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

Wow, looking at the list of new releases coming out, I’ve pecked up on the notion that your old boy Waldo doesn’t keep up with new music as much as he should. In the list there are three —  count ’em, three — bands that have the work “Black” in their name. I’m not saying these bands are bad, as I haven’t checked them out, but you know, maybe get some other ideas guys. I dunno, Pink Twilight Circle might just not have the same ring. Anyway, here’s some stuff I think is good and here’s some stuff that I think sucks.

First up we have WAKE from Canada, who are releasing Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow on like four different labels (Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Nerve Altar, 7 Degrees Records, and Everydayhate). Now onto the music, shall we? At first listen, this seems like just out of the gate blistering grindcore, but there’s much more than that here. Breaking the traditions of the grindcore mold can be a little difficult at times, but Wake do that effortlessly, creating a record that is both avant-garde and ferocious. Calling this avant-garde, however, does not mean this is crafted by “artistes” (well, maybe because they’re Canadian). This is a vicious little slab of meanness that takes brief steps in drone, psychedelia, groove and doom, and ties it all neatly into one nasty grind package. 8 Fucking Pecks.

Well, as we all know, the “Big 4” are still at it — one wonders why sometimes, though. ANTHRAX are releasing For All Kings on Megaforce, and I gotta tell you that the punk in me was a little excited. There are good and bad things about this. It’s marginally better than Worship Music; it has a little more life, and Belladonna sounds like he cares a little more on this one. The teaser track, “Evil Twin,” is actually pretty beaking cool for 2016 Anthrax. That’s not to say this record is amazing. There’s a lot — and I mean A LOT — of filler on this thing, much like one would expect from a band 30 some odd years into their career, and even though this is the best of what we’ve seen from them in recent years, it falls a little flat. While this isn’t bad, it’s not great, and certainly not going to inject more life in an older thrash metal scene. 4 Fucking Pecks.

There’s some things I’m excited to hear, but haven’t yet, and I figured I’d bring that birdshit to your attention. CHURCH OF MISERY are going to release And Then There Were None, featuring Scott Carlson of Repulsion, Dave Szulkin and Eric Little from Internal Void, so it should be interesting to hear a quarter-Japanese COM. Phobia and Gadget are both releasing new records that should be ripping, and I’d like to see what the new Convulse sounds like. So, until next time, keep one talon in the gutter and one wing in the goal.