Cloud Rat - "Moksha" Review

Cloud Rat is a band that has very steadily been making a name for themselves in the international grindcore scene, and it's really not hard to figure out why. From their humble beginnings as another band featured on Grindcore Karaoke, they've stood out from the pack with well recorded records, and a tight, emotional, and creative spin on the genre. Two characteristics that they've maintained consistently throughout their recorded output. Jaw dropping live performances have more than likely helped win more than a few people over as well (I should know, they absolutely annihilate live). But man, this album, their 2nd full length overall, puts them over the edge and completely knocked me on my ass. "Moksha" is a 13 track, near half-an-hour, face shredder. From the ethereal vocal samples, leading into the riffs that start up the first track, "Inkblot", you immediately know that you're getting into an album that's both pulverizing, and left-field. "Moksha" displays the band at their best thus far; this is definitely the best recording the band has had, and the songs show them maybe at their most inspired. The trademark melody smothered riffs are still used in full effect, and the guitars have this excellent low end crunch always present in the background. The high and low end is perfectly mixed, and the riffs punch like a freight train crashing into a brick building and exploding upon impact. And as punishing and amazing as the musicianship is, the real power just comes from how sin-fucking-cere the emotion this band captures is. The lyrics and vocal delivery that frontwoman, Madison, unleash are just pure heaviness, and not really in the most conventional ways. The lyrics seem to come from a place of trauma and abuse, and not in a gory way, but in a degrading and emotionally scarring way. It's all to real and vivid, and the vocal mix and enunciation of the vocals were most likely intentional to make sure the lyrics were heard. When every part of this band is at full blast, it can sometimes be bone chilling. The complete left-turn midpoint track, "Infinity Chasm", was a real highlight too. It's almost completely melodic, cleanly sung, beautiful song that really reminds me of the more experimental tracks from Converge. Cloud Rat even threw in a goddamn Neil Young cover on here with "The Needle And The Damage Done", and it's a brilliant reinterpretation. This album was an amazing listen, and I can't wait to see what this does for the band. Top quality, grade A music.

Rating: 9.5/10

~VII