You know that scene in Toy Story where the Andy says to Woody, “I don’t want to play with you anymore”? That’s how (Not) Ready to Die makes me feel about Gatto Black’s previous EP. I remember hearing debut single “Solastalgia” and realizing just how much more polished things were. Project mastermind Sal Mastrocola returns with the help of some incredible support, including Josh Martin (Thought Trials), and the result simply proves that I underestimated what Gatto Black could be.

Don’t misread me. I liked the debut EP. And certainly, credit should be given for it being a debut, a largely-solo effort, and a huge jump in genre from Mastrocola’s previous work. But none of that really matters because (Not) Ready to Die makes 2 Stressed 2 Be Blessed feel so much worse by comparison. The production is smoother, the songs are more layered, the riffs are nastier, the screaming feels more matured. It’s not so much a new foundation as it is better walls – Gatto Black still finagles with late 90s and early 00s post-hardcore, but the formula is a bit more precise this time.

I’m not sure what the technical definitions are between an album and an EP, but NRTD sits at seven tracks long, with the opener “Bitch I’m a Cat” being about a minute and a half and the closing outro of Mastrocola’s daughter Ginny (who also appears in part on the opener) sits just shy of a minute. While neither of these tracks is anything close to filler, their short runtimes do make the EP go by faster than you might expect. Add in the power trio of singles “Fatal Flaw”, “Escape You”, and “Solastalgia”, and you’re left with one additional new song on each end to round out the final result. It’s certainly a risk whenever an artist lines up singles like this on a track list, but I honestly think it plays out well here and lends novelty to both sides of the collection.

The album opens with cat sounds from the aforementioned Ginny before exploding into hardcore punk fanfare where Mastrocola oscillates between screaming and singing with ease. There’s even some nice gang vocals thrown in to round things out. Meanwhile, guitars are fast and gritty, and it’s easy to envision the live energy this iteration of Gatto Black most have, moving at haste around the stage. There’s another soundbite from Ginny and then the album moves forward.

“No One Can Ruin Me” has a bit more of a cinematic feeling, maybe akin to Thrice around the Vheissu era or bits of Thursday or even Crime in Stereo. There’s a really good mix of clean singing and screaming, paired appropriately with a balance between melodic bits and chord-chugging as far as guitar parts go. There’s an almost lifeless eeriness to Mastrocola’s delivery at times, but this isn’t a flaw by any stretch and adds appropriate tension to the mix. Lyrically, as with several songs to follow, Mastrocola notes his unique capacity to be his own worst enemy. There’s definitely a lot of introspection to behold on this release as far as the lyrics are concerned.

“Fatal Flaw” is easily my favorite single and it helps lead us into the middle-album gauntlet. The chorus is one of the best things on all of NRTD. It’s hard to say what the best part is: the catchy, screamed part? The far-off response vocal part? The incredible riffs? You could convince me this was released in 2008 and I’d never question it. But even without a nostalgic emotional attachment, the track holds up. I might even say this is the best Gatto Black track to date, and the melodic parts really shine here.

“Escape You” and “Solastalgia” follow and take decidedly different approaches. The former is a bit darker and more restrained, while the latter is yet another fast and furious number with more gang vocals and sing-along-friendly parts. I’m more partial to the second of these, but Mastrocola do a good job shifting momentum constantly on this release. It’s not surprising a band based off a black cat would be frenetic, squirmy, temperamental and unpredictable. Of course, none of this is done as a gimmick, but the anxious nature of the arrangements and the overall cross-track dynamics are powerful tools that the band wields with ease.

NRTD approaches its close on “I’m Sorry” and it serves as a nice sequel to “Bitch I’m a Cat”. While the album opened with sentiments of multiple lives and getting back up, “I’m Sorry” starts on a dark note of a life cut short and promises left unfulfilled. Death feels certain and the scene feels like the precursor to a suicide attempt. But then the track seems to burst forth into hope with the refrain of, “Carry on this way” and the ultimate confession, “I’m not ready to die!” I know not everyone has felt so quite so despondent and a lot of artists have turned hopelessness into a brand to some degree, but we shouldn’t miss the humanity of this. A lot of people, including some close to me, have stared into the void and didn’t make it out alive. There are moments where life feels insurmountable and everything is stacked to fall. What would life be like? What will life be like? NRTD closes on a more hopeful note than its predecessor, and having Ginny sing at the end only feels more powerful following a call to keep on living.

NRTD is the definitive form of Gatto Black. There are short and fast shorts, there are more melodic bits and there’s a whole lot of punk at play as well. For vocals, you’ve got several forms of singing, a decent amount of screaming, and some incredible use of gang vocals. Lyrically, this is, simply put, a Gatto Black release: topics skew darker, dealing with doubt, anxiety, self-destructive tendencies, and relational loss, but there’s no denying there’s a large focus here on getting back up after each defeat and moving forward. No one can promise life won’t have its hardships, but rest in the perspective that life is worth living still. My personal standouts are “Bitch I’m a Cat”, “Fatal Flaw”, “Solastalgia”, and “I’m Sorry” and that’s basically just half of the tracks right there. This is a dense release and it moves quickly, but there’s rarely a moment that isn’t worth savoring. Gatto Black do not suffer from sophomore slump whatsoever.

(Not) Ready to Die releases on 10/31, just in time to celebrate black cats everywhere