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.
Howdy Pecking Crew…
The masters of murderous mayhem are back. Macabre release Grim Scary Tales. Their first full-length in eight years, Grim is not a huge departure from Chicago’s most gory. Songs about serial murders/mass murderers abound along with the goofy stuff (“Nero’s Inferno,” “The Big Bad Wolf,” “Lizzy Borden”). One that sticks out is the cover of “Countess Bathory” by Venom, which almost sounds like it’s from a different session altogether. All in all, GST isn’t a bad record, but at the end of the day, it’s a record by Macabre, so one should know what to expect.
Crowbar release the punishing Sever the Wicked Hand. A now-sober Windstein and co. show you how it was and is done NOLA style. If slow, brooding, downtempo, downtrodden, just plain fucking down music is your thing, then pick this up immediately. After a six-year hiatus, this is a great comeback for these guys. The swamp is where they are from, and also describes their dirge-y sound. If you haven’t heard Crowbar yet, Sever isn’t a bad place to start.
Motorhead (umlauts implied) hit the scene with their 20th (20th!) full length, The World Is Yours. This is pretty standard fare for Motorhead: odes to women, whiskey… c’mon you’ve heard them, and you better know what to expect. Would you want anything BUT for Motorhead to parrot themselves? What do you think? The World Is Yours is no prog record; there is nothing surprising, unexpected or out of character here, which is great. No one wants to see Lemmy pretending to be something he’s not. Fucking kicking ass and taking names is the order of the day for Motorhead and their good, but not necessary, record.
The kings of Teutonic thrash are back; well, at least the princes. Destruction bring the old-school thrash hate with Day of Reckoning. Nuclear Blast have a small masterpiece on their hands with this one. When bands try to get something like this together, it usually ends up sounding stale and a little trite. This is a soon-to-be classic. This three-piece slays it, as a matter of fact; check out “Infernal Overkill,” “Eternal Devastation” and “Release From Agony.” Look for them on tour with thrash veterans Overkill. Sick.
