Review - Cloud Rat (!!!)

Cloud Rat
Moksha
Halo of Flies

Typical - just when I finally get together the money to buy this album, it's on Youtube. Ah, well, at least I found that out before buying it.

This is a record that I've been looking forward to for some time - their previous, self-titled album came out two years ago, and it was one hell of a record, so when Moksha came out I was itching to hear it. And, for once, the record lives up to my expectations.
 The lyrics are deeply personal, without ever slipping into self-pity - rather, this is a genuinely harrowing exploration of trauma; the vocalist sounds as if she's falling apart on record. Although the songs aren't as fast as some bands, nor as chaotic, and they don't have that low-end heaviness that makes a lot of grind bands so punishing, this is one intense listening experience . The abrasiveness here comes mainly from the vocalist. Her screams are truly intense - mid- to high-pitched, dripping with emotion and just scary as fuck. This makes her voice the perfect delivery system for the pain-wracked lyrics. At the end of stand-out track Infinity Chasm, that singing almost had me in tears - not something you often experience with a grindcore album.

The rest of the band kick some arse as well, of course.The guitarist and drummer lock in perfectly together, delivering mid-paced riffage that must make the crowd go wild when these folks play live. The guitar tone here is just perfect - heavy and distorted, but still clear enough that you can hear every note, which is important when the guitarist is as good as this. The drummer, also, can really play - he switches seemingly effortlessly from blast-beaten fury to slow, rolling passages that have the quality of those moments in a horror film when you know the monster is going to jump out at you, but you don;t quite know when or from what direction.

Another great thing about Cloud Rat is how they incorporate other styles of music into their work. For example, the crashing guitar and dreamy vocals on Infinity Chasm are reminiscent of nothing so much as Smashing Pumpkins - until Madison starts screaming like she's being disembowelled alive, that is. And, of course, there's the version The Needle and the Damage Done. There aren't many grindcore bands that could pull off a Neil Young cover - and, unfortunately, Cloud Rat aren't one of them. I'm not slagging off either Young or Cloud Rat here, but the two go together about as well as Lou Reed and Metallica.

The title track - which closes the album - is an atmospheric, seven-minute epic that leaves the listener floating, finally given respite from the twenty-two minutes of carnage that precede it.

Simply put, this is a stunning record. It may only be March, but I think we may have my album of the year right here.

Rating: 9/10