01. Phoenix I: Ardent
02. Wolf I: Tooth & Blade
03. Wizard: Crystal Heat
04. Siren: The Pull Of Promise
05. Unicorn: Carnage And Ice
06. Path Of Moss
07. Crystal Cave: Enshrined
08. Serpent: Coiled Figure
09. Wolf II: Celestial Beast
10. Dragon: Lord Of The Sky
11. Summoning Spell
12. Sun Song: Behold The Flame
13. Phoenix II: Cinerous

Ratatouille.

While 2025 may not be the year of the rat, it is the year of Castle Rat, with a sophomore album that offers fans and the yet-to-be-converted a more well-honed and powerful experience than that of their acclaimed debut album. The Bestiary is a concise statement of intent, and one of the best retro doom albums to have been released in recent years.

Striking while the iron is hot, The Bestiary comes just over a year after the band's debut effort, which caught the attention of the metal community with its stripped-back retro doom vibe that was addictive and enjoyable in equal measure. While The Bestiary offers more of the same as the band's preceding effort, Castle Rat have tightened up as a group, and spent the intervening year honing their sound and songwriting skills, with the end result a compelling album that nods to the old school without being derivative.

On the opening tandem of "Phoenix I" and "Wolf I", you will hear Castle Rat's penchant for epic songwriting via the medium of stripped-back sword-and-sorcery doom that goes back to the genre's roots, often sounding like a garage band lucked into finding time in a professional studio, merging the two worlds into one. This melting pot combines into a holy brew that is as potent as it is addictive, with The Bestiary offering up a welcome dose that will satiate listener's thirst for more, especially so soon after an already quality debut.

As "Wizard" and "Serpent" highlight, the key to a band like Castle Rat's appeal is their ability to find a production quality that matches their style. The lo-fi garage rock sound mixed with The Count's guitar work gives the album a traditional doom vibe that makes The Bestiary feel less like just listening to an album, and instead more like being given a folding chair and sat down in front of the band playing in some cramped garage somewhere, with a beer in one hand and horns raised in the other.

The Bestiary also sees Castle Rat challenge themselves, stretching themselves creatively by producing tracks that aspire towards the epic, such as "Crystal Cave". Although the band mostly pull this off, the orchestral flourishes don't quite sonically fit the vibe; the regal-sounding strings are at odds with the spartan core of the band, leading to a song that wants to sound both grandiose yet minimalist at the same time.

While Castle Rat are at the forefront of the pack in terms of retro doom, the problem they face is overcoming the oversaturation of the genre in recent years, convincing fans who've already had several heaped servings at the doom buffet that what they offer is worth pushing through the fullness they feel for one more plate. While what the band offer isn't unique, it is a sound that is more compelling than many of their peers.

The Bestiary is an album that solidifies Castle Rat as more than fly-by-night fancies, but rather a band only getting better as they go. This is well worth overcoming the inertia your last serving at the buffet gave you, so stand up and get your fill.

Performance:	7
Songwriting:	7
Originality:	4
Production:	8