Rotten UK – Age of Chaos
Grab your leather jackets and bullet belts because Rochester metal punk veterans Rotten UK are back with a vengeance on their sophomore full-length album, Age of Chaos.
Bandmates James von Sinn, Matt Sexxx, Anarchy Jake, and Fran Damage violate your speakers with their distinct style of 80’s UK crust punk forged with gothic undertones, thrashy power chords, and dominating drums. von Sinn’s vocals are straight from the depths of a London dungeon as he shouts and howls songs of revolution, horror and the occult. Their snobbish, drawling delivery adds a thick layer of anarchistic attitude that rounds out Rotten UK’s throwback speed metal sound.
Age of Chaos doesn’t waste any time melting your face off with the opening track, “Annihilation Desecration.” It’s a hyper shot of pure adrenaline that will get your heart pounding. Like a runaway rollercoaster, Damage’s frenetic kick-snare drums propel the track at warp speed while Sexxx and Jake’s riffs and basslines thrill with nihilistic twists and turns. A quick and catchy bridge lets you catch your breath before launching you back into the stratosphere with an absolute shred fest. Listener beware: every time “Annihilation Desecration” is streamed, a circle pit breaks out somewhere in upstate New York.
The band switches gears and takes you on another, albeit more measured, ride with “Baphomet Rising.” Instead of a sprint, this track is a methodical march straight to the gates of Hell. A bellowing von Sinn preaches an unholy gospel while deliberate drums stomp like hooves around him. Sexxx’s malignant riffs drill into your skull against a low, rumbling bassline before von Sinn delivers his final sermon as if possessed by the Dark One himself. The song will cast a macabre spell on you and is the perfect soundtrack for your next night out in the woods.
At a 45-minute runtime, the album offers plenty of other high notes including the Oi!-inspired “Moorhounds,” the frenzied “Condemned by Chaos” and gothy “Rain on my Funeral.”
Age of Chaos is a grueling, high-voltage gauntlet of old school heavy metal and a welcomed return for Rotten UK. After nine long and quiet years, it’s been well worth the wait to hear this collection of new and old rippers finally on wax. Throw up your horns and sacrifice your ears to the speed metal gods with a listen below.
Out now via Hell’s Headbangers, Rotten UK’s Age of Chaos is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Music and Spotify. For direct support, head over to Bandcamp for streaming, CDs, cassettes and 12” black and colored vinyls.
Categorised in: Album of the Week
This post was written by Matt Burgerhoff