Waldo here, squawking all the new releases that fit to squawk about and some that are not.
Satan’s Host release By the Hands of the Devil, noted (by them, of course) as the “Most Metal Album of the Decade.” It is metal indeed and now featuring former Jag Panzer vocalist Harry Conklin. This band’s 34-year career should have ended 34 years ago. Dickinson like “air raid” vocals, mixed with clean vocals, and some King Diamond thrown into the mix. This thing pretty much sucks. The riffs are pedantic at best—think of Jungle Rot if they played an exceedingly outdated form of power metal. These dudes look like your drunken uncle that used to like Godsmack got into the devil and started a band, and By the Hands of the Devil pretty much sounds just like that. I’m not sure what’s sadder, the riffs that could be played by a high-schooler, or the fact that it seems they are trying to update their sound by adding some faster beats, and it doesn’t work. They even do a cover of the Beatles Norwegian Wood. Douche chills. Not my bag of seeds, baby. 2 Fucking Pecks.
What the fuck is a Destrophy? Who knows? Who cares? Victory release Cry Havoc. This band should REALLY be on your local “extreme” rock station. I mean, c’mon, this is a step away from Taproot, at best. Really check out “The Way of the World,” their ballad from a few years ago, and tell me that doesn’t make you want to pluck your feathers out. For fans of Otep, Taproot, Coal Chamber and other fucking lame shit like that. 0 Fucking Pecks.
Septicflesh the (former) death metal band from Greece are coming out with The Great Mass. Genre switching is a must for this band, and it seems that on The Great Mass, whenever they get back to their more pure death metal roots, they have to fuck it up with some clean vocals or keyboards. All the symphonic stuff takes the teeth out of any punishing riff they have. Goth, symphonic, black, death and power metal all abound here. 3 Fucking Pecks.
Krallice come at us with Diotima on Profound Lore. If one can get over the song length (average is about 10 minutes), this thing rips. Can you believe Barr and co. actually play the same riffs at the same time? Black metal pumped through a proggy filter, this thing rules. Intense and moody, definitely keep your eye out for this, it starts off strong and I feel is a grower. I could be called a “grower” when jamming this. 7 Fucking Pecks.
