Welcome back to the Trash Attack!
This week, I thought I’d throw a shout out to some local homies known as Oozing Wound. These Chicagoan dudes aren’t your typical breed of crossover goodness, but come out with an extra ten inches of grit.
In particular, I’m a fan of their 2016 release Whatever Forever (Thrill Jockey – a kick ass label out of Chicago). Upon the opening track “Rambo 5 (Pre-Emptive Strike)”, one knows what to expect out of the band. The straight up grimy distortion rips through the entire song, wailing off on crunchy riffs. Like Metallica and Slayer meeting Nirvana, Oozing Wound gives off a bright sound with jagged delivery. The sound makes for a sensory overload with whiffs of dirt and pus.
“Deep Space” crashes down hard with blistering drum beats, and down tuned savage guitar playing. Vocals rage on, diving and rising with the ever rushing intensity of instrumentation. This tinge to the overall thrash sound is a major part of what aids Oozing Wound in standing out. Instead of coming off as your generic thrashers that write fast songs, they inject an edge of wildness that adds physical feeling to the music. Being able to take their thrash and punk attitude, and blending it with sludgy elements, creates a distinct sense of adrenaline and anxiety. “Weather Tamer” does this with an underlining warm fuzz while dropping in sharp guitar notes. This creates a physical sensation of picking skin, as contrasting brighter notes play against the dense distortion. The band does well to play with these sounds, creating a unique thrash sense to atmosphere. “Sky Creep” is a pissed off jammer that comes in with distortion and hammering drums. This fuzz, along with the harder elements, create one of the record’s best uses of giving off crunchy dread.
Oozing Wound do a solid job of providing fun whiplash jams, while establishing eerie emotions within. Feel free to stream all of Whatever Forever below to get a taste (or feel) of the record below. Follow the band via Facebook, and keep an eye on future releases via Bandcamp (or go listen to some of their past work).
Thanks for tuning into this week’s Thrash Attack and see you all next week! Let us know what you think of Oozing Wound in the comments below.
