12. Bats, Red In Tooth and Claw (‘Gamma Ray Burst: Second Date’)

I dislike metal, but I’ve always been intrigued by what exactly it is that I don’t like about the genre, and what defines the genre, especially as I also like a good deal of loud music. There’s an interesting post on Invisible Oranges about a possible consensus on the four best metal albums of the decade, which leads to a dissensus amongst commenters that they aren’t really metal, e.g. this point:

“Converge are a hardcore punk band which regardless of its current metalesque sonic rigor, lyrically and aesthetically has stayed true to that genre’s rulebook as written by Black Flag. I realize metalcore owes a lot to hardcore and that modern metal is informed by it via two degrees of separation, but it’s a bit farcical to say that a leading band in a genre is only one quarter part of it.”

Bats’ debut full-length, Red In Tooth and Claw (incidentally recorded by Converge’s Kurt Ballou) is plausibly metal and non-metal. It’s somewhere between a chimera and a chameleon of genres, never staying very long in heavy metal head-banging or in post-punk jerkiness, but never straying too far from them either. The first time I saw Bats they were supporting the Locust in Whelan’s, and they reminded me chiefly of Q and not U; the most recent occasion was their own album launch in Andrew’s Lane, when they rose to the challenge of following Adebisi Shank as their frenetic, hyper-metal support act. ‘Gamma Ray Burst: Second Date’ is naturally one of their poppier songs, but at the same time showcases most elements of their sound. And their science, delivered in Rupert Bat’s earnest shriek.