It is no secret that my love of horror is not strictly prohibited to cinema. Almost everything I love has something horror-related entrenched deep in its roots. It’s no surprise then that my taste in music also happens to stray towards the spooky side of things. Most of the time, you can find me listening to horrorcore rap. Occasionally, however, I also enjoy horror music of the rock persuasion. That is where the band Bat$hit!crazy. comes in with their self-titled 2019 album.
I have written reviews about records before, but only once ever on this site. Hell, that one wasn’t even really horror related either. Still, while this isn’t anything necessarily new to me, it is a bit out of my wheelhouse. Because of this, I will start off this review by saying that I have zero musical talent. I have never been shy about my skill level, or lack thereof, but I am still capable of telling you guys about things that I like and dislike, of course.
At first glance, it is easy to see the horror influence on Batshit Crazy. With titles like “Bats in the Belfry,” “Diabolic,” and “The Man Who Was Death,” the track list alone gives a clear indication of what you’re in for. I was still surprised, however, by the fact that the horror is not so in your face.
As I mentioned, I am used to the underground rap genre known as “horrorcore.” A lot of the time, the artists in this particular sub-genre utilize graphic lyrics to depict scenes akin to something you would see in an Unearthed Films movie release. With Batshit Crazy on the other hand, the lyrics aren’t so explicitly spelled out for you. Yet, it is clear to see [and hear] that Richy V. (Vocals), Chuck D. (Guitar), Jason V. (Bass), and Mike M. (Drums) were all influenced by concepts touched on in great films like They Live, Escape From New York, and even Halloween.
The band started in early 2017 and quickly set out to combine almost all of their interests into one sound. The result is this 2019 debut release, a self-proclaimed ‘Pop Punk Hardcore Horror Rock N’ Roll’ opus.
Bat$hit!crazy. delivers on all fronts. Their hooks are catchy while also being fast and furious. In keeping with the punk rock norm, all of their songs are quick and to the point, none of which even get close to 3 minutes in length. In fact, the entire 12 tracks album (24, if you own the physical CD) only last 23 minutes. This is a perfect length for almost any car ride, whether you want to jam out to the boys on your way to work or get your blood pumping on your way to the gym.
The Verdict
My personal favorites off of Bat$hit!crazy. are “Such a Waste of Good Suffering,” “Rotting,” and “Stare Into Fire,” but there really aren’t any tracks that I feel the need to skip over. I am not the most experienced with horror punk bands, but I do love other outfits like The Creepshow and Calabrese. If you, too, are a fan of those bands or any number of other groups belonging to the horror punk, psychobilly, or related genres, you will certainly dig some Bat$hit!crazy.
You can check these guys out on their Instragram page or the Basement Records Bandcamp site. The album is also available to stream on services like Spotify and Apple Music.
If you are old-school like me and still prefer physical media, the album is also available on CD. This physical release contains a booklet featuring all song lyrics. In addition to the same 12 tracks you can find digitally, the CD also features those same 12 songs played backwards, reminiscent of the days when Satanic messages were said to be present when playing back your favorite vinyl records. Can you figure out the hidden meaning behind this puzzle?
Give Bat$hit!crazy. a listen, as I give their debut effort a final rating of 8 horror flick references out of 10!
