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Gat-rot

Us Versus Them

Written by: PP on 31/05/2006 09:17:32

Gat-Rot will surely be more than familiar to those who have followed the Arizona hardcore, metal or punk scene in the last decade. They're a prime example of the DIY ideology, with three self released recordings, relentless touring and opening for both small and large scale acts in the meantime, gaining them attention all around the US underground media and finally landing them a deal with Rotten Records.

But for a band with such a large underground fanbase, their new album "Us Versus Them" seems far too unorganized and messy to be placed on repeat in my CD player. I'm not too sure where to place them in the genre spectrum as they're crossing boundaries between hardcore, southern fried metal and punk rock, without generating much more than feedback-filled, dirtily distorted noise out of their three instruments and two vocalists. The vocals are harsh, straight out from the throat type leaving little chance of understanding the lyrics even with the lyrics sheet, which reveals the band to be an overly political one. They're trying to get the proletariat, working class 'classic struggle' message across, but the concepts are too complex for Gat-Rot to handle. They fire out complaints at the government and the corporations without substance, evidence or even a solution to the problem, resulting into the listener becoming annoyed rather than enlightened by their message. It's not an excuse to say "this is our message, if you don't like it fuck off", like the band promptly implies in their promotional sheet.

The instrumental work is primitive, something we would've expected more than 20 years ago when the hardcore movements was still trying to find its direction. The songs blend together to an useless mess of sonic brutality without any purpose or understandable structure. Growled repetitions of lyrics occur at the strangest timings and work against the structure rather than create it, and the breakdowns constantly break the flow of the album.

If you're looking for a meaningful political message while listening to Gat-Rot, you might as well start hitting your head against the wall, because the combination of merciless but untalented pounding of the instruments certainly won't allow for one.

Download: ...And Justice For Some
For the fans of: Hatebreed, Turmoil
Listen: Myspace

Release date 29.05.2006
Rotten Records
Provided by Target ApS