THE RAMPTON RELEASE DATE
"This Suicide Is Costing Me Money" demo

They're ba-ack... and right from this outset this new demo is a MASSIVE improvement on the previous two, in terms of quality, better slicker production, better recording but still with that raw sound the band is known for. Comparing this to the previous demos, this is like comparing crystal to coal. They're as unhinged as ever, as mad as a transforming wheelchair.

The title track "This Suicide.." is already on Bulldog's playlist in the kennel, solid chuggy-grindiness from the outset, and Rayden's lunatic vocals will hook you in and gut your intestines all over the floor, leaving you dancing in your own eviscerated pool of rock. Second track, the excellently-titled "Don't Suffocate Your Sister" is more of the same, but perhaps even more unhinged, Ray's tortured distorted almost-screamed vocals fitting perfectly in this deep and thunderous sonic soundscape, a much darker tale and semi-tragic lyrics.

This demo would blow half the stuff we've heard lately not just off the dancefloor but halfway to alpha centauri. Final track "I'm Surrounded..." is an intense and - if you know the vocals - insanely funny track, how could anyone fail with the lines "I'm running round like a dildo on a hundred and forty a day" and "I'm surrounded by arseholes". But it's a track most of us might feel sympathy from, bank loans and shotguns and the arseholes that just seem to pop up outta the ground (Bulldog's note: usually dressed in burberry...) every day.

THIS demo is the ignition key to bigger things for Rampton, on a par with the similarly-themed Scissorfight, there is no pigeon-hole in which to shoe-horn Rampton Release Date. Absolutely f'in kick-arse. METAL-i's proud of ya, lads. You've upped the game big time.

NoiseMatters rated: (4½/5)