Oozing Wound
Whatever Forever
Release Date: Oct 14, 2016
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Heavy Metal, Stoner Metal, Speed/Thrash Metal
Record label: Thrill Jockey
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Album Review: Whatever Forever by Oozing Wound
Very Good, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
If any track should start an album full of destruction and unremitting hate, it should be one called “Rambo 5 (Pre-Emptive Strike)”. Much like the action hero, Oozing Wound’s Whatever Forever takes no prisoners, only slowing down once to prepare its final onslaught. Though the band’s sound has links to the thrash of early Metallica and Slayer, Whatever Forever surprises with its subtle forays into black metal.
Based on rating 7/10
Never ones to take themselves (or anyone else) too seriously, Oozing Wound fully embrace their fiercely dismissive view of human society on their third LP, appropriately titled Whatever Forever. The record has irreverence written all over it, shouting out non-existent Rambo movies and poking fun at the quieter side of Black Sabbath in between misanthropic missives about superficiality and destruction.Oozing Wound have retained the spacey, extraterrestrial edge that has characterized their sound despite taking a more Earth-bound lyrical focus here. Their songs tend to move through three or four parts in succession as circling, repetitive riffs introduce complexity and inertia through their rhythmic interplay.
Based on rating 7/10
The third studio long-player from the Chicago-based metal trio, Whatever Forever opens with the line "Peace Is a Lie," and then spends the ensuing 47 minutes backing that notion up with an unrelenting assault of thrashcore gutter punk artillery fire. Bolder and more streamlined -- though no less visceral -- than 2014's Earth Suck, Oozing Wound's penchant for pairing sonic might with offbeat, sometimes satirical lyrics is put into play on stand-out cuts like "Everything Sucks, And My Life Is a Lie," "Rambo 5 (Pre-Emptive Strike)," and "Weather Tamer," the latter of which delivers a haymaker to climate change deniers. As per usual, the band has little interest in settling into any specific genre, incorporating bits of noise rock and black, sludge, and prog metal into the mix whenever they see fit, but one thing Whatever Forever does do consistently is melt your face off which, in the end, is probably a good thing for the earth.
Based on rating 6.6/10
The third album from Chicago trio Oozing Wound begins with a backwards guitar wail that puts a fresh twist on the technique Metallica used in the iconic intro to their . . .
Based on rating 3/5
These Chicagoan metallers have been referred to as ‘the Nirvana of thrash’, but if that means ‘mainstream breakout certainties’ then Metallica probably have that base covered. Let’s just imagine they’re going for ‘awesome’ – a safe assumption based on Oozing Wound's heroic and unshakable devotion to the concept of The Riff. The trio certainly thrash away confidently (and with no let-up), but it’s the tangents that offer the biggest thrills: Lightning Bolt and Jesus Lizard fans should be cheerily surprised by the frenetic chaos on display.
Opinion: Fantastic
“You want fast shit? We got it! You want slow shit? We got it! You want weird shit? Fuck yeah, you do.” So says Oozing Wound frontman and guitarist Zack Weil about the band’s new album, Whatever Forever. Returning with their third effort on hometown label Thrill Jockey the Chicago trio unleash another blast of ferocious hardcore sludge. Or as Zack sums it up: “It’s a culmination of nihilism, yeah-dude radicalness of the early 90s, and the belief that taking anything too seriously is a guarantee it’ll suck.” And just as billed, it doesn’t suck.
'Whatever Forever'
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