Murkrat
Drudging the mire

I will start by saying that this CD does not contain beautiful music.

I mean music to dance to, sing along with, or anything else—nothing that is even approximately pleasant to listen to; in fact, we're at the opposite end of the spectrum: here you will find only darkness, misery, and despair.

Yet, looking at Mandy Andresen (who handles everything here except the drums), one wouldn't expect such dark and sick music to come from such a sweet creature, indeed a bit sullen but of angelic beauty. However, after Karyn of Crisis, here is another maiden ready to prove that when they commit to it, women are second to no man in terms of guts and nastiness.

The very fact that we're talking about 8 tracks with a total duration of over an hour makes it clear that this is not an album that makes easy concessions, an impression immediately confirmed by the first track; after a brief piano introduction, it immediately starts with a extremely slow and gloomy funeral doom with dark/satanic hues, very atmospheric, full of anguish and tension (reminiscent of a much more desperate and wicked Black Widow).

But the real touch of class in this hell, which provides the coup de grâce to any residual ephemeral hope, is Mandy's vocal performance, which at times recalls (with due caution) another priestess of the occult, "Diaman Galas" and completely immerses us in the malevolent fury of the Sabbath, with litanies full of mystical and sensual despair.

In short, this is the typical CD NOT to listen to in the dark, perhaps even in an altered state of consciousness, unless you want to find yourself curled up in a fetal position in a corner of the room, immersed in your own filth begging for mercy; instead, take a couple of aspiring Wicca witches, lock them in a basement, and bombard them at maximum volume with this work to show them that esotericism is not for them; and may the evil one have mercy on their souls!

In short, if you feel excessively cheerful and buoyant, full of zest and a desire to live, confident in the future (always high, huh? You lousy drug addicts that you are!), give yourself a healthy injection of Murkrat and you'll be brought back to the harsh reality of facts, life is a mess, nothing but pain and suffering, the only way to make it bearable is to completely surrender to the dark side and its depravity.

Quoting someone who knew how to handle a pen quite well, abandon all hope you who enter here, join the Sabbath!