Rats Breath is a Belfast-based crust punk band made up of veterans from both the Irish and Pakistani underground scenes. Its members have played in bands like Multinational Corporations, Foreskin, and Warcorpse. Despite coming from different parts of the world, guitarist Sheraz says the band quickly found common ground that went beyond a shared love of d-beat and crust.
"Long story short, the same interest in music, politics, and disdain toward the ongoing sociopolitical bullshit brought us together as a band," he tells No Echo. "Belfast is technically in the West, but the realities people have lived through here are no different than what I'd seen back home during the War on Terror era. Whenever we're hanging out, we always find ourselves drawing parallels between the bullshit we've seen growing up in our respective parts of the world."
Rats Breath started for vocalist Darseaux after his previous band, Porphyria, ended. He was already working on a new project with bassist Reubs and guitarist Jimmy when he met Sheraz at an anarchist screen-printing workshop. "Sheraz told us he'd been in Multinational Corporations in Pakistan, which I'd already heard of, and it actually blew my mind," Darseaux says with a laugh. "I asked Sheraz to come jam with us, and the rest is history. Sheraz actually initially joined as the drummer."
Sheraz moved from Lahore to Belfast in 2021 after years in Pakistan's underground punk scene. Looking for other punks in Northern Ireland, he found them through local art and activism. "I met Reubs through Instagram and his art page, Spookedart," he says. "He was making sick antifascist drawings and screen-printing them on T-shirts in Darseaux's Grimmed Out Screen Printing workshop. It's insane that I met both of these guys through supporting local artists and buying their stuff."
Rats Breath builds on the foundations of crust and d-beat but doesn't limit itself to one part of the genre. The band draws influence from Extreme Noise Terror, Chaos U.K., Discharge, Anti-Cimex, Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death, Doom, Hiatus, Wolfbrigade, From Ashes Rise, Tragedy, Skitsystem, Life, GISM, and Nausea.
Belfast's punk history is also a key influence for Darseaux. "I take a lot of influence from the Belfast bands I grew up watching and playing gigs with," he says, pointing to Jobbykrust, Toxic Waste, Runnin Riot, and Bleeding Rectum. Sheraz sees the band as building on that legacy, not just recreating what came before. "We've tried to ensure that we push the limits of the genre while acknowledging all the great acts that inspired us," he explains. "Our goal is not to be boxed into a certain sound and just express ourselves within the universe of crust and d-beat punk, which is a very diverse universe if you ask me."
The band's DIY approach shaped their debut record, Democracy Manifest. "The latest release was a total DIY punk effort," Darseaux says. "Only the drums were recorded in a studio. Guitar and bass were recorded in Sheraz's back room, and the vocals were recorded in my tiny bathroom—or bog, as we call it here."
The lyrics on the record focus on issues both members see happening globally. "We live in a fucked-up world where there seems to be no escape from the algorithmic propaganda that's wreaking havoc on the senses of the unsuspecting masses," he says. "White supremacy continues to grow and plague the Western world. Racism is at an all-time high. Weapons of mass destruction are becoming autonomous and being deployed to kill humans in war zones, whether it's Palestine or anywhere else being colonized by imperialist powers."
For Rats Breath, these issues go beyond borders. "One thing we continue to focus on, both in our personal interactions and in our music, is that no matter where you come from, our struggles and our enemies remain the same."
Belfast has changed since the Troubles, but both members say the city's history still shapes daily life. "I personally grew up during the conflict," Darseaux says. "Working-class districts of Belfast are still traumatized by 30 years of war. Due to a lack of funding, social deprivation has begun to accelerate problems again within the city. It usually manifests itself in sectarian and now racial violence."
Sheraz has witnessed another side of those tensions since immigrating to Northern Ireland. "I've found friends on both sides of the community," he says. "People here generally go out of their way to help you out. However, things have changed drastically since the recent rise of the far-right."
Sheraz describes attacks on immigrant-owned homes and businesses, and says he has taken steps to protect his own house. "There have been situations where I've had to put wooden pieces over my letterbox to stop someone from throwing a petrol bomb inside and put heavy objects in front of my door before going to sleep."
Still, he finds encouragement in how the local community responds. "Every time there is a racist riot, the anti-racist protesters pull up in big numbers and ensure the racists know they are not representing the majority."
The band is vocal about its support for Belfast's punk and hardcore scene, naming local acts like Warcorpse, Final Collapse, Okus, Surge, Special Branch, and Native, and giving credit to promoters Smorgasbord and Live Free Tour Booking. Rats Breath is now part of that network, recently bringing Flower from New York City and encouraging touring punk bands to get in touch if they want to play Belfast.
With Democracy Manifest out, the band is staying busy. The record is out on cassette in the UK and Ireland, with more tape editions coming from Plastic Wound Records in Europe and Sound of Chaos in Indonesia for South Asia. The band is already working on new material. "We've already got the next tunes in progress," Sheraz says. "The plan is to finish them and record them over the next few months."
For Sheraz, Rats Breath's message stays the same wherever the band plays.
"Our struggles and our enemies remain the same."
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Democracy Manifest is available now digitally. If you want a copy on cassette, hit up Rats Breath on Instagram.
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