Writes music blog Attention Deficit Delirium, "Twenty-six years after Out Of The Cellar became a multi-platinum hit and made them rock superstars, original [b]Ratt[/b] members Stephen Pearcy (vocals), Warren DeMartini (guitars) and Bobby Blotzer (drums), along with long-time bassist Robbie Crane and guitarist/ex-Quiet Riot member Carlos Cavazo, have released one of the strongest musical statements of their career, Infestation. It’s their first new album in 11 years, and despite hitting middle age, the band has not lost its edge and produced a multifaceted collection of catchy hard rock tunes. It also showcases stellar six-string playing from DeMartini, whom many fans consider to be an underrated rock guitarist."
Read an excerpt from the extensive interview below, go here for the full feature, and get your copy of the return to Ratt n' Roll form Infestation NOW!
I’m enjoying the new album.
Me, too. Right now I’m going back and listening to stuff that I wrote, at least for my parts. Some stuff you come up with and record on the spot, and you don’t play it again unless it gets into the live set. Sometimes you go, “How did I do that?”
Infestation reminds me of the first EP and Out Of The Cellar with elements of Detonator present as well.
I always thought it was too bad that Detonator didn’t come out between Dancing Undercover and Reach For The Sky because I think it would’ve been a different thing. But by the time Detonator came out, the scene had really changed.
Do you think that the time off may have helped you to come back with something fresh?
I don’t know. Not really. The time off was unavoidable, and I feel if we had continued on from 1999, this record could’ve come out much earlier. But it takes some time and miles to break in a band to do something on a record. It’s a weird thing. It was good preparation for us to get together and do a couple of tours before we did this record, because it brings in a continuity that you just can’t get any other way. At least that’s the way it is for Ratt.
What are your favorite songs on the album?
There’s a song in the album called “Take A Big Bite,” and the opening reminds me of a moment during the first rehearsal, when Stephen came back to the band, and we were rehearsing “Lack Of Communication”. Live we would come up with different endings [because the song fades on album]. We came up with an ending for “Lack of Communication” that was more of a segue with a completely different riff to it. We rehearsed the song, and by the end of it Stephen was blown away. He said we should make a song out of that, and it was at that moment I realized that creatively our friendship was still intact, even after all the tumultuous years that had gone by. The riff to “Big Bite” opens up with the riff that used to be the outro to “Lack of Communication”. “Best Of Me” was one of those magic moments where Carlos played the opening riffs when we were rehearsing the material for Infestation, and it just went on to be a favorite of mine. “Last Call” is one of my favorite things I’ve done in a while. It was a riff that we worked out for the self-titled 1999 album that came out in Columbia, but it didn’t make it onto that record, which ended up being a good thing because I mixed that riff and the other parts with some ideas that Carlos had. We ended up co-writing the music that one, and then Stephen came up with the words. That’s a really fun riff to play.
