BRAT is a Grindcore / Death Metal band out of New Orleans. New Orleans is famous for a lot of things, but for me three come to mind—the humidity, the food, the music. The humidity is self-explanatory. Located in a sub-tropic region surrounded by water, it is the most humid city in the US. The food. Well, two words: Cajun and Creole. And the music. Of course, there is the jazz, but the Big Easy also has a thriving underground metal scene. BRAT is a product on that scene, and they are solid ambassadors. On March 15, 2024, they released their debut full-length, “Social Grace” on Prosthetic Records. The album is dedicated to the life and legacy of Hollise Murphy (RIP 7/30/2021), the godfather is not the father of the NOLA underground scene. The album does not shame his heritage.   

“Social Grace” comprises 10 tracks but clocks out at under 21 minutes. The longest track, the title track, is three minutes. So, yeah, this album is a bit like a hit and run affair if vehicle was semi-truck on speed and the pedestrian was facing the other way and nude.

The foursome is fronted by Liz Selfish. Uhm, no clean singing here. She executes with power and vicious angst which belie her slight frame and pert blonde hair—an image the band leans into with their bright pink logo and lethal Barbiecore aesthetic. Brenner Moate, guitarist, in addition to shred duty also provides backing vocals. His style is down-tuned locomotive. Expect some groovy, thrashy riffage. Duston Eagon and Ian Hennessy make up the rhythm section. Though Dustin can speed up as fast as the best of them, he steers away from trying to best the land speed record for blast beats and instead delivers some innovative rhythms and tempos. Ian, for his part, is guilty of defiling the bass in very nasty ways. You can’t approach Hardcore without some serious bass backing and Ian delivers.

For a Grindcore / Death Metal album, BRAT does introduce more variety on “Social Grace” than I expected. “Slow Heat” approaches Doom proportions; “Rope Drag” and “Snifter” are delicious slabs of Thrash; and the closing track, “Social Grace,” gets downright experimental. Well, sort of. There are some interesting breaks and I like the deconstruction at the end. I should also mention the lyrics. I can’t say the album had any particular theme, but the lyrics (penned by Moate) read like poetry. Very angry, violent poetry.

BRAT started to show up on my feeds a lot lately, so I was curious to review this album. For once the algorithm got it right—or the fact that I subscribe Prosthetic Records channels may have something to do with it. At any rate, as the band formed in 2020, I’m a bit late to the party but it looks like it’s getting into full swing now and it’s going to be a rager.