27 July 2010

RAT DAMAGE


It's been rather fashionable in the last few years for fast and furious hardcore bands to sneak on slow and heavy dirge onto their records. DEAD NATION did so a while ago, and it was the best song on their last EP, and more recently VACANT STATE released a pretty sweet EP with one jam on the flip side that makes listening to the "fast" side seem rather unnecessary. Well, Sacramento's RAT DAMAGE have skipped all the bullshit and are concentrating on those slow and mid tempo hardcore songs that nail you right in the fukkn gut. "Warmonger" is doused with a generous helping of Sunset Strip sleaze, but there isn't a hint of cheese, due at least in part to the venomous vocal delivery. Half of these songs have a hint of goth, but all of them drive at that motorpunk pace and command serious attention, if not a generous headbang. This four song tape is a precursor (hence the title) to a record titled Cursed, which I await anxiously.


2 comments:

SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENTS said...

just got the new cress/burnt cross split the cress side is fucking great modern anarcho punk that doesn't suck

the wizard said...

yeah, there are hundreds of modern bands that don't suck, though CRESS have been around for so long it's hard to even consider them modern anymore. I can't even keep up with the BURNT CROSS stuff, seems like there's a new record every few weeks!