Review by Rick Eaglestone for MPM
Virgnia’s Metal Punk trio Bat swoop in once more with their fast paced, horror laden lashings for Under The Crooked Claw
The albums synth introduction Una Torcia Illumina Il Ciel feels as if it was ripped straight from an 80’s VHS Tape which is immediately followed by wave upon wave of NWOBHM on Vampyre Lore. Waste himself comments.
. “As big of a heavy metal fan as I am, I think the dirtier side of it fits better with my vocals,” he says. “But we try to push the boundaries in BAT between heavy metal, punk and rock ‘n’ roll to where you can’t quite put your finger on it. Dynamically it all coagulates together with our dirty sound. I call it primitive heavy speed. It’s just the nastiest mix of all of the above.”
Rite For Exorcism does a wonderful job of highlighting the albums aesthetic and has a great throwback accompanying video which feels like it was dug up from an old episode of Heavy Metal Heaven which is followed by Streetbanger which absolutely bleeds Motorhead throughout
“‘Streetbanger’ was a title and lyrical concept I’ve had since the BAT demo days, so it’s been marinating for some time. It’s one of the tunes we reworked and played live for a while so it’s already been a staple in the setlist. For the video, we walked the streets of our hometown, Richmond, VA and shot the performance in our actual rehearsal space
Just Buried, adds some horrorpunk elements adding another dynamic and then the fast paced, unrelenting pace continues onto Warshock.
Highlight track comes in the form of Horror Vision again incorporating horror samples, lyrically it contains a plethora of references that I thoroughly enjoyed all washed down with an abundance of guitar solos.
Both Battered and Revenge Of The Wolf stay true to the album’s horrific heartbeat and Marauders Of Doom makes me feel like I am revisiting Iron Maiden’s self-titled debut.
The Final Unholy trio begins with Electric Warning with the slow brooding, bass driven start to Bastardised Force accelerates into last track the aptly named and wonderfully constructed Final Strike leaving the listener wanting more.
“I feel like the songs could be short horror stories of their own,” notes Waste of his lyrical efforts. “The first single, ‘Rite for Exorcism,’ is basically a reverse exorcism, where the girl is accepting the demon into her and she turns it on the preacher. Evil wins in this case.”
Overall, the album is Fast yet Fun with its track listing feeling incredibly well selected and delivered flawlessly. Bat’s wings may be mighty, but one thing is for sure there is not a cobweb in sight on account of them being blown into oblivion from this offering.
Under The Crooked Claw” Track list
1.Una Torcia Illumina Il Ciel
2.Vampyre Lore
3.Rite for Exorcism
4.Streetbanger
5.Just Buried
6.Warshock
7.Horror Vision
8.Battered
9.Revenge of the Wolf
10.Marauders of Doom
11.Electric Warning
12.Bastardized Force
13.Final Strike
Line-up:
Ryan Waste – Lead Vocals, Bass
Nick Poulos – Lead Guitar
Chris Marshall – Drums
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7/10
