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A CAT IN THE BRAIN
A Cat In The Brain EP

Self-released (2025)
Rating: 6.5/10

“What’s with the ridiculous band name?” I hear you say. Well, don’t be too rapid in your judgement. The aficionados will tell you, and so will I, that A Cat In The Brain was the title of a cool 1990 Italian horror movie directed by one of the masters of the genre, Lucio Fulci.

There’s been a lot of Fulci worship going on over the last few years, particularly in the death metal scene with bands like Seven Doors and, more obviously, Fulci paying homage. A Cat In The Brain is an Italian combo who ply their trade in the murky waters of the death metal underground too and this self-titled offering is their debut EP.

The opening title track is a blistering fair that has a hint of death-grind about it. The vocals are a muffled sort of squawk amidst the flurry of riffs and drums. When the mid-tempo slop gets thrown out the sick bucket there are elements of gore-grind as the band traipses through squelching gut mud to achieve their mucous mosh.

‘Nightmare Concert’, an alternative title for the Fulci movie, begins with more ravenous percussion and rabid riffs, but the song follows a similar pattern to the previous, bringing a mid-tempo passage before the rush ensues. It’s still engrossingly gross death metal and the closing ‘Last Bloody Letter’ is definitely the best of the three, coming across like a fetid leak from a congealed orifice. Slow, pus-filled and oozing, the vocals act as mere gasps of a dying, blood-curdling breath choking on its own fluids. The bass clangs in the darkness as a blanket of doom engulfs the air like a carpet of mould spores. It’s murky, manky, dragging you into its own festering entrails.

With a run time of just under 12 minutes, A Cat In The Brain’s introduction to the scene is impactful, but more so through the squalid designs of the closing track. I look forward to what other compositions they vomit up
.

Neil Arnold

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