ø Caninus & Hatebeak: Metal’s Unlikeliest Front “men”

Caninus & Hatebeak: Metal’s Unlikeliest Front “men”

4 April 2009 409 views No Comment

The world of metal is an odd one, populated by hilariously over the top imagery and sounds.

The vocals of many a death/gore band are a nearly indecipherable string of shrieks, snorts and belches which have earned songs featuring them the derisive nickname of “cookie monster” metal.

Never one to be outdone, the cookie monster himself can be seen in his metal video below

(featuring Bert & Ernie on drums):

A couple of bands have capitalized on these inhuman sounds by handing the vocal duties off to an actual animal! Enter Hatebeak, which I’m guessing is likely the only group in existence that is fronted by a parrot. “Waldo”, a Congo African Gray parrot takes the mic in wing and lets loose a stream of brutal, face melting vocals to a background of speedy guitar and double bass drumming. Hatebeak is an exemplar of the nascent “Feathergore” genre and the group has released a few albums including “Beak of Putrefaction”, “Bird Seeds of Vengeance” and of course, “The Thing Which Should Not Beak”.

Unlike a moody rockstar who trashes his hotel room and is always demanding, Waldo asks only for a handful of birdseed and that the newspaper in his cage be changed at regular intervals before he’s once again back on stage, ready to “rawk”. Clearly, for this bird, it is all about the music.

But Hatebeak had better watch out, for the competition is a bitch…literally. The grind metal band Caninus is fronted, by yes, you guessed it, a pooch! Well actually two. The pitbull terriers, and their owners (New York Band Most Precious Blood) have teamed up to create chaos that sounds like the hounds of hell!