Rabies Caste - Let The Soul Out And Cut The Vein
Earache - 2001
By Phil Whitehouse
What kind of people feign mental instability to avoid being concripted for national service? More worryingly, who can pull it off convincingly enough for such a mind-bogglingly contrived plan to work? And, what would happen if you give such nutters musical instruments?
The answer to all three questions is Rabies Caste. The sludgecore trio of Dale Rabid (drums), David K. (vocals, guitars) and Russell Bear (bass) have just unleashed their latest release upon the world, and I personally am still scrabbling around on the floor looking for my teeth.
Rabies Caste pack all the punch of the new breed of sludgecore bands (Raging Speedhorn, Charger et al) and combine it with the classic influences of any sludge band (Grief, Eyehategod, and of course, the inimitable Iron Monkey). The result is a sound that signposts its influences but still manages to sound completely unique.
David K. delivers tortured, soul-piercing screams over the top of his raw riffage - there are no clean, technical melodies on this album, just pure strings-flapping-on-the-neck-of-the-guitar aggression. Russell Bear's bass delivers a meaty bottom-end with the occasional memorable groove, while Dale Rabid batters his drum-kit like a man possessed.
The sheer, furious energy of this album leaves you feeling sucker-punched. However, it's not perfect. The production of the album occasionally means that David's screams are so distorted as to be unintelligible - I've heard the album about fifteen times all the way through now, and I'm buggered if I know any of the lyrics! Also, the drums occasionally sound more akin to rusty tin buckets being hit with a branch than snare drums - although in certain circumstances (such as the pumelling intro to album show-stopper 'Hand Abortion') this can also be a blessing.
Rabies Caste's main problem, however, is that in creating such a unique sound for themselves, they run the risk of diving headlong into the Coal Chamber pit of signature-sound predictability. Listen with only half an ear, and it's more than possible for the tracks on the album to run into one another without you noticing their passage.
Then again, that signature sound is the most intense, furious and energetic sound I've heard in a long time. If a bit of variation enters the sound and the songs, then Rabies Caste could well topple Iron Monkey as the gods of sludgecore.
9/10
Earache - 2001
By Phil Whitehouse
What kind of people feign mental instability to avoid being concripted for national service? More worryingly, who can pull it off convincingly enough for such a mind-bogglingly contrived plan to work? And, what would happen if you give such nutters musical instruments?
The answer to all three questions is Rabies Caste. The sludgecore trio of Dale Rabid (drums), David K. (vocals, guitars) and Russell Bear (bass) have just unleashed their latest release upon the world, and I personally am still scrabbling around on the floor looking for my teeth.
Rabies Caste pack all the punch of the new breed of sludgecore bands (Raging Speedhorn, Charger et al) and combine it with the classic influences of any sludge band (Grief, Eyehategod, and of course, the inimitable Iron Monkey). The result is a sound that signposts its influences but still manages to sound completely unique.
David K. delivers tortured, soul-piercing screams over the top of his raw riffage - there are no clean, technical melodies on this album, just pure strings-flapping-on-the-neck-of-the-guitar aggression. Russell Bear's bass delivers a meaty bottom-end with the occasional memorable groove, while Dale Rabid batters his drum-kit like a man possessed.
The sheer, furious energy of this album leaves you feeling sucker-punched. However, it's not perfect. The production of the album occasionally means that David's screams are so distorted as to be unintelligible - I've heard the album about fifteen times all the way through now, and I'm buggered if I know any of the lyrics! Also, the drums occasionally sound more akin to rusty tin buckets being hit with a branch than snare drums - although in certain circumstances (such as the pumelling intro to album show-stopper 'Hand Abortion') this can also be a blessing.
Rabies Caste's main problem, however, is that in creating such a unique sound for themselves, they run the risk of diving headlong into the Coal Chamber pit of signature-sound predictability. Listen with only half an ear, and it's more than possible for the tracks on the album to run into one another without you noticing their passage.
Then again, that signature sound is the most intense, furious and energetic sound I've heard in a long time. If a bit of variation enters the sound and the songs, then Rabies Caste could well topple Iron Monkey as the gods of sludgecore.
9/10
