For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week

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.
Your boy Waldo here, getting primed to fall into a tryptophan coma. Looks like there’s some–not a lot, mind you–new releases coming out to help me stay awake.

Hot on the heels of the reunion shows, Rise Above release Cathedral’s Anniversary. There’s a limited edition CD box set, where the band performs Forest of Equilibrium, the punishing debut by these doomsters, at the 2010 reunion with original members. The other disc is kind of a best-of scattered throughout the bands various EPs and full-lengths. A 40-page booklet accompanies this version. There’s also a standard version; do yourself a favor and check this out if you’ve ever been curious, Cathedral are one of those bands that is a must-listen. If you’re a fan, you already know what to expect, so pick up the limited version for some doomy goods. Fuzz, fuzz and more fuzz abound over these classics. 8 FUCKING PECKS

Hells Headbangers really has a way of sticking to metal, and I mean just that: metal. Midnight’s Satanic Royalty, which just came out, is pretty sweet. This week’s release by this label, Embalmed’s Exalt the Imperial Beast, fits on the label just perfectly. This is old-school death with that lackluster recording sound. Sloppy blasts, growled vocals, tuned down guitars all equal one thing: true beaking death metal. While they are not winning any points for originality, it’s certainly presented well, if you like your death metal stripped down and with no frills attached. This Mexican two-piece has released a couple of EPs and demos, and this will be their first full-length. It’s pretty cool. 7 FUCKING PECKS
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Dim Mak release The Emergence of Reptilian Altars on Willowtip. This band has it all on paper. It’s not bad: blackened death, with some thrash thrown in and some melodic leads. It kind of misses the mark here; one really expects a little more from a lineup like this. Also it seems to me that Longstreth is holding back a little. I’m really on both sides of the cage here; it’s mean, just not mean enough. Anyway, it’s one of the better releases coming out this week. 6 FUCKING PECKS

My old-school peck, and many know this band, is Disgorge (Mexico). EASILY better than the American counterpart. Just check this shit out: brutality at it’s finest. There’s not much to say, but this squawking rocks. Good luck finding the releases, although they are all worthwhile.