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Time to put some order into my messy collection of CDs left to gather dust for too many years; and in the most hidden and forgotten depths, this morning, out pops the debut full-length album by Labrat (translating to lab rats!). I had absolutely no recollection of owning it, though I still remember from which specialized magazine I learned of their existence.
We're at the beginning of the new millennium, and they were defined by the monthly "Rumore" as the classic "next big thing" as far as a certain type of heavy metal is concerned: post-cybernetic-grind. Like Fear Factory's early uncontrolled albums combined with the chaotic speed of Slayer, with hints of the more uncompromising Carcass; not bad, I'd say. But that's not all because the staccato guitars, the syncopated rhythms, and the frenzied pace of almost all the short tracks give me a precise reference to the monumental Converge. A mocking and post-apocalyptic sonic magma in just a few dozen minutes.
Ten tormenting songs follow one another without a single moment of respite; with that voice first growling and immediately after shredded and stretched to the limit (it really seems like the singer wants to regurgitate his own intestines onto the listener) that turns your brain and everything else into "mush" while listening. A sonic extremism leading to a nervous collapse.
To give substance to my raw statements, I just need to recommend listening to the final track "Two Pigs Fucking" (already from the title, you understand very well what awaits us): a dark and gloomy journey into the unknown, into nothingness, into evil. And it's the only piece of a certain length in terms of duration, after the very brief derailing outbursts of the other tracks: Slayer-esque in every sense.
I haven't found much other information online about Labrat; it seems they disbanded long ago after releasing a couple more EPs. What's left is this authentic masterpiece of terrifying and cynical urban violence...WAR IS COMING...
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