What’s up? It’s your old boy Waldo here, to inform you about some new and upcoming releases, good bad, or otherwise. Remember—I’m not an elitist, you just have bad taste.
Apparently, it’s time for another Amon Amarth record. The Great Heathen Army already has the attention of guys with their T-shirts tucked into their jeans and dudes wearing Thor hammers around their necks. Seriously though, this is standard fare for the Viking death, melodic death metal crew. TGHA seems a little stiff in the production, but overall, the sound of the record is what one would expect from Amon Amarth. There are times when Johann Hegg’s growling vocals seem a little silly—since he clearly enunciates the band’s ridiculous lyrics—but this record doesn’t really stand out to be better or worse from the rest of their catalog. Not a bad effort, just very samey to this bird. 6 Fucking Pecks
Tasmanians Psycroptic are releasing The Divine Council, and if there’s any subgenre that Psycroptic truly fall into, it’s tech thrash. OK, this is tech death thrash, leaning more to the thrash side for most of the record, but what really strikes me here is the songwriting; it’s thoughtful, not just a bunch of fast arpeggios thrown together. Each song is a little varied even though there is no shortage of some verse/chorus arrangements. Oh, and some knuckle-dragging parts and, of course, tech thrash (count how many times I say thrash in this review.) On the negative side, the bass is underrepresented here, which is a shame. And, man, those drums are clicky. Anyway, get your abacus out and jam these tunes. 7 Fucking Pecks
Waldo out!
