Sacramento’s Rat Damage sounds like Poison Idea, Motorhead, and Verbal Abuse getting in a vicious bar fight, going for the nads, breaking beer bottles over each other’s faces. It’s abrasive hardcore vitriol with the refined musical muscle of metal. If you’ve ever wondered how punk can sound so violent while espousing pacifism, this record will clear up such questions very quickly. Searing twin-guitar attack with minimal lead playing, Geezer Butler on uppers bass playing, crisp and pummeling drums, whiskeysoaked vocals—PUNK AS FUCK! Aptly enough, EVERY SINGLE TRACK HAS F-BOMBS (SAFE HARBOR ONLY), but all are awesome.

33rpm

A1. Fleshripping rockn’roll anti-religion polemic, midpaced and relentless, “you found jesus / I found drugs”
A2. Vicious headbanging assault, like something Venom would put on their workout playlist.
A3. Like later-era Verbal Abuse or Attitude Adjustment but more focused, raw powerchord assault of some midpaced metalpunk madness. FCC “fuck”
A4. Far more chaotic; vicious hard-rock motifs swirling in a blackened pit of nihilism despair.
A5. Dark chugging rager, piss-raw and straight to the point.
A6. Even more catchy Venom vibes on this one, sick ass riffs.

B1. Sicknasty bass licks, simple one-two-fuck-you riffs at a schizophrenic pace.
B2. Fastest track, balls-out punk rock aggression, gets your fist in the air and ass in the pit much like the Circle Jerks at their best
B3. Dark rock’n’roll dirge, some hints of Japanese punk in the sound
B4. Totally fucking negative, relentless pummeling despair “every day I hate myself”—gets hard-rockish before blasting into a high-velocity punk whirlwind of destruction
B5. Catchy, dare I say melodic? Riffs, heavy DRI / Motorhead influence here, longest track and totally raging