For those About to Squawk: Waldo Makes America Peck Again

Werd. What’s going on, guys? Here we’re going to spew some birdshit all over some new releases. I might like some of these, but you won’t know until you read on. Let’s do this. 

The masters of Mexican Drug Lord Grind are back…I mean, the Masters of Drug Lord Grind Where Most of the Members Are British doesn’t really have the same ring. Anyway, Brujeria have returned with their new full length Pocho Aztlan on Nuclear Blast. If you don’t know Brujeria, they pose as Mexican drug lords, which are also involved in witchcraft (loosely based on the Matamoros cult) and includes members from bands like Lock Up, Carcass and Napalm Death. So, onto the music. Pocho Aztlan is definitively a Brujeria record, all the elements are here, the thick guitar tones and some of the craziest vocals in metal. What’s missing is their recent single “Viva Presidente Trump” and what’s also missing is memorability. Pocho Aztlan isn’t bad, it just comes across as scattered. Here we do have a good spattering of the band’s death metal and grindcore roots and most of this is really fun to listen, too. Also here is a cover of the Dead Kennedy’s “California Uber Alles,” and—much like this record—it’s cool, just not phenomenal. 6 Fucking Pecks.

OK, so, there’s this black metal band from France called Aum, and they are releasing a slightly puzzling record called Oh Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum (say that five times fast). Calling this black metal is a little unfair as it does have some traditional black metal aesthetics, such as the visuals and trem-picking, but there are strong death metal elements here, most notably the vocals. This isn’t trad black metal at all, and even the Asian instrumentation doesn’t remove the nihilistic feel of this whole thing. What’s most baffling here is that this is a concept album based on some sort of Hindu philosophy and that doesn’t seem particularly evil. For black metal this is cool, though. 6 Fucking Pecks.

Is there such a thing as psychedelic death metal? Well, Skeleton of God is proving there is with Primordial Dominion. This is well… psychedelic and death metal. It’s a little confusing to my birdbrain—these two genres don’t really blend well. This isn’t some Portal sounding shit either. I mean, this is traditional psychedelia mixed with traditional death metal. So, if this sounds like your jam, check this out, it’s weird no doubt. I’m not really sure how to rate this… so, 6 Fucking Pecks.

Until next time,
Waldo out.