Its diverse sound challenges easy style classification, but whether you see it as hard rock meets metal, blues, groove, funk or some combination therein, the 2008 independently released debut full length Intelligent Design from V-Rats is impressive. Hailing from the Midlands of England, V-Rats brings an impressive musical pedigree with founding member, lead vocalist and bassist Pete Emms having toured and played with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Trapeze, A.N.D. and Temple Dogs to name a few. Guitarist Paul May brings a resume with no less acclaim from recording three albums as part of A.N.D., one with Temple Dogs and four others under the Atkins May Project moniker with original Judas Priest vocalist Al Atkins. Rounding out the V-Rats roster is second guitarist Mike De Jager, also working with Al Atkins in addition to touring with Dante Fox, and drummer Rob Allen, an extensive touring musician who briefly was a member of the psychedelic punk group The Damned.
With the V-Rats qualifications unquestioned, matter at hand is if musically Intelligent Design is any good. I have to answer with a resounding yes! Whereas I slightly elevate some Intelligent Design songs over others, each brings that unique grooving bass line, predominant guitar riff and foremost hook to withstand repeat play. Upshot is a resoundingly consistent package of songs in which I am not tempted to hit the skip button. Lyrically, do not mistake V-Rats as a Christian band or Intelligent Design a Christian album. Rather, the groups prose focuses on life, lost love and relationships from a positive standpoint with occasional statements of faith throughout.
An out of print and hard to find collectors item, Intelligent Design saw reissue on Soundmass Records on May 1, 2026. Re-mastering attributes to Paul May and original cover art and layout to renowned fantasy illustrator Rodney Matthews, who has worked with Stairway, Motherlode and Veni Domine. Bonus material comes in the form of three unreleased demo tracks recorded for a follow up release that never happened.
Production to the initial Intelligent Design release is solid enough, but the Soundmass re-mastering brings the album up to modern standard. Specifically, volume levels elevate to extent key aspects of the recording cleanly separate, including crisper rhythm guitar, sturdier bass and clearer mix of drums and guitar leads.
Following a short bass driven instrumental “Intro”, album gets going with “No Good For Me”. Song gives Emms opportunity to impart his engagingly smooth but mid-ranged vocal style to a charged up boogie hard rocker in which riffs hit with furious abandon and hooks emanate explosive formality. The flaming guitar leads hint of Bride. Lyric snippet:
You’re not sugar and spice
Someday you’ll take your own advice
Wanna break, not bend, the rules
There is no time to suffer fools
And I’ve finally come to see
What you got ain’t what I need
And that you’re no good for me
“Dirty Little Secret” backs from the whirlwind tilting for a slower but heavier sound. In your face guitars carry the song its six and half minutes, underlying the bedraggled vocal melodies and admonishing low end to make a denouncing statement. I take to manner in which May’s charged soloing and virulent distortion compel the final minute and half.
A return to hastened territory, “Know Definition” launches its span to accelerated momentum instigated by bluesy metal muscle and knife edge compositing that has Red Sea and Die Happy written all over it. The grooving fury is palpable (low-end locks into sturdy place) as are the perceptible at once hooks (a winsome component rises above the surface). Lyric snippet:
What you gonna do when He calls your name?
What you gonna claim?
What you gonna do when the fire inside no longer burns in you?
Time is gonna tell who’s side their on
Where they all belong
All our lives to be revealed
Before His judgement throne
Play on words track “Et Al” (standing for ‘at all’) is another slugger. Songs intense bass heavy instrumental opening hints of Glenn Kaiser Band’s “Changin’ Wind” (off Caroline Moon from 2001), the straight on hard rock fury maintained as refrain hits with exuberant authority and verse sections ooze of guttural muscle. A blues driven classic rock nuance takes precedence accordingly.
“Lisa” might be my least favorite track here, but that is saying a lot in that I still find it quite good. If I do not esteem it to the same extent as albums remaining material, it is due to a middling no frills classic rock approach with a pop tinged feel, albeit I take to the fade out duel soloing between May and De Jager. In my opinion, V-Rats are at their best when heaviest.
“Point Of No Return” represents one such track. What we have is an emotional mid-paced skewer - Emms’ vocals plead and cajole in coaxing fashion - that evokes a semi ballad image in terms of the poignant underpinnings. A contrastingly lighter element realizes in the brief acoustic guitar solo ahead of the beseeching lead guitar run. Lyric snippet:
Some people say they have the answers
Some people say that we should live and learn
Some people say I had it coming
I hope you never have to learn
The point of no return
See the pictures, see the signs
See me draw a thin white line
Making out that things are fine
Another place, another time
“So Over You” conserves the heaviness but with an unhurried and blues swayed semblance. Verse sections dig and bite in scraping fashion, while melodic guitar harmonies coalesce for the dexterously flowing refrain. A more graceful although no less assertive side to V-Rates takes precedence.
“All The Ones You Want (You Can’t Have)” sets a marked tone with its start to finish impactful low-end presence. A hard rock funk essence reveals, as Emms’ larger than life bass intertwines with distorted vocal and scrappy guitars to build upon the mammoth mid-paced exhortations. Periodic clapping hands allow the acerbic hooks to standout that much further. Lyric snippet:
You make the rules and play it cool
I am the spark, you are the fuel
You make them stare, you don’t play fair
I see the shadows of your long black hair
The intentions were so true
When I said I’d die for you
You know just why you feel so bad
Always want the ones you can’t have
Initiative ups with “South Of My Heart”, a metal burnished blaster in which decisive rhythm guitar powers in and out of the mix in furious Rez Band style fashion. Gist is brusque and blunt as it gets but also catchy in that the indelible residuals refuse to let go. Timekeeping is of the complex rolls and fills variety.
“Devil To Pay” is an alluring but expedited three minutes of all out metal fury. With snarling rhythm guitar cemented to the forefront, song accelerates to near speed-based impetus - lead guitar is of similar short order form - but stays true to the melodic found in the deeply woven backing vocals reeking of somber niceties. In the end, what we have is a classic joining of the bulldozing and gripping.
Closer “Blood, Demons & Whiskey” begins to several seconds of open-air guitar ahead of morphing into bluesy metal paradise. Riffs gallop, harmonies smite and vocals clout to establish a no-nonsense parameter that is heavy as all get out- rhythm guitar holds sway over the top heavy refrain, while final seconds give way to double kick drum and shouted backing vocals. Lyric snippet:
Don’t need no charity, don’t need no sympathy
Don’t want nobody to cry or mourn for me
So many pictures, so many lies
And through this mirror I’ve lived a thousand lives
Give me a reason, give yourself one too
One more excuse for all the things you do
I crave a lover, I need a friend
But my companions stay with me till the end
Demo bonus material might not highlight the big budget polish of their Intelligent Design counterparts but sound solid all the same. “Does It Really Matter” upholds a mid-tempo bluesy hard rock trending (lone complaint is that it gets repetitive manner in which refrain continuously repeats) and “Roll Of The Dice” an acoustic derivative heavy rocking allure with strong doses of catchy emotion (this one better aligns with the classic V-Rats sound). “Reign” is my favorite of the three as brazen acoustic rock embodying ample swamp like bluesy swagger- if this is any indicator of the direction V-Rats intended any follow up album would have been outstanding.
Intelligent Design represents a very fine walk a fine line between metal and hard rock with strong doses of groove, funk and blues albums. V-Rats give rise to no small ability in form of charismatic vocals and equally alluring duel guitar proclivity. If you missed the original release or interested in an upgraded version, the Soundmass reissue comes strongly recommended for its improved re-mastering and strength to its bonus material.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Intro” (:35), “No Good For Me” (5:04), “Dirty Little Secret” (6:32), “Know Definition” (3:29), “Et Al” (4:05), “Lisa” (4:33), “Point Of No Return” (5:01), “So Over You” (5:24), “All The Ones You Want (You Can’t Have)” (4:11), “South Of My Heart” (4:07), “Devil To Pay” (3:08), “Blood, Demons & Whiskey” (3:52), “Does It Really Matter” (4:44), “Roll Of The Dice” (4:33), “Reign” (4:17)
Musicians
Pete MZ Emms - Lead Vocals & Bass
Paul May - Guitars
Mike De Jager - Guitars
Rob Allen – Drums
Additional Musicians
Adrian Badland, Mick Hailes & Alex Reynolds - Drums
