Happy Halloween, motherpeckers! It’s your boy Waldo coming at you with some new releases, and remember, “I’m not an elitist, you just have bad taste.”
While admittedly not a HUGE fan, old-school (hell, they helped BUILD the school) Florida death/thrashers Massacre are back after who knows how long (well I do, but is it relevant?) with Resurgence. Where, oh where, to start with this. Their first record From Beyond is basically hailed as a masterpiece, and it was… 30 years ago. Death metal has evolved tremendously since then, and what was once hailed as a “classic” record, now borders on “snoozefest.” So, that tells you NOTHING about Resurgence right? So, haters gonna hate. This is solid, I mean it’s Massacre alright, and although only 40% of the original lineup remains, this is 100% a Massacre record. There are old school thrashy death riffs that, while don’t really branch out, are pretty catchy and heavy. Vocalist Kam Lee sounds just as gnarly as ever. I really was expecting this to be the equivalent of putting a sheet over my cage and putting me to sleep, but I’m pleasantly surprised. This is OSDM at a great point, one where the songs are memorable and have riffs. Bonus points for keeping up the Cthulhu imagery/theme. Serviceable death metal and then some. Now to go back and revisit From Beyond. 8 Fucking Pecks
How can I NOT review a band called Sexmag and their new mini full length (EP?) Sex Metal on Dying Victims? First of all, this is not what I thought this would be AT ALL. I was really expecting some sleazy-ass L.A. style glam metal, but instead I got some REAL black metal. This is not KVLT, and not raw, well, not raw in the sense when you think of underground black metal. This is unabashed fun. Think a bunch of kids (they’re not kids) playing beyond their means and trying to be SUPER metal in 1981 and this pretty much describes the sound. Thrashed out blackened riffs with some grunting and shrieking over them. There is a special charm in bands like this just bashing away, blissfully unaware of the rest of the metal scene. I dig it. 7 Fucking Pecks.
Depressive, post-black metal band Ghost Bath are releasing Self Loather. Wasn’t there some sort of controversy that made this band lame? Like they claimed they were from China but were from like Iowa or something? I dunno, who cares? Following in the tradition Deafheaven (sorta), Ghost Bath are NOT what one would consider black metal, and what some would refer to as “hipster black metal.” Whatever genre tag you prefer (note: the tag hipster black metal is really lame.) This is OK, I mean, the press release reads like this is the best thing ever, and I do appreciate them taking some risks with the style, but never veering off entirely. What strikes me about this, is: 1) this is NOT that depressing and “cold” (just listen to the 2:00 mark on the video posed below), and 2) there is a lot going on here, but, it doesn’t really come across as scattered. I REALLY want to like this more than I do, but to these feathered ears, it’s good, it’s just not GREAT. There are a lot of little nuanced things that warrant repeated spins. 7 Fucking Pecks.
Waldo out!
