"People might have heard the name but they don't know what we're actually about," says Matthew 'Matty' Matt, Vocalist and guitarist with Adelaide's Testeagles. "We want to give people the right idea."

The trio's debut album, "Non-comprehendus", does just that in spades. Recorded in just under three weeks with noted producer Paul McKercher (You Am I, Spiderbait) and then mixed by visiting American studio head Ulrich Wild (Deftones, Prong, Pantera, White Zombie, Grinspoon), it's a crunching collection of scything guitars, a granite-hard rhythm section and squalling sonic FX. At home in the mosh-pit or on headphones late at night, "Non-Comprehendus" see Matt (vocals, guitar), his brother Ady (drums) and D (bass) facing down the current wave of overseas rap/rock and carrying the day with their own mutant noise splicing.

"It was way beyond my expectations. I was tripped out," recalls D of his first listen to the finished sequence. "I knew I could put it up against whatever, I was really proud to be involved in it." It's D who adds the final piece to the Testeagles puzzle. A member for just 18 months he clicked straight away with the Matt brothers and the three have been on a roll ever since, beginning with the singles 'Turn That Shit Up' and 'Underdog'. "It's a totally different ballgame with D in the band," explains Matt. "The only thing that's the same as before is the name. 'Turn That Shit Up' is the first dose of the new Testeagles."

"The vibe just clicked. It was great," adds D with a laugh. "It was like, 'Hey, wanna join the band? Here's a tape of our songs to learn, we're going on tour next week'."

Ady and Matt formed the band in 1994, coming home from Morphett Vale High School every afternoon to jam. Soon after that were venturing into Adelaide's venues. "We were so full-on, so out of control," recalls Matt, shaking his head in bemusement. The isolation of the Adelaide scene not only gave them room to develop their own sound, but also something to react against in a demand to be heard.

"We are now in our early 20's and we've been waiting to do an album since we were like 16, but we've only ever done EPs and singles," Ady says.

Soon after D arrived the band acquired a booking agent, management and a record deal, a deal which saw leading independent label Krell, join forces with Epic ("D bought the magic," quips Ady). They also had, courtesy of Ady, an interest in sampling and computers, which added a new dimension to their sound.

"Being a three-piece band, the sampling has added such a new amount of possibilities - sometimes the sound is twice as big," says an obviously pleased Matt.

Recording the album in Adelaide, with a catalogue of 50 songs cut back to a dozen while more where written in the studio proved to be an experience, with both Paul McKercher and then Ulrich Wild bringing out the best in Testeagles. The result was an atmosphere conducive to being creative. "It was out of control, but not in a bad way," says D. "We just didn't have everything worked out to a T, we were able to improvise."

With the threesome set to boost their already high levels of national touring and with radio reverberating to their shuriken-shap singles, it's obvious that Testeagles' steady climb has been worth the wait.

Concludes Matt, "There's nothing in Australia like we've done on this record and that's what I'm most proud of."