School, Work, Death Birth

Produced by Ross Robinson, the man behind the iconic debut albums by Korn, Slipknot and At The Drive-in, `Birth, School, Work, Death' taps into something that's been missing in rock and rap. Hyro's band - Daniel Anderson (guitar, Idiot Pilot), Paul Hinojos (bass, At The Drive-In / Sparta / The Mars Volta), Blood Brothers' Cody Votolato (guitar) and Mark Gajadhar (drums) - certainly have the pedigree to pummel as well. Guttural riffs feed into razor-sharp rhymes, building a sound that's as introspective as it is infectious. Across the album, Hyro experiments with myriad styles, from the psyched-out pop of `Man In My City' to his call-to-arms, `Grudge', where he proudly declares, "I ain't Lil Wayne." This is hip hop like you've never heard.