DEPRAVATION - Feast With The Rats (2016)


GENRE: Black Metal, Hardcore, Crust, Punk
FFO: Goldust, Siberian Hell Sounds, Votnut, Esoteric Youth

OK so I am really thrilled to be posting about a new release from Gießen, Germany's Depravation as we haven't heard anything from them since 2014. This band always makes me feel nostalgic for the early days of this blog. I had been obsessed with their first release, I​:​PRAEDICTVM for a while, and then their LP, II​:​MALEDICTVM came out right around the same time I started this blog, so they were one of the very first bands I talked about in the first month of this site's existence. They also later released a split with another killer band, Slowly We Rot. If you're not familiar, Depravation is such a unique sounding band. They manage to exist in today's world of hardcore but at the same time are able to incorporate elements of old school death metal & European thrash into their music unlike anyone else. Lots of intricate guitar work that manages to sound simple and just plain evil. Venomous vocals that sound like they are coming for your soul. And an unending supply of contagious riffs. Needless to say, this is one of my favorite bands and they were definitely one of the inspirations for me starting this blog in the first place.

And now, after a year and a half of people leaving the band and life just generally getting in the way, the band is back on track. This brand new EP is 4 songs that clock in at over 16 minutes. It's being released as a one-sided LP with a killer silkscreen on the backside (see above). And while it sounds like the band has gone through some changes, I'm happy to say that this still definitely sounds like the Depravation that I know and love. Everything you could want in a Black Metal Hardcore band is here on display: Creepy intros, breakneck thrash, punishing headbanging jam sessions, desperate & dark atmospherics and overall, just a killer, unmistakebly German, Hardcore EP. And that my friends, is a good thing. I hope you guys like this as much as I do, and I hope there is more to come from this band. Enjoy.

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