Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases.
Wow, some stuff your boy Waldo actually LIKES?!?! Will wonders never cease…
Like death metal? Like CANNIBAL CORPSE? Then you’ll dig Torture. This thing is brutal. Not really a surprise since the last couple have been awesome, too. Seems like Rutan really nails the production. Corpsegrinder’s neck is still the most brutal in metal. There is nothing really surprising here, but this thing beaking rips. The songs are distinguishable from each other, and don’t really meld as one giant track, which is a great thing. This band focuses on quality and makes sure you know that. Plus, the cover is one of there better ones in recent times. From the opening track (and what an opener it is) to the last scream, this thing never gives up. Gnarly. 8 Fucking Pecks!
Hopefully noisesters UNSANE have found a new and good home in Alternative Tentacles. Wreck pummels from the start and singer/guitarist Chris Spencer is as angry as ever. If you’re a fan of this band, you’re going to love this; the production could be a little rawer and seems to take away a bit of the edge from this, but still a great record. This is by no means the Scattered, Smothered and Covered era, but still VERY much the same band that sounds like they never let up. This is great: industrial grooves, with a metronome drummer and added screams. Just like Unsane always have been. 8 Fucking Pecks.
Ahhh… MELVINS are releasing The Bulls and the Bees on Scion AV for FREE; that’s right, for free. This band’s extensive and sometimes spotty back catalog is, well… spotty. This is a pretty strong release, though; most of this material would fit right in with the Bride Screamed Murder material. There’s not a whole lot to add here: same quirkiness of Melvins, the production is pretty cool and there are riffs. This birdbrain has been disappointed by much of their later material, but it’s not wholly disappointing in my pecking eyes, and for free you just can’t go wrong. 7 Fucking Pecks.
My old-school peck for the week: EXCEL. Hailing from the Venice, CA area, they were contemporaries with ST and No Mercy. Great metal/punk/thrash. May take you a while to track this down, but it’s well worth it when you find it. Listen to the above and note the similarities between this and “Enter Sandman.” FUCKING SQUAWK.
