Earlier in the month, California math rock group Hella announced that they would be returning with a new album. On their last LP, 2007’s There’s No 666 In Outer Space, the group boasted five members in their lineup. For the new album, entitled Tripper, they’re back to being a drum and guitar duo consisting of founding members Zach Hill and Spencer Heim.

On “Headless,” the opening track from the new album, the instrumental rawness that characterized earlier Hella releases really comes through. The drums take the lead for the majority of the song, while Heim’s technically proficient guitar riffs provide the rhythmic background for Hill’s wildly experimental fills. The song changes in tone towards the end with some surprisingly uplifting guitar riffing.

Based on the promise of this track, it will be interesting to see how the band has adapted back to playing in the duo format on the rest of the album. Tripper will be out August 30th on Sargent House.