The dog days of August are certainly here, and boy howdy, there’s at least ONE release that I’m super-stoked on. Let’s get into it, shall we?
The masters of Gore Metal are back at it. EXHUMED release Necrocracy, and this thing rips. This gore-soaked platter has grooves, blasts, hooks and, well, plenty of gore. At times, this record is downright catchy and doesn’t suffer from any loss of extremity. See “Coins Upon the Eyes” or “The Carrion Call” for examples. The riffs stick to your ribs like a good VERY RARE steak. This is an amazing follow-up to last year’s barn-burner All Guts, No Glory, and just as good in a different way. The production is a little warm and could use a little more beak for my taste, but you know what? The songwriting is stellar, so pick this up. 8 Fucking Pecks.
Whatever happened to NORMA JEAN? I’m not too sure; maybe they were hanging out with Norma Stitz. Anyway, Wrongdoers is coming out, and golly are these boys pissed. You know how some bands tend to lose the anger and vitriol of their earlier recordings? Well, not Norma Jean. Often lumped in with metalcore, this is definitely a hardcore band with metallic leanings, so you know there are chugs and breakdowns and a little of that “wheedly-wheedly” stuff, so if that’s not your thing, you won’t dig this. But it’s pretty good; it’s mean, and doesn’t sound dated like that late ’90s/early ’00s hardcore that was huge back in the day. This sort of stuff isn’t really my cup of seeds, but a good solid record is a good solid record, and this is one. 7 Fucking Pecks.
WHOA, did it just get stale as peck up in here? Did someone open a bag of week old bagels? NEWSTED releases Heavy Metal Music, and it SUCKS. Not that anyone expected much, but really. It’s heavy metal all right, at times the riffs sounding like a watered down Motorhead, and Newsted’s vocals sound like a cross between Chuck Billy and Hetfield. Hopefully he has fun with this, because he doesn’t need the money. And don’t get me wrong: This is nowhere NEAR as bad as any Metallica albums post-Justice, but one wonders what’s the point? The riffs themselves are pedantic and go absolutely nowhere, and it seems that Newsted is forcing his ideas and trying to write “metal” topics. This is bland, boring and completely unnecessary. Not even good enough to be a joke. How about writing a good record INSTEAD, Mr. Newsted? 1 Fucking Peck.
