Review Summary: The rats are having a black mass
No list of my favorite scary albums would be complete without this other hidden gem from 2008. I have found the doomiest doom metal band of all time, and their name is Murkrat. Finally, I can cover their amazing self-titled album.
Murkrat’s songs are best described as dark, eerie, completely creepy. They’re a slow crawl to a dark abyss. They’re full of heavy riffs that hit you somewhere deep, twisted ethereal singing, shrieks that send a chill down your spine and an alarming number of references to rats and cults. Yet there’s also a certain beauty to them.
Even simple, singsongy melodies sound unsettling in Murkrat’s hands, like on the sweet intro of the first track, “Believers”, which build up to a big, doomy riff, and then to Mandy Andresen’s singing, which keeps a really off, dark tone as she describes being a cult leader who encourages her disciples to find infidels, even among children. “Believers”, she concludes in one of the scariest voices imaginable.
But that was just a nice, not too ugly-sounding intro to ease you into the album. On the next song, “The Predatory Herd”, we get into the dirt and darkness, with a mean and heavy riff and creepy singing in a lower voice, almost a scary whisper, about a destructive pack of hungry rats. The part where Mandy sings in a higher voice and suddenly starts screaming can really startle you. She sounds even more unhinged on “Alter-Nativity” where her growls go from shrill to deep in mere seconds, singing can barely be understood, while a slow, dark riff repeats in the background, and only gains more energy to become more threatening. “Hysteria Ripple” uses a different, even deeper and darker riff that haunts your nightmares while Mandy sings a melody that’s pretty catchy, but sounds just wrong, and screams in a really threatening voice. The piano and operatic vocalizing on the outro are a nice touch, bringing some much-needed variety to the album.
Murkrat’s songs are very long, as custom for funeral doom metal tradition, but that’s how they let you explore the dark universe they’ve managed to create. There are also many interesting ideas you can find, because the album takes time to show you. There are also some interesting stories. “Morality Slug” (what a title) stalks you with its repeating distorted and evil riff, and creepy organ while Mandy rambles about how the morality slug takes hold of your mind in a dark and distant voice, or in witchy shrieks that go from just speaking loudly to actually screaming like a black metal vocalist. “Plague Gestation” sounds like something from “Monotheist”: it begins with a piano, an “Ough!”, then guitars repeat the same haunted, unhinged riff that occasionally gets faster and even creepier, and Mandy sings eerie vocal melodies while telling a story about the reproduction of mutant rats, which is more of her personal touch.
One notable flaw of this album is the repetitiveness. Turns out it’s a thin line between establishing a dark atmosphere and being outright monotone, and it feels like Murkrat are re-using the same riffs a little too often. The middle of the album can be hit-or-miss, so wait until the end for a lesson in scary doom metal, the song that got me into this band, the almighty “Devouring Down the Spiral”. This song combines ideas already heard in previous tracks, but makes it even better. Every detail of that song is perfect: the enigmatic yet horrifying title, the heavy opening riff that spins around you like a slow but deadly predator, Mandy’s barely enunciated, unhinged singing, the sudden acceleration of the music while Mandy releases her raspiest, loudest shrieks, the eerie operatic vocalizing that occasionally appears on the song and creates an unexpectedly nice, eerily melancholic outro to the track. This song is the creepiest, most twisted, yet strangely graceful and melancholic track on the album. The most Murkrat song ever.
And this is why Murkrat has created an unforgettable, wonderfully dark album. You won’t mind the occasional repetitiveness, or the band’s silly name, because the dark atmosphere they create is so gripping, so well-performed. It’s a long album, but as you’re listening, you won’t feel bored or like you’ve wasted your time. It’s an album you can listen to many, many times and still feel the same delicious shiver. It’s one of my favorite dark albums, and the perfect conclusion to my trilogy of terrifying albums for this year’s Halloween. I’m glad I got to review it, and I’m glad that Murkrat managed to release all that amazing music during their short career. Their career was definitely a short but memorable one.
