Crawl - Damned (2023) 🇺🇸 | Profound Lore Records

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Crawl exists in the arena of doom metal as a one-man force of bone gnashing atmospherics that move around with the same agility and haste as old people fucking—It’s lugubrious and dismal and mired in cavernous noise, dank and crumbling. You’ve heard this before, many times actually, but maybe not exactly in this way. The use of ambient passages in Lurker of Chalice comes to mind. Or the stoney abrasive heaviness of Rorcal, distilled all the way down to the molasses paced heft of Világvége.

Tonally, Crawl is solitary confinement.

I’ve read Michael A. Engle word it as such: “Crawl is basically my attempt to put you in a space like a dungeon, where you’re slowly exploring the environment. Every step is very cautious, and every corner has a ton of anxiety. You’re afraid to take that next step or afraid to open a door.” It’s an apt descriptor for the sound he manifests.

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Admittedly, I haven’t spent enough time with this record to absorb everything about it, my likes and dislikes are ambiguous, but as a reflex I am drawn to how it sounds. It sounds unique, despite not being wholly inventive, though I believe the execution and technique is rather unique to the genre.

Crawl - Damned (bandcamp)

Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII (2014)

I don't have anything clever to say.
This album is heavier than Chris Farley's bloated corpse.
The blackness of this album is like the inside of a coffin on a moonless night.

Profound Lore though, man does Chris Bruni know hot to pick 'em. Avichi and Artificial Brain also put out albums in 2014 on Profound Lore Records (both are worth checking out), with Impetuous Ritual releasing their sophomore album "Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence". in April.

Grab this, turn it up loud and fuck your ears into early hearing loss.

IV.I.VIII (Took this link from Echoes of Demise)

Best Metal Albums of 2012: Chosen By Musicians (Pt. 1)

(Elizabeth, where vultures land)

Are you completely fucking hassled and bored of year end lists already? Well too bad, as the ancient Mayans used to say, "Life is short, and then you fucking die man". So this year I got in touch with some bands to do a "best of" list for metal albums in 2012. Now, don't mistake this for the abysmal MetalSucks version they do over there… their metal sucks. That was puerile. But really, the majority of those lists turn out to be a "best of rock and generic metal choices" thing, and that's cool if you're not really looking to broaden your musical horizons a little bit, or strengthen thy metal.

Here is part one, from fucking radical musicians in radical bands choosing those in the realms of thy own ilk to stand among thee top. Some of them break the rules, some of them went above and beyond and even wrote blurbs, some of them couldn't seem to pick an order, and most of them have some awesome choices! Here's who did it best this year according to…

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Cobalt - Phil McSorley

01. Revenge - Scum.Collapse.Eradication
02. Bestial Warlust - Satan's Fist  

03. Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis
04. Dagger of Sacrifice - Demo
05. Vomitor - The Escalation
06. Warfire - Of power and steel
07. Goatpenis/Nyogthaeblisz - (split 7")
08. Niantiel - Cavern of the Skeletal Spirits
09. Intolitarian - Berserker Savagery
10. Sickrites/Nuclear Hammer - Abomination To The Lord (split)

Witch Mountain - Nathan Carson

01. Rush - Clockwork Angels
02. Agalloch - Faustian Echoes (EP)
03. Wizard Rifle - Speak Loud Say Nothing
04. Ides of Gemini - Constantinople
05. Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis
06. Show of Bedlam - Roont
07. Occultation - Three & Seven
08. Pinkish Black - S/T
09. Atriarch - Ritual of Passing
10. Menace Ruine - Alight in Ashes

Black Sheep Wall - Scott Turner

10. Deftones - Koi No Yokan

Deftones come in at number 10 with an album that proves why they remain one of the most important heavy bands in “mainstream media.” Lush soundscapes take precedent on this one making it easy to channel that 15-year old in me that used to dream to “White Pony.”

09. Hot Water Music - Exister

When I heard Hot Water Music was getting back together I lost my shit. Maybe a bit more tame than most fans remember Hot Water Music being on their previous albums, but they don’t miss a step and it feels just as relevant as anything in their stellar catalogue of albums.

08. Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

Not my favorite Converge record by any means, and I still find myself confounded by some of the riffage on their, but there is no denying that in the short time “All We Love We Leave Behind” has been out that it has been in constant rotation for me.

07. Old Man Gloom - NO

The super group that can do no wrong returns with an album that see's their brand of noise driven extreme music finding a perfect balance between terrifying soundscapes and some awe inspiring song writing. Definitely my favorite release from OMG so far, let's hope we don't have to wait another thousand years for the next one!

06. Propagahndi - Failed States

Unexplainably catchy, and it gives you the feeling that you’re listening to something that matters. Like a fine wine, Propagandhi only gets better with age, all while managing to outdo almost of their peers at the same time.

05. Code Orange Kids - Love is Love // Return to Dust

Sometimes I find myself in intermittent periods of introspection as I find myself listening to less and less heavy music as I get older. A couple years back it was Trash Talk that kept my head in the game, but this time it’s these kids from Pittsburgh. This shit is furious, full of emotion, and it makes me feel like The Incredible Hulk. Saw them live recently too, that really kicked all kinds of ass. 

04. The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know
The Twilight Sad is known for their dark, almost industrial like take on indie rock. Well on “No One Can Ever Know,” dark is an understatement. Sometimes I close my eyes and think about committing suicide when I listen to this album. Did I mention it’s super catchy? Don’t worry, I’m not brave enough to kill myself!

03. Pig Destroyer - Book Burner

Scott Hull and his band of grind warriors return with their followup to their 2007 nihilistic sonic assault “Phantom Limb.” “Book Burner” shows a slight return to form, digging up some of the tricks that made them the grind powerhouse that they are today. The whole album just sounds scary really, something I look forward to from every Pig Destroyer album.

02. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

I was thrown for a loop when I first put this album on. I really didn’t expect to like it as much as I do now. Smooth tunes that are reminiscent of some of the gems that Motown used to pump out back in the day. The lyrics are clever, and you can feel the “bigger picture” Frank Ocean was going for with “Channel Orange.”

01. Summer Vacation - Condition

This album actually came out in December of 2011 with like two weeks left before the new year so I’m going to take a small liberty here, and just include it in my list. These SoCal punks have crafted an album that evokes the same emotion I got when I first heard “All” by the Descendents. It’s an album that I often find myself repeating as soon as it’s over. Summer Vacation are melodic, honest, and one of the catchier bands I have heard in a very long time. I’m calling it now, these guys are going to be huge.

Panopticon - Austin Lunn *In no particular order*

Borknagar - Urd
Wodensthrone - Curse

Swans - The Seer

Winterfylleth - The Threnody of Triumph
Blood of The Black Owl - Light the fires
Nechochwen - Oto
Drudkh - Eternal Turn of The Wheel
Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay 

Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosophy 

Xanthrocroid - Blessed He With Boils

Cormorant - Matt Solis

10. Samothrace – Reverence to Stone


Fucking crushing. The sound of being trampled by your saddest memories.

09. Worm Ouroboros – Come The Thaw


Simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking. The soundtrack to doing heroin on a deserted beach with the ghost of your dead lover.

08. Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind


Goddamn furious. I think that main riff in “Sadness Comes Home” might be my favorite of the year.

07. Witchcraft – Legend


Still don’t understand all the butt hurt. This album rocks hard. Great guitar work.

06. Hooded Menace – Effigies of Evil


One of the best old-school death metal albums I’ve heard in recent years. Sounds like being chased through a mausoleum by a rotting mummy. Also, DEM RIFFS.

05. Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction


Doom done right. Amazing arrangements, sick vocal performances, all around crushing greatness.

04. Graveyard – Lights Out


Fuck yeah, Graveyard. Another stellar release full of songs that make me want to stop washing my hair and mainline barrels of whiskey.

03. Enslaved – RIITIIR


Metal’s most dependable band comes through yet again. Progressive, thoughtful, brutal and beautiful all at once. If you don’t like modern Enslaved I want to fight you.

02. Astra – The Black Chord


They moved from Pink Floyd worship to King Crimson and Yes worship. Sounds like a jaunt through an inter-dimensional wormhole. Sounds like drugs. Sounds fucking awesome.

01. Ahab – The Giant


One of the best doom albums I’ve ever heard. Sounds like being crushed under the foot of a Goliath sea monster in the murkiest depths of the deepest oceans. Amazing work.

The Great Old Ones - Sébastien Lalanne

01. Dodecahedron - S/T
02. Enslaved - RIITIIR
03. Der Weg einer Freiheit - Unstille
04. Gorod - A Perfect Absolution
05. Hooded Menace - Effigies of Evil
06. Krallice - Years Past Matter
07. Monarch! - Omen
08. Wildernessking - The Writing of Gods In The Sand
09. Winterfylleth - The Threnody of Triumph
10. Asphyx - Deathhammer

 Winterfylleth - Chris Naughton

01. My Dying Bride – A Map of All Our Failures


02. Enslaved – RIITIIR

03. Wodensthrone – Curse


04. A Forest Of Stars – A Shadowplay For Yesterdays


05. Rattenfänger – Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum

0
6. Drudkh – Eternal Turn Of the Wheel


07. Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme

0
8. Grand Magus – The Hunt


09. Pallbearer – Sorrow & Extinction


10. Indesinence – Vessels of Light & Decay

Trap Them - Brian Vincent Izzi *Brian is a cheater, he submitted 12* (I'll allow it because Okkultokrati rules)

Asphyx - Deathhammer
Aura Noir - Out to Die
Burzum - Umskiptar
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Enslaved - RIITIIR
God Seed - I Begin
Grand Magus - The Hunt
Nettlecarrier - Nettlecarrier
Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay
Nidingr - Greatest of Deceivers
Okkultokrati - Snakereigns
Tulus - Olm Og Bitter

The Howling Wind - Ryan Lipynsky *In no particular order*

Tragedy - Darker Days Ahead
Virus - Oblivion Clock 

Haarp - Husks
Drudkh - Eternal Turn of The Wheel
Old Man Gloom - NO
Mgła - With Hearts Toward None
Deathspell Omega – Drought (EP)
Nekromantheon - Rise, Vulcan Spectre
Saint Vitus - Lillie: F-65
Column Of Heaven - Mission From God

Profound Lore Records - Chris Bruni *bonus round*

(omitted my own releases to keep things objective)

01. Swans - The Seer
02. Twin Shadow - Confess
03. Knelt Rote - Trespass
04. Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
05. Krallice - Years Past Matter
06. Weapon - Embers and Revelations
07. Godspeed! You Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
08. Death Grips - No Love Deep Web
09. Vatican Shadow - September Cell
10. (Tie); Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis / Vomitor - The Escalation

Death metal: An inside look of 2012 (part I)

Death metal as a genre can be scorned for becoming stale over the years, but in reality if you know where to look, you'll discover bands that are pushing the genre further than death growls, bullet belts, and wonted song structures. Look at what Chris Bruni of Profound Lore Records has unearthed and released under PFL; Last year alone the label delivered albums from Mitochondrion, Antediluvian, Disma and Loss – without a doubt amongst the most talked about and appreciated albums within the genre that year!

You can't bring up forward thinking death metal without mentioning the likes of Portal (who are expected to unleash their latest album "Vexovoid" this February, 2013), whom will likely continue to breathe fresh air into the genre with their horrific and abstract dirge.

BUT who this year has been among the ranks in further developing death metal? A question that demands a lengthy answer I'm glad to say, and not one I'll fully cover in this post – But let's delve into a few of the bands who positively contributed to death metal this year:

Revenge - Scum.Collapse.Eradication

Oh Canada, are home and untamed land! True putrid death in all thy scum command. With feral hearts we see thee fall… Canada is no stranger to abyssal death metal, conjuring up the likes of Mitochondrion, Auroch, Antediluvian, Blood Revolt, Weapon, Begrime Exemious, Blasphemy and of course Revenge! Besides all playing a similar blend of chasmal black/death metal and living in the same country, there is one other thing that unifies them – They all come out of the west region of Canada! How can that be? Why the West? A good question, and one I'd like to further pontificate upon, but not here nor now. Fucking Revenge though, they are one of the foulest of them all, sounding akin to a pack of ravenous wolves snarling over a fresh kill. Nay, feasting on a fresh kill, raw and fetid.

  

Bestial Holocaust - Into The Goat Vulva

Call it blackened thrash, call it barbaric blackened death, call it bestial and filthy, whatever. Just don't throw around the words tame or "familiar ground", because it isn't. By now we're all pretty accustomed to hearing females in all forms of extreme music, we get it, chicks can belch out some growls too. Though Sonia really does help add a welcomed dynamic to this, her gurgles and shrieks carry on a higher note, sounding possessed and putrid. Like with Teitanblood, the Spanish lyrics give it a rather hoary quality parallel to babbling incantations .

Ignivomous - Contragenesis

Aptly named after the archaic meaning for "vomiting fire", Ignivomous spew a cavernous blend of death metal with its hands dipped deep in the old-school. New grounds aren't being paved here on Contragenesis, rather it delivers exactly what you would expect in the form of stalwart tenacity crusted in sewer scum.

 Putrevore - Macabre Kingdom

Besides the vocals sounding like they are being fleshed out by a hulking lich overlord, Macabre Kingdom down to the instrumentation and production sound stout and primordial. It is straight forward in its approach but not to the extent of lulling into familiarity, it crawls through murky waters and treads on familiar soils but it does so very well.

Part II will find its way out soon, until then, please do throw in suggestions for the next one in the comments. Bonus points to those that show me something I have yet to discover, that would be rad!