Brat : "Social Grace"

 For a grindcore band from New Orleans, they certainly have a big budget for videos. I did not know Prosthetic Records had it like that.  Bigger than the budget of much larger bands like Goatwhore or Eyehategod, who play marginally more accessible versions of metal. Following the money trail is the most reason-based point on which to base all theories. They are not bad at what they are doing, and calling them Barbie Core, is absurd as it does not affect their sound at all.  There have been female vocalists in extreme metal for some time, I think the only difference is they are getting more push from the press. But you are covering them you say. I have always covered female-fronted bands, I like chicks. 

Anyway, I am talking about everything but the music here, and truth be told the first four songs pretty much all sound the same, they have a hard-core deliberation in how their riffs attack. "Human Offence" is more thrash than grindcore and one of the album's strongest songs at that. If there is a middle-of-the-road to extreme metal this band rides firmly down the line. I am not bad about it as it makes them better songwriters than just trying to throw the entire Sonic kitchen at you in thirty seconds. "Rope Drag" is almost Judas Priest-like in the opening riff. They do kick things into a more punk recklessness. They also groove like a death metal band, which plays to their favor in the songwriting department. 

They are capable at what they do, even if what they do is not the most original thing I have heard this week."Blood Diamond" finds them throwing themselves into a blast beat, which is kinda boring. They do have a cool riff in there, but the rule here regarding even the coolest of breakdowns is ...cool riffs alone does not a good song make. "Sniffer" does not smell any fresher. Once again cool riffs that do not equate the totality of the song is well thought out, though up to this point in the album there had been more gray matter invested. "Sugar Bastard' sounds like if Goatwhore dialed it in. There are parts worth moshing to, but if you are writing songs under three minutes every moment needs to count. The title track pretty much rehashes what we know them capable of ./I will give this album an 8, not an album of the year, but pretty solid old-school metal, and more aggressive than you might imagine. 

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