Oozing Wound is a band that doesn’t care what you think. The change of their sound from album to album? SO WHAT, TAKE WHAT YOU GET FOOL! Their original drummer is leaving? BOO HOO, DEAL WITH IT MAN! That is the vibe they have always given off and they should be praised for that. They do what they want, when they want, and how they want.
The coolest part about this Chicago band’s newest release via Thrill Jockey is that the ooze is even more potent than batches from the past. Think about all of the other famous oozes out there. That bright green sludge in those canisters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of the Ooze. The salmon pink rivers flowing beneath New York City in Ghostbusters II. The sticky white life source of strigoi from FX’s The Strain. Flubber? None of these even touch the level of potency Oozing Wound’s mad scientists Zach Weil, Kevin Cribbin, and Kyle Reynolds were able to achieve with Whatever Forever. One sniff of this shit and you’re turning into a grade A ganja goblin within the hour.
If you’ve experienced this band in the past you have a general idea of what you’re in for. To sum their sound up in one word: relentless.
Oozing Wound is the gold standard of thrash-heavy noise rock that caters to people that like to “Get High. Fuck. Destroy.”
This time around they achieve new heights in blowing minds with songs comprised of admiration for the Rambo movie franchise, grief, a hot take on the Star Trek series, the fucked up nature of our society today, melting astronauts and general sarcastic fun.
Oozing Wound’s longest song on Whatever Forever, “Mercury In Retrograde”, is a standout. A pointed criticism of people that try to blame other forces out there for their shitty life situation. Furious and focused to start but progressively changes gears throughout taking the listener further into outer space. For the final few minutes you will lose contact with reality. What a trip. Another favorite is “Everything Sucks, And My Life Is A Lie”. Per their interview on Thrill Jockey (read that HERE) “When you write something catchy, best to wrap it in a shroud of sarcasm.”.
I like the catchy ooze. It looks good on them even though they probably would rather it not.
The finale on Whatever Forever is the pretty instrumental “You Owe Me, Iommi” leading into “Sky Creep”. “Sky Creep” is a disturbing tribute to Vladimir Komarov. The Thrill Jockey interview is the first time I had heard about this astronaut and the change in his will to have an open casket funeral so the generals had to see what they did to him. Definitely ending with the pinnacle of pissed off.
A lot of you out there are going to be banging your head against the wall over the next few months considering a certain impending election. You may as well have a soundtrack that would drive you to that reaction regardless of the political climate. At least with Oozing Wound the head smashing is 100% pure adrenaline inducing fun. Whatever Forever comes out on October 14th and the first 600 copies are pressed on opaque yellow vinyl. Buy that over here –> Oozing Wound – Whatever Forever
Rating: 4.75/5