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RATS OF GOMORRAH “Infectious Vermin”
RATS OF GOMORRAH “Infectious Vermin”
By Theron Moore
RATS OF GOMORRAH are gearing up to release their debut full length record “Infectious Vermin” January 25 via Testimony Records. I'm a tough sell on death metal these days. For me a lot of it falls into the 70/30 equation: You have to sludge your way through 70% of what's out there to get to the good stuff. Well, I think I found the good stuff today! RATS OF GOMORRAH, who in all honesty I hadn't heard about before this review, have not only captured my attention but I'm now a fan of theirs. “Infectious Vermin” is worthy of every accolade I can think of.
First, if you’re not familiar, RATS OF GOMORRAH are a German duo who crafted this record out of frustration for a metal scene they deemed stagnant, and you know what? They're right. A lot of today's metal is stagnant and complacent, thus the 70/30 equation I previously mentioned. “Infectious Vermin'”is 13 tracks of killer death metal addressing various environmental, social, even political issues wrapped up inside Lovecraftian horror themes. And it’s a lot of fun to listen to, and it’s original, and it’s heavy like a ten-ton hammer.
It's hard to compare RATS OF GOMORRAH's sound with other bands although MORBID ANGEL might be the closest. "Narcissus" is slightly reminiscent of MORBID ANGEL's opus "Where The Slime Is" but that's really where the comparison ends. “Infectious Vermin” is a non-stop barrage of super heavy riffing and lots of OSDM blast beat-death growls.
The punishment / aggression factor is off the scale big and never lets up from the first to last song. Favorite tunes include "Judas Goat" and the previously mentioned "Narcissus." If I'm being honest here, the entire album is killer and heavy as hell. This is a must stream / buy record and kudos to guitarist and vocalist Daniel Stelling and drummer Moritz Paulsen for releasing what is one of the top ten best death metal records of the year.
4/5 Stars
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