UMUR
"Chiaroscuro" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Creepmime. The album was released through Mascot Records in 1995. Creepmime was formed in 1991 and released the "Anthems For A Doomed Youth..." demo in 1992. They were a relatively shortlived act as they disbanded soon after the release of "Chiaroscuro" (1995)". A reunion was attempted in 1997, but the band split-up again in 1998.
While "Chiaroscuro" features some of the same elements as their debut album "Shadows (1993)" does, Creepmime have changed their style quite a bit since the debut. The death metal elements have been toned down considerably, and the progressive elements, that were also featured on the debut album albeit in smaller doses, are now in the high seat. The vocals are still pretty aggressive and semi-growling, but it´s one of the few features on the album, which points towards death metal. The riffing alternates between technical death/thrashy riffing and Voivod type dissonant chord progressions (Pestilence and Gorguts also come to mind), with some really well played guitar solos on top. Keyboards are also used sparsely, but to great effect when they appear.
The 10 tracks on the 49:13 minutes long album aren´t overtly complex in structure, but there are still unconventional progressive ideas enough to call this a progressive extreme metal release. So "Chiaroscuro" is an intriguing and powerful sounding album, but it´s also a very well produced one, and the relatively weak sound production of the debut album, has been replaced here by a professional, clear and detailed sound production, which suits the music perfectly. "Chiaroscuro" is upon conclusion and high quality release by Creepmime and in my book a bit of an unsung gem of progressive extreme metal, that especially fans of post-reunion Pestilence should be able to enjoy. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.