Here they come: a crawling, sprawling, gnawing mass of vicious rodents on a rampage. RATS OF GOMORRAH unleash their debut full-length “Infectious Vermin” onto a horrified world.
If the image of a malicious horde of rats does not give you the creeps, maybe the fact that “Infectious Vermin” is the result of the German duo’s frustration with the metal scene and its reluctance to any change does. No worries, although RATS OF GOMORRAH are averse to simply regurgitating all the tired clichés of an average death metal album, they have not completely abandoned that ship. They just took some detours into heavy and speed metal territory, kept vocal pitching varied, and added some hot spices such as crust-infused riffs and catchy choruses.
As with their previous releases, RATS OF GOMORRAH diabolically wrapped environmental, social, and even political issues into Lovecraftian horror themes. A gnawing feeling that there is a rat in everything does also persist. And for the first time, some lyrics are even intimate and personal.
RATS OF GOMORRAH are one of those bands that have a much longer story behind them than their emergence under that name suggests. Strictly speaking the German duo only crawled out of their hole with a new rodent moniker in 2023. Yet they also started out with over a decade of death metal experience under their pelt.
Guitarist and vocalist Daniel Stelling and Moritz Paulsen on drums had already been a part of the internationally active Northern German death metal trio DIVIDE since 2009, which had become a duo in 2016. In this formation the musicians that have claimed BOLT THROWER, CARCASS, and VADER as major sources of influence managed to establish an excellent name in the death metal underground. In fact their standing in this scene grew to such an extent that DIVIDE was able to tour not only throughout all of Europe, but also in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and even in India. In 2022, they even won the German competition of the Wacken Metal Battle and were awarded a slot at the largest and most famous metal festival of this planet.
Despite their legacy and all the hard work that it took to establish their name, the duo was not content to remain within the limitations of their stylistic mould. Although they stayed true to death metal, they already started to make their music more rough and dirty, expanded their horizon with elements from black, thrash and other influences from extreme music, and even added a healthy dose of weirdness. Out of respect for their previous works and acknowledging the changes, the two Germans decided to change the band name to RATS OF GOMORRAH. As befits such rodent vermin, you may expect deep growls, thrash-infused riffs, blast beats and of course: rat-like shrieks!
Hopefully, by now there is an itchy feeling on your skin, and rustling noises from behind your walls, while a sense of dread and panic is spreading. The best antidote: blast “Infectious Vermin” on ten – and never a rat will you ever see more. Well, maybe a neighbour or four knocking on your door. So what?! Tell them all that RATS OF GOMORRAH rule supreme!
