Huge Rat Attacks is a Psychedelic/Grunge/Stoner Metal Band from USA
The members are:
jason oehrlein - guitar/vocals
Justin oehrlein - drums
casey holmgren - bass
jon tester - guitar
Huge Rat Attacks are a rare entity for me. I have not even heard of them before they emailed me recently. Though they have been around a while and have released two other albums from the one I am reviewing today – Organic Babies.
The band has been on an extended hiatus for while and are now back with their excellent 3rd new album.
So what do we have with – Organic Babies. We have 8 songs running for around 30 minutes or so. The band venture through a whole texture of sounds and genres such as Doom, Stoner, Psych and Grunge. So they are a band very hard to categorize. But do not let that put you off, as Organic Babies is an absolute blast from start to finish. There are plenty of excellent riffs to be discovered here.
The band throws as many different genres as they can into their music and it gives them a highly volatile and unexpected edge. They are a highly volatile dangerous rock band waiting to explode like a powder keg,
First track – Dimensional Loops – falls under the bands more dangerous vibe. There are some great hard-rocking riffs to be found here with the vocals only making a fleeting appearance here and there. Though the vocals have a dramatic Drone/Chanting based vibe going around them.
Second Track – Skeskis on Jet Skis – is another weird and wonderful offering from these crazy riffing individuals. These guys know how to have fun and throw everything up in the air to give the listener a pure adrenaline rush. Another great track to show Huge Rat Attacks are very good band indeed.
Third Track – Organic Babies – has a slight Sabbath feel matched with a deep growling grunge atmosphere running through out. Definitely one of the albums stand out tracks. A track full of cool 60s based Psych riff but I also shows that Huge Rat Attacks have a dark side to their music. Listen to the superb lyrics matched against the excellent mid-paced riffs.
Fourth Track – Wheel – is where the Psych Rock vibe truly comes while maintaining their Grunge/Stoner Rock roots. Wait for the last couple of minutes before the Psychedelic nature truly takes over. Another one of the albums standout tracks.
Fifth Track – Heavy Jelly – is one freaky psychedelic acid trip full of loud guitars and crashing drum symbols to freak you out or making you rock out that little bit stranger.
Sixth Track – One More Day Fades Away – is a track that should not really be on the album. It is more oaf 60’s folk pop/rock song. Now this is my only criticism of the album. I did not care for this track at all. It stopped the flow of the album. To the point where I skipped to the next track. It is always cool to see a band experiment with their sound but this track did nothing for me. Though I give the band credit for trying something different.
We get back to business for the next excellent hard rocking track – Detonate – that has a cool QOTSA vibe going on but with some excellent Garage Rock riffs spliced into the action. This is straight in your face proto-metal/punk to rock out to. Another different side coming from these hugely talented rockers.
And Last by no means least is possibly my fave track on the album – Vision Quest Gary. Another outstanding track of Grunge/Stoner Rock riffs to end the album on a high. Sit back and witness the power of Huge Rat Attacks in full flight.
So there are my thoughts on each of the songs. OK I might not like one of the mellower songs but Organic Babies is still worth 30 minutes of your time. There are riffs galore to be discovered here. And I hope Huge Rat Attacks find every success with this excellent album, as they truly deserve it.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Organic Babies will be available to buy from 27th July 2013 from BandCamp. Thanks to the guys for sending me a copy to review.
Check The Band From The Links Below
BandCamp
