Monster Magnet has announced they will be releasing a new covers album, Better Dystopia, on May 21, 2021. The album will be available via Napalm Records, and is led by a cover of Poo-Bah’s “Mr. Destroyer.”

“We all agreed that we would be bored out of our minds within a month of lockdown,” Monster Magnet’s frontman, Dave Wyndorf, said in a press statement about the album. “Monster Magnet loves the road. It’s a lifestyle. So, I considered our options. Rather than panhandle on the internet, hawking masks and Zoom-rocking practice sessions for dollars, I suggested we record a ‘bunker record.’ A total DIY affair (band only) recorded and mixed in Bob Pantella’s small but potent Freak Shop Studios/rehearsal space right here in New Jersey. But what to record?”

The first release is a cover of Poo-Bah’s 1972 track, “Mr. Destroyer.” Lending a more enthusiastic twist to the original, Monster Magnet skip the intro and give a Black Sabbath-esque performance for the track. While Poo-Bah’s original sees much of the early beginnings of metal, it keeps some of the signature sounds found in much of the early-’70s recordings. Monster Magnet pull the performance to the modern era, showcasing how the song would have sounded if it were made just a little later.

“I didn’t feel much like writing, but working on anything was better than watching the news as hospitals filled up, people died, and American politics went bat-shit crazy. The world roared ‘Dystopia! Apocalypse! Revolution!’ I’d heard those words before, and they brought to mind my childhood in the late ‘60s/early/70s … and the music … and the short playlist of songs (just one of many) that I’d been carrying around with me on my whatever device to listen to before shows. Of course, these tunes have also been in my head for more or less my whole life. These were not the popular hits of the time. This was like a playlist from the 4th dimension… strange bits of musical obscurity, mostly dredged up from that inglorious and freaky ‘twilight zone’ time that preceded Arena Rock, Heavy Metal, Reggae and Disco. A no-man’s land of hard rock that still had remnants of psychedelia and garage punk but had abandoned any notion of ‘flower power’ or frat house fun. And of course, they rocked.”

The band was forced to postpone their last tour due to the pandemic, with new dates yet to be announced due to the ongoing uncertainty about when live shows can resume. The tour had been in celebration of their 1998 album Powertrip.

A Better Dystopia tracklisting:

1. “The Diamond Mine”
2. “Born to Go”
3. “Epitaph for a Head”
4. “Solid Gold Hell”
5. “Be Forewarned”
6. “Mr. Destroyer”
7. “When the Wolf Sits”
8. “Death”
9. “Situation”
10. “It’s Trash”
11. “Motorcycle (Straight to Hell)”
12. “Learning to Die”
13. “Welcome to the Void” – Bonus Track