Track By Tracks: Death Rattle - The Moral Chokehold (2025)

Groove metal heavy hitters Death Rattle have returned from hiatus with a bone-crushing full-length offering called The Moral Chokehold. The band is known for its deft ability to bring together groove-inspired riffs and brutal energy. This is on full display throughout Chokehold, which is set for release on May 30th via M-Theory Audio, but the band has clearly evolved since their last release, 2017’s Volition. While Volition is filled with groove and thrash goodness in spades, Chokehold provides the listener with a treasure trove of tasty melodies and unforgettable hooks. The New Hampshire based quartet, Trey Holton (Vocals), Chris Morin (Drums), Ryan Vanderwolk (Guitars), and Justin Brown (Bass), show off their songwriting skills by incorporating their blistering trademark style with complex melodies to create a sound that demonstrates exactly why they are considered a standout among their metal brethren.

The biggest takeaway from Death Rattle’s new offering is how well-composed the songs are. On their previous records, the band relied almost entirely on in-person jam sessions to write their music. This made for a raw and organic feel that gave them their signature audio footprint. This record is much more complex and was clearly crafted with layering and nuance in mind. Vocalist, Trey Holton, said of the writing process, “Ryan (Guitarist) and Chris (Drummer) still hammered out the original song ideas in a room together like they always have, but unlike we did before (Volition 2017), we took the rough drafts into my studio and played around with some harmonies and different structures. It was amazing, and we feel it gave us more connection with the songs as a whole.” The result is something that is far more polished and cohesive. The whole album is a catharsis of grief and anger presented in a haunting package that demands multiple listens to glimpse everything that it has to offer.

Trey Holton’s lyrical content on The Moral Chokehold is diverse and embodies these concepts on a visceral level. It runs the gamut between deep introspection and social disintegration as Holton seems to bleed his emotional wreckage onto the page.”You have to realize that most of this material was written during the pandemic quarantine,” Holton said. “As a society, we were lonely. We were lost. We were searching for meaning in a growing darkness. I tried to convey that on both a personal and societal level. It was important for my own sanity to try to understand and reconnect.” Holton addresses social discordance, grief, despair, and defiance in equal parts as he seems to be searching for a deeper meaning in seclusion. He delivers a gut-wrenching depiction of what isolation can do to humanity.

From the first note, the album screams a plea of desperation. It searches for self-awareness and purpose in the individual as well as in the masses. It mixes aggression and beauty both sonically and in prose.

Track By Track Breakdown

‘The Light’ - The opening track is a groove machine that combines halting guitars that move between chaos and crescendo, and the song rises and falls with the lyrical character Holton creates. It depicts a portrait of narcissism taken to godlike extremes as a tyrant wields his power over his people with reckless abandon. As the song builds, so too does the desperation in the vocals. It is an appropriate opener that is a prelude to things to come.

‘Malthusian Dependency’ - This track is a banger and picks up directly where the previous one leaves off. It provides the listener with a view from the eyes of the abandoned masses under tyrannical rule. The lilting, melodic verses lead into crushing choruses:   “Face Down, pray to me, I am the feeder!” Holton chants, and you can feel the deprivation and need within his calls. This song is a masterpiece of brutal simplicity.

‘Nietzche, and the Fall’ - This is easily the most melodic and catchy song on the album. It features Bjorn “Speed” Strid of Soilwork, and the collaboration works flawlessly to lift the choruses to the stratosphere. Morin’s driving drum beats in the verses make the open choruses really hit hard while Holton is speaking of a soul that is searching for meaning and finding only nihilism and loss.

‘Immersed in the Black’ - This song showcases everything that Death Rattle does best. It is an encapsulation of thrash, groove, and melody that slams the listener in the face with a sledgehammer. It moves relentlessly between brilliant riffs as Holton brings to life mankind’s struggle to find its own humanity before it is too late.

‘Veils of Consciousness’ - While “Immersed’ is a hammer, ‘Veils of Consciousness’ is the perfect follow-up atmospheric stage. It is an instrumental track that is led by Brown’s basswork. The short sonic interlude is haunting and beautiful as it weaves a sonic tapestry unlike any other track on Chokehold.

‘Social War Machine’ - Unlike the title might suggest, this track is a window into self-inflicted torture. It is a pitiless look at an individual that is seeking ignorance lest they discover that dishonesty and facade have taken away all their humanity. The galloping pace and devastating breaks make the journey to internal turmoil an enjoyable one.

‘Venom in the Crown’ - Melody and thrash are blended together in this tune with great skill. While Holton preaches about seeking truth through multiple obfuscations, the frenetic pace kept by Vanderwolk and Morin makes the discordant melodies in the chorus mirror the message beautifully. “Fire waiting in the wings” is the refrain that closes each chorus with a sense of open-ended threat of what truth may actually deliver in the end.

‘Noctivigant’ - Employing some progressive passages quite effectively, Noctivigant is a unique song on the album where Holton uses his singing voice to contrast with brutal screams in the verses. Again, revenge and internal strife are at the core of the theme as Holton begs to be taken from his own personal hell in a haunting story of hopelessness in the face of a predatory spirit within.

‘March of Delusion’ - The bass is the hero in this tune where a punishing rhythmic backbeat evolves into a sonic cacophony. Deception and violent reprise are at the heart of the message and Death Rattle tactfully leads the listener through the machinations of internal and external revolt.

‘The Darkness’ - This track is absolutely stellar from start to finish. The chorus takes the words from the great Dylan Thomas and begs the listener to “Rage against the dying of the light”. It speaks of embers of hope fighting a losing battle against the growing darkness and isolation. The final passage in the song, and of the entire album is placed and executed masterfully. It is a crescendo that seems to have no ceiling until the bottom falls out with Holton screaming “Watch your world burn!” It brings epic closure to a wonderfully crafted album.

While The Moral Chokehold is not redefining the genre, the songs are brimming with memorable moments and lyrical depth. Producer Jens Bogren of Fascination Street Studios (Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, Opeth) and engineer Kevin Billingslea (Lamb of God, Trivium) have their fingerprints all over the record. The guitar tones are absolutely pulverizing, the bass is clear and present, and everything is exactly where it should be in the audioscape. Fans of Lamb of God and Gojira will find plenty to love here and will find themselves wanting more. Groove metal enthusiasts take note! Metalheads take note! In the words of Ben Kenobi, “These are the droids you have been looking for,” or something like that.

Having just finished up a 28 day run through the United States and a 22 day run that took them through Japan and Europe with the likes of Left to Die and Gorgoroth, the band plans to bring The Moral Chokehold to many more stages later this year where these tracks will undoubtedly thrill all those in attendance. If this album is any indication of what is to come, Death Rattle is about to set the metal world ablaze.