BAT
BAT “Under the Crooked Claw”
By Dr. Abner Mality
This particular BAT has been flying around the underground for a number of years now, but they’ve finally found a solid perch with Nuclear Blast. This raw and gritty band is quite different than most other NB bands and that should work to their advantage. This is yet another act circling the orbit of MUNICIPAL WASTE, with Ryan Waste playing the major role here.
This is a solid album but it sure isn’t anything you haven’t heard before. BAT spits 13 short tunes drenched in the fumes of the 3 M’s….MOTÖRHEAD, MISFITS and MIDNIGHT. It’s almost like jacked up and bloodthirsty rockabilly boosted to metal levels, which is kind of what MOTÖRHEAD always was anyway. Add a little of MISFITS horror fixation and a dash of M.W. thrash and we have BAT. If MIDNIGHT wasn’t a thing, BAT might be at the head of this pack, but they don’t match the filth and fury of Athenar’s bunch. Well, not many do…
Put this in if you want to break the speed limit. Favorites are kind of hard to pinpoint, but I liked “Rite of Exorcism”, “Battered” and “Bastardized Force” the best. At least we didn’t get the usual shiny Nuclear Blast production here...they had the good sense to keep this loose and raw. Ryan Waste is an acceptable vocalist, but to my mind needs a jolt of sleazy insanity to push BAT to the next level.
Catch these guys live...I can attest they rock the joint hard. “Under The Crooked Claw” is a good start, let’s see what they can build from here.