Crawl unleash a pure beast with their debut album ‘Rituals’
These Swedes sure know how to deliver a knockout blow with their debut full length offering ‘Rituals’, an album that takes the Death Metal genre to new heights with its intense brutality. Every track is packed to the hilt with power and precision that gives the listener barely enough time to draw breath before the next assault lands upon them. J. Lyngfelt puts on a vocal master class on this record, bludgeoning all before him with such ease, and in my opinion bringing a fresh twist on the tried and tested Death Metal vocal format. If it’s crushing riffs that you want from your Metal, then Crawl will not disappoint. Tracks such as ’Sentenced To Rot’ and ’Suffer’ to name but a couple have such unrestrained aggression on display that it is near impossible not to get sucked into the whole vibe of this album
As hard hitting and unforgiving as ’Rituals’ is, it still manages to have a great level of structure and melody, not once does it dip into the wall of noise fodder that can feel so uninventive at times. Having said that, obviously the bands main objective is to pummel you into submission, and in that respect it is most certainly mission accomplished
You would be hard pressed to find a heavier release in the Death Metal genre this year, filled with short and punchy tracks that really tick all the boxes. Not to everyone’s taste maybe but that surely only goes to demonstrate the current levels of diversity within Metal as a whole at this time. ’Rituals’ deserves and demands your undivided attention, and should remain a firm favourite on your turntable for some time to come
Track Listing ;
1. Reject The Cross
2. Breathing Violence
3. The Stench
4. Black Ritual
5. Trail of Traitors
6. Sentenced To Rot
7. Cowards
8. Suffer
9. Coven Of Servants
Crawl Band Lineup ;
M. Sjorgen – Guitar/Bass
A. Batar – Drums
J. Lyngfelt – Vocals
Rituals sees its release through Transcending Obscurity records on August the 20th
http://Transcending Obscurity Site