The incongruities in the music world are often what make it so fascinating to follow. The common complaint that “everything has been done before” rings increasingly less true as smaller boutique labels and bands capable of easy self-distribution harbor a broad field of forward-thinking bands and the strange outliers of countless mutated genres. This is why a thrash metal release can still excite and challenge in 2014. Oozing Wound’s new album Earth Suck is not simply a retread of sounds by a bunch of guys who never threw out their Master of Puppets tees. With the debut of its sophomore album it is clear that the band has reached a new level of confidence. While Oozing Wound’s debut album Retrash had a driving pulse and a furious center, there were just as many ideas that felt as disposable as the plastic cups its party vibe seemed to evoke. Even simply judging from the surreal, destructive and muscular album art of Earth Suck—sans any identifying text—the suggestion is that the band is taking a more powerful stance. The results are as crushing as the several-fisted force suggested on the cover. There is a leanness to the sound of these songs, heavily owing to the high treble frequencies throughout. While drummer Kyle Reynolds’ drums bring a palpable rumble throughout, bassist Kevin Cribbin’s playing remains in a similarly high register as Zack Weil’s buzzing guitar. This is not the often fatter heavy sound of most modern metal bands and the feeling of hearing a power-trio awash in the tinny echo of garage-like acoustics brings a weird charm to what could otherwise threaten to fall into the hammy sound of a more tribute-minded act. With tracks like “Genuine Creeper,” however, the formula of traditional thrash tropes is subverted...