Non Compos

Formerly known as Non Compos Mentis, The Rats Know Him is their first minus the Mentis and is one violent, noisy, abrasive piece of metallic fury. Opening with “58,” Non Compos unleash a relentless sonic maelstrom, complete with semi-distorted vocals that switch between death and hardcore rage, complex rhythms and beats, metallic riffs compete with noise and the pace wavers from reckless, to plodding, to back again before the first track ends in less than a minute. Tight, tense bursts of sonic destruction may just be Non Compos’s modus operandi. “Come On In” opens with a mellower intro before degenerating into another buffeting metallic/hardcore/noise assault that is just as complex as the lead-off track and just as manic. Although recorded and mixed in only a day, The Rats Know Him is sonically strong — although it may have benefited from more time — and doesn’t suffer from any serious flaws either in the performance or mix. Clocking in at a total running time of eight songs in less than 21 minutes, The Rats Know Him gives just enough to hook the listener, without becoming redundant or extraneous.