Time to Kill Records presents Hellhole, the latest offering by the Finnish hardcore assault unit called Rats Will Feast. Active since 2018, Hellhole appears to be their 4th release (and 3rd full-length).

There’s a fine line between modern hardcore and heavy metal, a razor’s edge that some bands utterly fail at while others effectively thread that needle. I’m happy to say Rats Will Feast falls into that second category. While this is my first foray into the band, I can’t help but hear influences from some of the best hardcore outfits from the early/mid 2000’s to heavy as bricks extreme metal. I hear nods to the chaos of Page 99 or even Orchid, the chunky metalcore of Disembodied, some of the guitar technicality of Deadguy along with the ferocity of extreme metal bands like Cattle Decapitation. Hellhole is a furious barrage of heavy metal attack, with the sincerity and urgency of hc, with plenty of machine gun drumming to boot.

Despite the pulverizing wall of sound Rats Will Feast unleashes over eight tracks, there’s quite a bit of melody and emotion to be found on Hellhole. In particular, the final two tracks ease off the heaviness ever-so-slightly and add a quasi-shoegaze element to the proceedings. Swirling guitars and heavy on emotion, these songs remind me of the later music by American hardcore band Cease Upon the Capitol.

A massive album through and through. Stand out tracks include: “Penetration”, “Tourmaline” and “Replacement”.

Truth be told, I don’t listen to a lot of modern hardcore these days, but I’m absolutely thrilled that there are bands like Rats Will Feast who have picked up the hardcore torch and made it their own. Aces all around!