I watch a lot of horror movies. Probably an unhealthy amount. Also, it’s now October, meaning that amount will probably double leading up to Halloween. When it comes to what kind of horror movies I like the most, it’s no contest. I go in for slashers. My masked fiend of choice: Jason Voorhees. In fact, I just watched my recently-purchased copy of Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. Casual viewers beware, this comprehensive documentary is over seven hours long. I’m serious here, folks. I love horror movies. Sure, a lot of them are fairly mindless vehicles for watching hapless teenagers meet grisly endings, but twisted or not, that’s largely the thrill. What I like most about Jason Voorhees and others of his ilk is that no matter what you do to him, you cannot stop him. He comes back time and time again, machete in hand. He’s essentially a walking primal instinct, and that instinct is to kill.

I don’t know if it’s occurred to them or not, but Chicago thrash heroes Oozing Wound are a lot like Jason Voorhees. Veterans of the weirder side of the Chicago music scene, these three guys have cut their teeth in bands like Cacaw, ZATH, Ga’an, Unmanned Ship, and several others. Needless to say they don’t come up short when it comes to experience. Concerning their latest project, they’ve boiled things down, trimmed the fat, and fastened their mantra out in front of themselves like a donkey chasing a carrot on a string: these guys just want to slay. Roll your eyes if you must, but it’s something that they are 100% serious about, and they have absolutely no time for the naysayers. They are too busy crafting their music to be as loud, as abrasive, and as deadly as possible. This brutality comes easily to them—their debut album Retrash is an album of clenched fists and rolled up sleeves. They take their swings, but by the time they’re finished with you, you’re going to relish the pounding. Like my favorite hockey-masked murderer, these guys are a dressed-up animal instinct. They want to kill you with music and nothing is going to stop them from doing so.

A lot of people have championed Oozing Wound as a sort of return to the classic, unadulterated crossover thrash of the 1980′s. And it’s true, they’ve got the speed, the aggression, and the edge to support that claim. But the funny thing is, these guys never even set out to make thrash metal in the first place. Hell, they don’t really even consider themselves members of the metal scene. Looking instead to simply make loud and fast rock-n-roll, Oozing Wound have pooled their influences (which, surprisingly enough, contains a generous helping of Fleetwood Mac) and the resulting monster just happens to skate close to hardcore, thrash, or whatever you want to call it. Either way, the band makes no bones about it. They aren’t about finding the correct labels for their music, they’re too busy making it and force-feeding it to any and all unsuspecting mouthbreathers who happen to be in their general vicinity.

There is a lot to enjoy about Oozing Wound’s Retrash and that enjoyment could even extend to those who don’t typically find themselves listening to thrash metal. First there is the fact that when you listen to it, Retrash begins to reveal itself as well-constructed heavy rock music. But also, and more importantly, the band makes strides to keep things light-hearted. I don’t say that to blunt the band’s admittedly razor-sharp edge, but rather the band keeps a sick sense of fun burning at the core of this project and they want to infect you with it. Sure, Oozing Wound might seem bristly on the outside, but the more intently you listen and the more you come to understand the guys themselves, the more you’ll find yourself smiling at the humor of what they are conveying here. All you have to do is the give yourself the chance to find it.

This brings me back to Oozing Wound’s self-proclaimed mantra: to slay. Frontman Zack Weil has said that Oozing Wound is probably better as a live band, so I imagine bearing witness to their sheer, brute force is the realest way for the band to back up that primal goal. If you still think that’s the corniest thing ever, then there’s probably not much I can do to change your mind outside of this glowing reflection. But know this: there is not a shred of pretense to be found here, and when these guys say that they want to slay, they do so with a straight face. Jason Voorhees watched helplessly from his forest hiding place as his mother’s head was lobbed off with a machete. I’m not sure if any single event sent Oozing Wound barreling down their sonically-violent warpath, but ultimately their endgame is the same. It’s all about the body count.

Retrash is out on October 15th on Thrill Jockey Records.