HolyRoller have done it. With Rat King, the North Carolina riff lords deliver their most focused and heavy statement to date – an album that keeps the raw underground grit of their past while showing just how far they’ve evolved since Swimming Witches.
Opener “Crunch Riff Supreme” wastes no time – it’s a straight punch of fuzzed-out riffage with an almost post-hardcore edge, balancing thick grooves with Adam Cody’s mix of melodic vocals and feral screams. “Titan” follows as the album’s heaviest beast, lumbering forward with doom-laden weight before shifting gears into an almost thrash-like drive. That ability to pivot between monolithic doom and headbang-friendly stoner hooks is what makes Rat King so addictive.
“Buried Alone” brings the slow-burn misery, drenched in sludge atmosphere but with enough groove to keep your head nodding. Then there’s “Heave Ho”, arguably the catchiest cut here – a masterclass in how HolyRoller fuse melody into their heaviness without losing grit. The title track “Rat King” itself is a snarling, riff-driven anthem that feels like the band’s mission statement distilled into four minutes. Closing track “Drift Into the Sun” is the exclamation point – sprawling, melancholic, and oddly uplifting, the kind of ending that leaves you staring into space long after the last note fades.
Lyrically, Cody digs deep into mental health struggles, atheism as solace, the grind of the music industry, substance abuse – themes that cut close to the bone but feel strangely cathartic against the backdrop of these towering riffs. There’s a brutal honesty at play, and the band lets the rawness of the production match that vulnerability. Nothing is polished, nothing feels forced – it’s sweaty, smoky, and alive.
What makes Rat King stand out is the balance: simple, direct song structures loaded with groove, layered with psychedelic textures from new guitarist Steve Poe, and grounded by the crushing rhythm section of Jason Kincaid and Jay Ovittore. It’s heavy, but it’s also memorable – an album that stays with you, track after track.
In the crowded world of stoner and doom, Rat King hits that rare sweet spot: it’s underground enough to feel dangerous, but catchy enough to cross boundaries. Fans of Red Fang, The Sword, Corrosion of Conformity, or King Buffalo will feel right at home, but HolyRoller have carved out their own identity here.
Rat King is the sound of a band leveling up. Raw, groovy, psychedelic, crushing – and a serious contender for album of the year.
Check Ripple Music & HolyRoller
-Helge Neumann
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