Clutch's Blast Tyrant — Is This Their Best Album? Evil's 10 Out of 10 Deep Dive

Evil finally gets his 10 out of 10 episode — and he brought Clutch's Blast Tyrant (2004).DL came in skeptical and left converted: an 8.5/10 from a first-time deep listener, and a 9/10 from Evil who's been living with this album for 20 years. The debate: is this peak Clutch, or does Earth Rocker or Elephant Riders make a case? And does the Basket of Eggs bonus disc belong on the album or not?The case for Blast Tyrant: Neil Fallon's lyricism is genuinely unlike anything else in rock — part Southern Gothic preacher, part sci-fi pulp novelist, part hot rod manual. The Regulator is one of the great American rock songs. The Mob Goes Wild is a live staple for a reason. And Prophets of Doom is the slow-burn track that hooked Evil the first time he heard it — "born with a mustache and a supernova, tossed off the cliffs of Dover."Also covered: the history of Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity sharing a bill (COC opening for Clutch in 2003, then flipping the bill 20+ years later), why Clutch was weirdly lumped in with Korn in the mid-90s, and why their live show is the real argument for the band.Next episode: Evil's other 10 out of 10 — Corrosion of Conformity's Wise Blood (1996).