METAL-i first got wind of The Rampton Release Date in mid 2006, when they asked if they could mail us a demo disc. Made a nice change from being asked to review stuff on Myspace etc, so we said yeah, got the disc, and whacked it in. Like their name suggests, named after the infamous nuthouse hospital, The Ramptons are pure mad, totally unhinged, and like a nutter with a weapon to hand, they don't let go. The unique style defies genres, and it grows on you. But when we didn't rate these two releases with exactly glowing reviews, rather than sulk and whinge, they went off and came back with a NEW demo, bigger, badder, madder, and it blew us away. CLICK HERE for the review of the new demo.
THE RAMPTON RELEASE DATE
"My Dad's A Spastik My Life's Fucking Fantastic"/ "Postpone The Melody" demo discsAppropriately titled band with a form of sludgecore that's completely
insane, plenty of sludgey grindy guitar and a suprisingly addictive bassline that could find this double-demo disc being played in the Metal-i-mobile soon. Though the tracks are quite samey, all having the same distorted and sparse vocal style, there's some good melody going on here.
Over all the package shouldn't work but it does. Think Nashville Pussy with the vocals being screamed through a loudhailer with The Sisters' Doktor Avalanche having a seizure on drums. The drugs do work to some extent.
Opener on their first "My Dad's A Spastik..." demo, "I've Been Like This For Years" is an assault on your ears with the frequent shift in left-right balance kicking you in the head every few seconds. It works better than track 2 "Hell Is Self Made", but "Damage Limitation" is a good powersludge/industrial song with enough machine-gun drums to kill any Emo in the front row that took a wrong turn into the venue.Second demo "Postpone
The Melody" is the same formula, frantic rocket-speed riffs and strained screaming vocals, but nowhere near as strong an opener as "...Years" is on "My Dad's A Spastik..." Track 2, "Oh No Don't Leave Me" is more of an infectious groove with some noddable melody but kind of hangs in the middle with repetition before kicking off again like a rabid assault on the senses. You'd need the lyrics to make any sense of Ray's screams tho'. Track 3 "The Violence" could be an edited-off part from "...Years", back to the savage riffs and sludge-grind of that song and givin' the Metal-i staff somethin to slam to.
If anything lets these guys down, it's production, the sound is a little too raw and unrefined, but that's part of the charm with unapologetically crude grinds. Nashville Pussy fucked sideways by Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There's promise here for the future, and we'd say probably worth seeing live if you get the chance. Our best wishes to RRD's bassist who's recovering from a broken neck!
NoiseMatters rated
My Dad's A Spastik: (3/5):(3/5)
Postpone The Melody: (2.5/5) :(2½/5)
