For Those About To Squawk: Kreator, The Murder Of My Sweet, Hour Of Penance

What’s up? By my feathered ass, you can tell it’s a new year, as the releases are ALREADY pecking up. Also, but the time you’re reading this, America will be great again, I mean we’ll see about that. I was going to review a record by a band called “Rainbow Licker” but that birdshit makes Babymetal look like Cannibal Corpse…  There’s also a TON of reissues this time around, but I’d rather focus on new music.

So, thrash stalwarts Kreator are back with their 14th! record since 1984, entitled Gods of Violence. Now if anyone remembers, Kreator had some REALLY dark days where they really experimented with industrial and gothic music. I gotta say, this isn’t that, they’ve firmly rooted themselves back in the thrash metal genre. Now, this parrot loves me some old school Kreator, the first like 5 records or so are masterpieces and Gods of Violence is more of a return to form. All the trademarks of Kreator are here, Mille’s riffs are thrashy and present, and there’s a vitriol unlike the band has had in years. This is a more mature Kreator, and really, why not, they’ve only been at it for like 32 years or something. Mostly gone are the all out blistering assaults of “Extreme Aggressions” and “Betrayer,” but what we’re left with is a harkening back to the old days without sounding rehashed or stale. So, this is a solid thrash release go pick this up and see them on the upcoming Decibel Tour. 8 Fucking Pecks.

You ever hear a band and ask yourself? “Who listens to this garbage?” Well, I posed that very question to myself. Not that I should be surprised that a band called The Murder Of My Sweet sucks, and the new record The Echoes Of The Aftermath certainly sucks too. This is that eurometal garbage that like is popular in Hot Topics around the globe. Keyboard passages give way to stale ass riffs and a “pretty” vocalist that sounds VERY banal. This is not good, proof that somewhere, someone thinks they can make money off of the Lacuna Coil/Evanescence vibe. Utter pap. 1 Fucking Peck.

Italian death dealers Hour Of Penance come at us with a spicy meatball entitled Cast The First Stone. This is death metal, not quite melodeath but has some melodic passages thrown in here and there so it breaks up the monotony. HOP definitely has their own sound, an effective and sometimes brutal one. This is a concept album based around the idea that religion and reason and you know, like all of that stuff is bad. The production here is thick, yet clean and lends to the overall vibe of this record. My one complaint is the kick drum sound, I mean the drummer is a beast, but the kicks are pretty thin. The record is pretty good though, not mundane or boring. 7 Fucking Pecks. 

Alright guys, that’s it, until next time… Waldo out!