BAT

“Under The Crooked Claw”
Album Review by Iron Mathew
10/10

BAT are a heavy metal band from the USA formed in 2013, releasing two albums to date – ‘Wings Of Chains’ (2016) and ‘Under The Crooked Claw’ (2024).

Formed by Municipal Waste guitarist Ryan Waste, BAT’s line-up is completed by Municipal Waste bandmate Nick Poulos and (new) drummer Chris Marshall – ‘Under The Crooked Claw’ a thirteen song barrage of fast paced punk edged thrash infused heavy metal! And all in under thirty six minutes too – the band taking no prisoners in their uncompromising and savage sonic attack! ‘Una Torcia Illumina Il Cielo’ is an eerie and highly suspenseful, sub one minute instrumental that sets one helluva anticipative atmosphere…

…for ‘Vampyre Lore’ to come thundering in at a hundred fucking miles an hour! BAT are at full velocity here, slamming listeners to the floor with immense force, crushing skulls and breaking bones with devastating precision! What an immediate and in your face beginning, the band roaring on with the much heavier ‘Rite For Exorcism’, shuddering the ground it strides on! BAT are aggressive and menacing in equal amounts, the (albums) opening brace head turners of the most impressive nature – the punk-ish attitude pouring outta the album to sound just like a thrash metal version of Motorhead! And if you don’t believe me, just take a listen to ‘Streetbanger’ and tell me that’s not influenced by Motorhead – see, I told ya so! The head bang ability across the albums first quarter is off the fucking charts, the American three-piece vigorously rocking the heads of every single metalhead and mosher in the world.

The intensity so far has been incredible, BAT not relenting for a single second, rampaging on at full speed with ‘Just Buried’, bringing the iconic gallop of traditional heavy metal to the fore! Leaving their thrash metal leanings to one side for a moment, the band plant one foot firmly on the old school heavy metal monitor, with metal traditionalists wetting themselves over this one! And almost instantly, blistering speed lights up the album once more, this time in the mighty shape of ‘Warshock’, BAT sending every mosh pit into fucking overdrive! I tell ya readers, there’s gonna be some sore necks out there as metallers everywhere rock their head back and forth at an extreme rate of knots in a brave attempt to keep pace with the band. Futile it may be, but it’s gonna be a lot of fun trying – ‘Horror Vision’ romping into view with a level of thunder that just may scare a few listeners! The way BAT swing from thrash to traditional metal and back again is phenomenal, the band not content to be pigeon holed into only one genre of metal – kudos BAT, kudos!

Battered is an understatement when it comes to describing how you’re gonna feel while listening to ‘Under The Crooked Claw’, I’d go as far to say bludgeoned is a better descriptor – the band storming ahead at full tilt with ‘Battered’, the level of savagery rising to new heights! This is indeed a brutal barrage of aggressive metal, BAT delivering an unforgiving blend of thrash and traditional heavy metal! Not forgetting the raw, punk attitude too, ‘Revenge Of The Wolf’ maintaining the albums incredible intensity – maybe even increasing it! And speed makes an emphatic return with the red hot scorching ‘Marauders Of Doom’. Travelling faster than the speed of fucking light, ‘Marauders Of Doom’ is a devastating slice of all out thrash with just a little hint of traditional heavy metal thrown in.

If I had to say where BAT sit within the metal spectrum, I’d say straddling the border between thrash and the heavier end of the traditional heavy metal genre, alongside bands such as (the aforementioned) Motorhead, Satan and Venom. And it’s no coincidence either, that I’ve mentioned only British bands, for the metal on offer here is definitely influenced by the British sound rather than the American one! And as ‘Under The Crooked Claw’ heads into its final quarter, there’s absolutely no sign of the phenomenal intensity breaking any time soon, ‘Electric Warning’ maintaining the albums immense power and pace – aggression too! With song number twelve just around the corner, ten of the previous eleven have clocked in at under three minutes in length, ‘Bastardized Force’ chiming in as the longest song on offer at over four minutes! To say BAT have set a breathtaking pace could well be the biggest understatement of the year, ‘Bastardized Force’ bringing together every style of metal the band have in their locker. ‘Under The Crooked Claw’ comes to a crushing finale with probably the fastest song on the album, ‘Final Strike’ keeping the pedal well and truly pressed to the metal, BAT delivering one final hurrah to every single head banger in the world. What a superb thirty six minutes of metal!

Overall, a fiery thunderstorm of all out thrash come traditional heavy metal with blistering pace and immense head bang ability.

TRACKLIST

Una torcia illumina il cielo
Vampyre Lore
Rite For Exorcism
Streetbanger
Just Buried
Warshock
Horror Vision
Battered
Revenge Of The Wolf
Marauders Of Doom
Electric Warning
Bastardized Force
Final Strike

https://bewareofthebat.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bewareofthebat

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