What’s up foos? It’s your boy Waldo here with ALL the reviews that are fit to dig, or hate or just, like, I dunno, just read on and you can make your beaking minds up for yourself.
Baltimore’s (sorta) Noisem is releasing their 3rd LP Cease To Exist on 20 Buck Spin. Typically, I LOVE most of the stuff on the label and this is no exception. After four years and an almost-full lineup change, Noisem are back and better than ever. So, what to say about this? This is a kind of grind, punk, hardcore, thrash, death amalgam that comes across sounding more like “grindcore” of yore. These guys are notable for playing the Decibel Tour when they were all under the age of 21 and the first thing that one notices on this record is that it’s frantic. This harkens back to the days of early Napalm Death, early Carcass (check out the vocalist’s snarl) Terrorizer, Exhumed and I hear a little Kreator in there too. This does not mean that Cease to Exist is derivative—it’s not. It definitely sounds like Noisem. I love it.
8 Fucking Pecks.
So, I guess I should start by saying that I’m not a huge fan of Fallujah. In fact, I’m not into them at all. So, how do I feel about Undying Light? Not into it. Anyone knows your ole boy Waldo, he’s not into progressive death metal. This is tech/prog death and the guitar work here is pretty amazing if you like that sort of thing, but it seems a little more stripped down on this. Layering and reverb is something that Fallujah relies on a ton and it mostly seems a little absent here. What I REALLY see is that this whole record just seems forgettable. There’s not a lot here to sink your teeth into. Oh yeah, there’s a lot of clean singing and very few death parts. This is a swing and a miss.
4 Fucking Pecks.
Members of Integrity, Misery Index and Pig Destroyer have a band. That band is called Asthma Castle. Mount Crushmore is doom, stoner, sludge, rock… all parts of that thrown into a blender that sounds like Asthma Castle. This type of description usually means a scattered sound, which is not the case here. The first thing to note here is the swagger this band has, you know these mother peckers have HUGE balls just based on the sound and riffage. From the sense of humor here to the brawniness of the riffs… Asthma Castle sticks out in a sea of generic stoner bands.
7 Fucking Pecks
