By Derelikt Waugh: Finland's Rattus have officially been churning out their own unique strand of super-pissed, catchy-as-a-cold, hardcore punk since 1980. Having released a number of 7 and 12 inch releases up to the nineties, the band called it a day until reforming again in 2005 for their first proper, self-titled full length album. Now in 2013, Rattus return to the fray with a frothing, feral Rottweiler of an album entitled, "Turta" (which translates as "Numb" in English). Right from the relentless opener "Uskoton", on to the final and fourteenth track "Voimavara viha", "Turta" gives us everything most of us could ever hope to expect from a modern hardcore record (along with a few elements of genuine and somewhat melodic surprise to boot). Quite honestly, it's refreshing to hear some real hardcore delivered by a trio of seasoned Vets who truly mean all that they're screaming about, as opposed to a band of content, successful, graying, balding fat fucks who are simply attempting to ride some retro-trend cash cow to the nearest bank. Rattus are not THAT band. They play with violent precision, passion and a palpable sense of pure anger that transcends any linguistic barriers. This is punk that comes from the soul and these are songs that can be felt like an adrenaline shot to the head. Yeah, all of the songs are in Finnish, but you don't have to be able to speak a word of it in order to understand that Rattus are the genuine article. This is one of the best hardcore albums I've heard in many, many years. I really wish there were more like it.
