MurkRat is an odd beast. Women in Doom is a rare sight, but an all-female Doom band is even rarer. Mandy V.K.S Cattleprod and Becky Nine-Iron (is that a Golf term?) teamed up in '06 to share their mutual love for old school Doom metal and quite probably they have a love for old school black & white horror movies as well. This is the result.

Instrumentally, this is full-out old school retro Doom. Think St. Vitus, think Pentagram, think Black Sabbath: every riff is a tribute to the Doomsters of yore. I don't consider myself a diehard fan of that genre, but with MurkRat it works perfectly. The keys, bass and drums follow the path set out by the guitars and add to the weirdly entrancing repetition.

Vocally, they're something completely alien. Mandy's vocals are reminiscent of the vocals by Bloody Panda's vocalist, Yoshiko Ohara. The clean, almost ethereal yet spooky wails are slightly disturbing, and because they sometimes just go on and on over simple, repetitive riffs, you get entranced as if you're having a bad hangover. You know, one of those hangovers that doesn't have the throbbing headache, but only the nauseous, gloomy aura, which isn't to be underestimated. Especially when they harmonize they create a peculiar atmosphere that I've never heard before from any band.

I don't know if they intended it like this but I'd like to call this "Horror" Doom. It's sickening, disturbing and creepy, but subtly so and never over the top. I'd highly recommend any Doomster to check this out, as it'll be both a journey back to the good ol' days and something completely new. You're going to get seventy-five minutes of fresh, interesting and entrancing Doom metal. You may not like it, but I'm sure you won't regret listening to it.

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