Rat King "Santa Hipocresía"

    Good Gawd Almighty! Rat King is rushing down the ramp with a steel chair in hand looking to break some bones and raise some hell! These death metal/grindcore maniacs from Seattle, WA come charging at the metal world with a relentless and unforgiving attitude on their new EP, “Santa Hipocresía.” 

    I remember reviewing their full-length album, “Vicious Inhumanity,” back in 2020 which I thought was a solid album that featured a deafening selection of face shredding death metal/grindcore. However, this new release is almost a completely different beast and sounds even more vicious in terms of the band's delivery and the overall presentation. Once you start listening to the album’s first track, “Santa Hipocresía,” you are instantly thrown into this pit of extreme sounding carnage that hits you with a flurry of fatal punches. Throughout the release the guitar playing and drumming proves to be on point, capturing the band’s utterly brutal approach. 

    There are moment where one might feel as though the riffs are a bit simplistic and that the arrangements are nothing innovative, however, the passion and adrenaline pumping ferocity is what hooked me throughout the entire EP. I felt like the guitar playing on this album was able to get the job done, especially when setting up those moments of intense blast beats which created a monumental rush of sickening brutality. Track number two, “Maldición Del Alma,” brought a massive amount of aggression for such a short track and I thought the vocals perfectly captured the gruesome devastation that seemed to come crashing in from all around. You hear that same brutal mentality on other tracks like, “False Prophet,” and “Morboso,” which also contain chainsaw like guitar riffs and those ear obliteration drum parts. 

    As someone who feels like a fair portion of modern death metal and grindcore bands attempt to record “brutal” music yet end up writing very forgettable albums, I was extremely pleased with how Rat King went about recording this release. Also, the band seems to have a strong and tight grasp on their overall sound, which I thought was executed extremely well. I believe we have reached a point in the extreme metal world where as much as we would like new bands to be ground breaking or innovative masterminds, we actually just want artists to deliver albums that leave an impact and sound like they weren't recorded by a bunch of drunk yahoos. No bullshit, this album is a mighty statement and Rat King is definitely an artist that I recommend checking out. 

Check out the song "False Prophet" below:

Rat King Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ratkingseattle/ 

Rat King Bandcamp:

https://ratkingband.bandcamp.com/

Rat King "Vicious Inhumanity"

    Start 2020 off right with some monstrous riffs and venomous sounding vocals! The Seattle, WA based experimental extreme metal band, Rat King, blends together a nuclear concoction of old school death metal and merciless grindcore on their new release, “Vicious Inhumanity.”

    What impressed me most about this band right from the get go was their ability to write hard hitting brutal cuts of music that get straight to the goddamn point, just like a chokeslam from the Undertaker. There is definitely some experimentation in terms of different tempos and how the band transitions from slow sludgy swamp sounding riffs into a blitzkrieg of grinding chaos. However, the band does not go off into confusing directions by overwhelming listeners with unnecessary compositions that lack any real purpose. There is consistency throughout the album and you feel as though the band did not want to hastily toss together ideas, because that usually ends up sounding like an aborted mess of an album.

    There are nine songs on this album, all of them unleashing a diabolic onslaught of face melting riff savagery. The first track, “Matanza,” is an explosion of brutality from start to finish. The band’s drummer is a maniac behind the kit dealing out plenty of intense blast beats to compliment the devastating guitar riffs. Other notable tracks off the album like “Soledad,” “In Quiet Sleep” and “Chanchito,” really focus on crafting these abysmal bursts of aggression and the band’s songwriting style seems to never lose that unforgiving attitude.

    In honesty, there are similar sounding bands who blend a variety of extreme metal styles, but Rat King’s solid musicianship and no nonsense style of songwriting, keeps you intently listening and wanting more. For example, the final song on the album, “Rotting From Inside,” is a maniacal sounding piece of music with plenty of heavy riffs and ear smashing drum parts. You can hear the bass lines extremely well, so hats off to the person who mixed the album, because those bass parts give the song a major boost of low end destruction.

    Overall, I believe, “Vicious Inhumanity,” is an impressive release that offers listeners some proficient sounding extreme metal music. The band’s style of songwriting on this album did not disappoint and I believe they need to keep making music that does not dick around and hits hard without any remorse. I’ve noticed some young bands fail to establish a clear identity with their music, whereas Rat King delivered their music in a viciously bold and impactful manner. An album I highly recommend for fans who want some brutality to begin the new year!


Check out the song "Borratanico" below:

Rat King Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/ratkingseattle/

Pathetic "Rat King"

    Merciless devastation is what Pathetic unleashes upon the world with their debut full-length album. This pulverizing trio from Calgary does not mess around when delivering their brand of gruesome and savage sounding death metal.

    “Rat King,” is an album that features an unholy onslaught of unforgiving extreme metal music. The band knows how to construct some brutal sounding songs, while also coming up with a variety of unique compositions. You can have a slow gritty juggernaut like riff coming at you one moment which all of a sudden changes making way for an intense tsunami of old school death metal carnage.

    Overall the production and the band’s sound is extremely raw and not overproduced. Unlike most of the modern death metal bands who focus on their image and trying to act like they are guitar virtuosos yet can’t write a memorable song to save their lives, Pathetic seems to have their songs nailed down. The band also effectively utilizes audio clips during their songs, which I think adds to the band’s vicious vision throughout the release.

    If you want to open an album with an impact, you need to take note at what Pathetic does with the first song off the album, “Natural Born Loser.” The music slowly builds up with some dark sounding audio clips and eventually singer and bassist AJ Kovar unleashes a monstrous growl. As the song progresses the band keeps hammering out a terrorizing main riff and drummer Duncan Chisholm pummels the hell out of his kit. Song number two, “Hamatsa,” is gory cut of metal music where guitarist Spencer Kraft throws down a fierce sounding guitar solo that really compliments the song's cannibalistic theme.

    Track number three, “The Fatal Charade,” is an ear piercing attack of adrenaline pumping instrumental entropy. AJ’s vocals provide such a sinister and aggressive tone to compliment the song’s overall sound. Tracks four and five, “Going Postal,” and “Rat King,” are putrid sounding tunes of corpse grinding death metal. I think track number seven, “Frozen to Death (The Starlight Tours),” is probably the heaviest song off of the album and the main riff conveys a very death doom like vibe. You feel as though you are slowly suffering from frost bite and the world around you shakes as the drums and bass lay down these seismic strikes to your ears.

    The last three songs, “Slob,” “Defecating Upon the Grave of the Grand Wizard,” and “Empty Threat,” do a great job wrapping up the album. I mean, “Defecating Upon the Grave of the Grand Wizard,” takes listeners on this feverish journey of old school gore grinding madness. The band seems to have a knack for writing solid riffs that flow with sheer brutal blood thirsty force.

    What I take away from Pathetic’s, “Rat King,” is that true unforgiving sounding death metal is definitely alive and kicking, especially in a world where quality seems to be going away due to a lot of bands not thinking about production before they release an album. Pathetic proves that three guys can obliterate the musical landscape with strong songwriting skills, killer riffs and true extreme music making passion. I don’t know what it is about Canada and trios, but I guess you don’t need a band with four or five members to make an impact.


Pathetic Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/patheticband666/

Pathetic Bandcamp:
https://pathetic666.bandcamp.com/