In their home country South Africa Not My Dog is a rising star on the rap-metal firmament. Back home they have played big festivals such as the Opi Kopi festival, which is the South African equivalent of the Lowlands festival in Holland or the smaller version of Denmark’s Roskilde. Not my Dog is renowned for their spectacular live shows. Signed to Wolmer Records the band wishes to gain some ground on the other continents. Their music refers to Rage Against the Machine and Soulfly, although they’re not as heavy as the latter. The riffs and rhythms are groovy and the raps fit well. The English raps with South African accents are a welcome change to all the American and European accents we’re used to in this type of music.

Not My Dog isn’t just another RATM rip off. ‘Monkeys’ for example has a mellow, spacey part with dark, clean voices and weird effects. The Spanish guitar is a nice touch as well. Drummer Jor Pienaar has more to offer than just straight hip-hop beats. The bass and guitar parts vary from the usual riffing to more Tool-type intertwining melodies. Changes in tempo keep the attention of the listener. On the other hand the songs lack a good structure and the sound isn’t as ‘phat’ as their major label colleagues. The raps may fit well, but aren’t very original. Not My Dog is a good and promising band and certainly interesting for those who like rap-metal but they need to work on their songwriting to make it to the top.