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Rat Faced Bastard are an absolutely ferocious death/grind act who have been carving up the local live scene in my area every chance they get (still haven't had been able to get along to a show though, damn). Here we have the band's debut EP featuring eight furious slabs of pure unadulterated, grinding death metal.

What immediately struck me was just how bad ass this really is – I'm hardly the world's biggest grind fan. Rat Faced Bastard really serves up the goods, with some absolutely violent numbers. Even though all the songs are quite short, each one runs for the right amount of time needed to cook. "Blind Devotion" in particular throws more your way than some bands would in a track four times its length.

The performances are well handled across the board; Jamie Brown lays down some insane vocals, spewing forth his lines with a style not too far away from a certain Mr. Van Drunen. I watched him sing on a couple of occasions with his former band Plague Rider and can safely say he brings a lot of power into the live environment and absolutely slays. Angus Black and Ryan Tindale provide the backbone of this bile-drenched beast, and it's clear these guys are in the bowel-rupturing business. Both handle their roles very well (bass and drums respectively). On guitars we have Rob Hindmarsh who knows his trade well, various styles of riffs can be heard throughout, as well as the odd face-melting solo.

Production here is good for a first release, and the sound is equal parts raw and clarity. Each instrument is distinguishable, which is always a bonus although next time around I'd definitely like to hear more emphasis on the low end. For the most part Rat Faced Bastard bludgeon the listener into submission, and tracks such as "Defiled", the aforementioned "Blind Devotion" stand out as immediate highlights; with the former hitting a slower pace near the end which is absolutely crushing, and the latter housing some of the release's finest guitar riffs. Splutterings of hardcore crust can be heard in the release, which can be heard the best in the band's namesake track and is certainly a nice touch.

All in all, this is a quality full release. Whilst short, it is death/grind at the end of the day, so no complaints there. Fans of Carcass, Brutal Truth and even Bolt Thrower would do well to check this out, and the whole EP is up for listening at Bandcamp which is great. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what they can do with a full-length release, and with a slight bit of refinement it could be seriously awesome. Recommended!