From Columbus, Ohio comes death metal Empire of Rats who are currently signed to ‘A389 Recordings’.
This is a review for their self-titled LP.
After a few songs, you know where this whole album is going, it’s a straightforward run-of-the-mill modern death metal record. This is the type of record where you know one breakdown is never enough, endless chugging riffs are heard for hours on end and all innovation is lost to make room for another breakdown.
So on the positive side, the vocals are well done. They fit in well and work around the riffs, the general performance is really good. And that’s where the good aspects end.
As it says before there is a lot of chugging and breakdowns on this album, which really kills it. Whenever you start getting into a riff or a part of a song you’re suddenly faced with a quick loss of tempo, flowed but by yet another loss of tempo which features more of the same chugging which just makes everything sound blend on the album.
Overall this isn’t a bad listen if that’s what you’re into but even then you’ll probably be feeling the repetitiveness hitting after a few songs.
The album is really saved by the vocalist, who deserves a lot of credit for his performance on the record.
Empire of Rats: Facebook
Release Year: 2013
Label: A389 Recordings
Category: Album
Country: USA
Reviewed by Adam Orlowski
