Don Caballero’s debut LP hit on an ingenious hybrid, marrying the lumbering girth of metal to the brain-teasing intricacy of prog and the scrappy immediacy of post-hardcore. Select moments on records by predecessors such as Slint, Bitch Magnet and Gore had hinted at this new approach, but never before had it been executed with such blunt efficiency or reckless flair. A vocal-free approach allowed guitarists Mike Banfield and Ian Williams to focus on their masterful juggling of crunch and texture, as bassist Pat Morris held down the center, highlighting the artful splatter of Damon Che’s maximalist drumming. The material is as strong as the playing, ranging from the frantic prog-punk of “Our Caballero” to the tense art-rock swirl of “Well Built Road.” Later bands mining superficially similar territory would rarely, if ever, capture the subtlety and range on display here.