Cloud Rat - Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff (2019)^{Release ID: 12598}

The important distinction to make here when looking at my (known) experience of Cloud Rat is that this is not the blasting, scathing grindcore one would associate with Cloud Rat.  Nope, here be a fair amount of experimentation for the listener to contend with - and as it turns out this experimentation is very well delivered.  Think the dark, gloomy rock of Chelsea Wolfe, think shoegaze, think dark ambient and think industrial and you are in the right mind set.

Released as a bonus EP with (some) versions of their LP Pollinator, there sits here a mini exhibition of the talents of the trio.  It is notable not just because of the stark contrast to their more traditional fodder, there's a depth to the song writing and a tangibility to the sound that whilst I believe is most definitely there in their grindcore output it struggles to be as obvious to the more impatient listener.

As I listen through the release I get a real sense of a dark heartbeat, pulsing away in some damaged chest cavity.  There's little variation across the seven tracks here (which is not a criticism) which maintains the pace perfectly, keeping your mind in the same place.  Synths lap at your cheeks like cobwebs first thing in the morning, vocals sit somewhere between monotone and ethereal beauty whilst strings and beats punctuate the atmosphere like drops of rain.

It won't be for everyone I am sure but it represents an unexpected and yet very welcome show of another side to an artist I thought I knew reasonably well.