While metalheads tend to remain quite exclusive, a lot of hardcore kids have no problem whatsoever recalling their youth as proud owner of a patch vest and Maiden shirt.
The lads behind Like Rats may have both their feet firmly rooted in the powerviolence/hardcore community (Weekend Nachos, Pagan Youth) but on their second full-length – whose CD version will also include everything they’ve recorded prior, resulting in 22 songs in total – but they’re proud of wearing their collective heart on their sleeves.
Even the songtitles themselves (From Beyond, Pandemic Of Fear) and spiky logo reek of that late 80s proto-death metal evil vibe. Yet the delivery is totally hardcore, personified by many stomping beatdowns that have none of that raw and sometimes sloppy delivery they’re looking to emulate, even more so when things do speed up.
When they do get into pure Celtic Frost mode – which, luckily, is the case half of the time – their stomp is irresistible, like over-enthusiastic fans letting rip. Which, essentially, they are.
