Qliphoth is grindcore ground control, where Cloud Rat launches ships of genre variance into space, analyzing the wasteland of planet Earth. This latest full length is the band’s greatest undertaking yet, reaching 40 minutes in length and incorporating numerous musical shifts, along with some of the most densely crafted lyrics you’ll find in any genre.
Torment, depression and loss of control form a gut-wrenching beginning in “Seken,†only to be succeeded by hurt and execution in “Botched.†The creation of music used to reveal real life pain and suffering can be both deeply personal and revealing; Cloud Rat dives deeper instead of looking away, and the listener follows.
Tension increases on songs like “Upper World†and “Raccoon,†spreading out and slowing down vocal delivery to create an emotive straining; once talking about the hurt and now showing how it’s felt. Madison Marshall knows exactly how to convey lyrics for maximum effect, with the amount of stress and emphasis on specific words that can make a song not only come alive, but have an individual life on the album.
Few bands can accomplish matching lyrical content, intensity, and message in a way that is nothing short of poetic. Cloud Rat is similar to Verse in that sense, wording so thick that it takes several times listening to appreciate fully. A difficult artistry in any style to master, Marshall excels by leaning towards apocalyptic and anarchist imagery, matching grindcore’s extreme edge.
It’s not all grindcore, though. “Thin Veil†and “Killing Horizon†contain both ambient and droning elements, pauses of galactic refuge from the filth of humanity, living in the contemplative ether. Powerviolence makes its finest appearance during one of the best songs on Qliphoth, “Rusting Belt.†Even that songs makes a change halfway, taking on brief spoken word reciting, “Arson is a form of self-expression, In a place where you can’t express yourself,†then a snap back into grind.