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

I’m not really sure what to make of this week. Just seems like it’s pretty dry out there lately. Hopefully that new Autopsy or Misery Index will be out soon.
THE OATH S/T is released on Rise Above. They basically pump the fact that this is a female-fronted band; not that it matters to me, but hey, people will read this review because of it. Onto the music: This is that retro, sorta occult rock/metal thing that Ghost brought back a few years ago. I gotta say, although this isn’t bad, this type of thing is not my beak-sharpening stone.  The riffs here aren’t bad, and the production and the vocals fit the mood and music, but it really comes across as if it’s going nowhere. Think Deep Purple mixed with Sabbath, without the teeth of either, with that In Solitude type of vibe. Take away the soaring highs and pummeling lows of any of the aforementioned and you’ve got this.  This comes across with a little Heart or Grace Slick vibe, but that’s mostly due to the vocals and not because of the music at all. I dunno, there are people out there that will love this, but it barely even ruffles my feathers. 5 Fucking Pecks.

TRIPTYKON hit us pretty hard with Melana Chasmata, which I think means “Me, The Leaning Chasm” in Swedish, but hey, I digress.  It’s hard to talk about Tom G. Warrior, (you know, the REAL Ultimate Warrior) without really mention of the heavy Celtic Frost, and this has some of the dark elements of the Frost, some of the riff stylings, but there’s more. Melana Chasmata has a breadth, an evil underlying current that seethes through this whole thing, and all of the riffs here are punctuated by a mean, heavy rhythm section. I was fully prepared to be disappointed, but this is pretty ripping.  There are elements of many different genres here — death, thrash, doom, black — but they are all wrapped up in one nasty package. 8 Fucking Pecks

Never really checked out MORBID FLESH before, and I’m beaking stoked I did.  The Embedded in the Ossuary EP is death metal, and I mean death metal — not brootal or slammy; just pure death metal. Well, I guess it’s old-school death, really, not too unlike Grave or Dismember.  There’s a little melody in the grinding riffs, and the singer’s growl/rasp is pretty cool. I’m enjoying this. There certainly is nothing earth-shatteringly new here, just good old style death metal, so you know, peep it. 6 Fucking Pecks.