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.
What’s up? Waldo here. Want to know whose liner notes are at the bottom of my cage for the next few upcoming weeks? Well, I’m here to tell you…
In a real beak-scratching move, Kenosha, WI’s JUNGLE ROT move to Victory Records. Not your typical tight pants/girl-haircut hardcore fare that they’ve been releasing. If you haven’t heard of Jungle Rot yet, you need to check your death metal cred at the door. I know, I know: you are probably waiting for the joke here, but Kill on Command isn’t bad. Plus it’s named after a Vio-lence song. If you ARE familiar with Jungle Rot, you know what to expect: meat and potatoes death metal, of the militaristic approach. Jungle Rot just never quite hit the mark, though. Grunts, grooves, blasts, solos—they all sound like JR, so, you know, they sound like a death metal band that was started by some high school kids. (Don’t believe me? Check this beat at the :48 mark below) Good for them. Maybe they’ll get a little more attention than kinda being a death metal punchline; but Kill on Command is passable, but not super memorable. 4 Fucking Pecks.
The oh so doomy and crusty BLACK SEPTEMBER mix Bolt Thrower parts, doom, death and black metal all in one squawking cauldron for a pretty interesting mix. Vocalist Jen McMorrow comes across tough, and properly blackened, but always seems to own her own style, so it keeps it interesting. The Forbidden Gates Beyond is pretty cool. Do not confuse this with a doom band; the differences in styles flow effortlessly into one another. Think the name could be better, and the production isn’t quite mean enough, but a solid release nonetheless. 6 Fucking Pecks.
Wow, I AM ABOMINATION, The Passion of the Heist is utter crap. Imagine a WAY less metal Confessor. I dunno, maybe it’s because the singer sounds like he tucks it in before going onstage, but I get a Soundgarden-type vibe to the vocals, too. I’m not even beaking sure what to call this. The Passion of the Heist is a CONCEPT record about alien abduction (as one can glean from the cover and track list). A better way to describe this is it sounds like Avenged Sevenfold wannabes, and that is NOT a pecking good thing. I’m sure the “new” David Vincent might dig this. This beaking sucks. 2 FUCKING PECKS.
As for the old-school, more obscure stuff of the week, check out D.V.C. , which stands for Darth Vader’s Church—awesome death metal from the Florida area circa 1988. Awesome stuff. Well beak geeks, that’s it. Waldo out. R.I.P. Seth Putnam.
