A ballsy group from small-town Maryland, Clutch came roaring out of the quaint town of Germantown, Maryland, like a souped-up muscle car peeling out of a liquor store parking lot. Though they are heavy enough to compete with any metal band, they bring a bluesy backwoods swing that made many fans think they came from rural Alabama, not the mid-Atlantic. The foursome was unique for the way it coaxed a loose-limbed funk into its barrage of heavy riffs. The Hammond organ calls back to the heavy metal progenitors like Deep Purple, while the attitude is straight mud tires and moonshine.