compositions built on Matt Hollenberg's mathy, technical guitar work. The band sits squarely in John Zorn's orbit: they're signed to Web of Mimicry (Trey Spruance's label), released Chokhma as part of Zorn's Tzadik box set The Book Beri'ah, and had Zorn himself guest on alto saxophone on Retrocausal's closer 'Grey Lodge' — with Mick Barr also guesting on guitar on the same record. Hollenberg additionally plays guitar in Secret Chiefs 3's UR lineup, giving Cleric a direct personnel tie into that avant-garde ecosystem beyond stylistic kinship.
- UnaffiliatedEI 25GodJazzyTechnicalHardcore
God were a London experimental collective founded in 1987 around Kevin Martin (later of The Bug and Zonal), fusing ambient, dub, free jazz and noise rock into a saxophone-led 'jazzcore' that passed through the grindcore and industrial-metal scenes. The project ballooned to a nine-piece and drew admirers including Bill Laswell and John Zorn, the latter contributing directly. Justin Broadrick, whose Godflesh Martin had heard on John Peel's radio show, produced the group's early releases before joining as guitarist; the debut EP Breach Birth appeared on Situation Two in 1990, followed by the album Possession on Virgin in 1992.
- UnaffiliatedEI 9Hunab KuTechnicalHardcoreJazzy
Hunab Ku was a Seattle avant-garde metal act built around vocalist Mike Gilmore, guitarist Luke Jaeger (ex-Sleep Terror, joined 2008 replacing founding guitarist Dan Hagerty), bassist Matt Finn, and drummer Mark Villano. Their 2007 debut "The Gaze Inward" (Black Sheep Records) was reviewed as chaotic mathcore-indebted avant metal, drawing explicit critical comparisons to Dillinger Escape Plan, Cephalic Carnage, and Fantomas, with vocals ranging from screams to croons and moans. IMPORTANT DISAMBIGUATION: this is distinct from an unrelated Costa Rican black metal band of the same name (founded 2016 by Lord Eythraz) and a dark-ambient project — the Seattle act is the one matching the chart description and reviews cited here.
- ZornEI 15PraxisTechnicalJazzyHardcore
Praxis is producer/bassist Bill Laswell's shape-shifting experimental project, built around a core trio of Laswell, guitarist Buckethead and drummer Brain (Bryan Mantia) that fuses funk, jazz, hip-hop, dub and heavy metal into highly improvised music. The 1992 debut Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) drew in P-Funk's Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins, while the harsher 1993/94 album Sacrifist added John Zorn on saxophone and ex-Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris of Painkiller, plus vocalist Yamatsuka Eye. The result swings between noisy speed metal, dub and turntablist collage.
- ZornEI 13Trevor Dunn's Trio-ConvulsantJazzyTechnicalHardcore
Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant is the avant-garde jazz vehicle of Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, active since 1997 and built on the idea of a compositional jazz trio that also wields rock's power chords — AllMusic called the result "moody jazz with convulsive rock." The group debuted with Debutantes & Centipedes (1998, Buzz Records) featuring guitarist Adam Levy and drummer Kenny Wollesen, then re-emerged on Ipecac with Sister Phantom Owl Fish (2004) in a new lineup with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Ches Smith. That trio returned on Séances (2022, Pyroclastic Records), expanded by the chamber quartet Folie à Quatre — including Sleepytime Gorilla Museum violinist Carla Kihlstedt — for music inspired by the 18th-century French Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard.
- UnaffiliatedEI 10Blind Idiot GodTechnicalJazzy
Blind Idiot God is an instrumental trio formed in 1982 in St. Louis, fusing noise rock, dub, funk, free jazz and metal; Greg Ginn signed them to SST Records after hearing their demo. Their 1988 album Undertow was produced by Bill Laswell and featured saxophonist John Zorn, and the full band performed on Laswell's Praxis album Sacrifist (1993) alongside Buckethead, Bootsy Collins and Yamatsuka Eye. Khanate drummer Tim Wyskida joined in 2001 and remains the band's drummer through their 2015 reunion album Before Ever After.