Much of today’s crop of new thrash bands tend to copy the formula without ever deviating from the style or god forbid come up with a fresh take. One such band to come along and bring something new to the table is called Rodent (With Glasses). This is basically a one man project crawling up from the depths of Germany and clawing away with a frenetic thrash sound that is quite unique. The musician behind the project is Tom Liebing, who provides all the drum programming, bass, guitars and some vocals. Also helping out is another vocalist named Mitsh (vocalist from another German thrash band called Warforger).
What you get here is a debut of eclectic thrash musings culled together in a thematic viewpoint centered on rodents. The album is called Trip Out…Thrash High and although not taken too seriously, the music is balls-out fun. Most of the songs barely reach the three minute mark, but they are intense and doll out heaping amounts thrash riffs. Clearly Tom Liebing has a sense of humor too, especially when you see song titles like “Ready to Rattack,” “Rodents even Fresher” and “Stop this Ratshit.”
What comes to mind for me is bands like Tankard and SOD, perhaps even remnants of DRI. You have to give Mr. Liebing his due for getting his music out there as a solo artist and to even extend his creativity with an amusing video for the track “Instant Metal.” You can search for the video on youtube and once you see it, I know you will come to the same conclusion as me; Rodent is a clever thrash band that deserves to be heard.
Trip Out…Thrash High is not ground breaking whatsoever, but it does prove you can take the thrash template of yore and make it your own. In this case, an entire album that gnaws away like a rabid dog, but shows a bit of humor along the way will make this a pleasurable listening experience. I say take notice thrash fans because the Rodent is here to stay and may he forever bring the rattack to thrashers all over the globe.
Kenneth Gallant, Editor HMS
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