Blast Worship: Cloud Rat

pic: Luke Mouradian

Where they from?
Michigan, United States. I just checked my MLB season prediction I posted here from back in April and I had the Padres beating the Blue jays in the World Series. One half of that prediction is very clearly alive while one is not and I also did call the Mariners making the playoffs for the first time in 20 years, so basically I’m fucking Nostrodamus. Check in next week when I give you stock futures (invest in butthole waxers).

Why the hype?
I have loved this band essentially from the moment I started writing about this kind of music. Cloud Rat are really one of the few, if not the only, modern grind/powerviolence bands that incorporate melodicism of any kind into their formula and the results are never anything less than spectacular. 2013’s Moksha changed the scope and boundaries of grind and pv in a way that really hasn’t been matched since, incorporating the dark melancholy of early Converge with the unrelenting punk brutality of bands like Iron Lung and Hatred Surge. Cloud Rat has been a burning supernova in the constellation of extreme metal and punk for the past 15 years or so.

Latest Release?
Threshold out on Artoffact Records. For a band known for pushing boundaries, it’s encouraging to see their sound still evolving this late into their career. Threshold sees the band incorporate more metallic elements like double-bass and breakdowns into their tried-and-true sadgrind formula but still find plenty of time for melodic introspection. Album of the year contender? Absolutely. Padres winning the World Series? God willing [ed — fuck off. Go Phils!].