UMUR
"Infernal Earthly Divine" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death/thrash metal act Crucifyre. The album was released through Pulverised Records in October 2010. While "Infernal Earthly Divine" is a debut album were not dealing with rookie musicians here. Various members of the lineup are or have been members of acts such as Nasum, Regurgitate, Afflicted, Morbid, and General Surgery, making the cast a seasoned and underground prolific bunch.
The music on the album is old school death/thrash. Raw and filthy, brutal and thrashy. I guess a mix of old school Swedish death metal and brutal old school thrash/speed metal like Kreator, (early) Slayer, Sodom, and Celtic Frost is a pretty good description of what you can expect. What you shouldn´t expect is innovation of any kind. This is old school to the bone. So much depends on how well written the material is and how convincing the delivery is. Fortunately this is ultimately high quality hook laden and memorable death/thrash metal with a raw attitude, a great raw/semi-growling frontman and an authentic sounding raw production. The simple and quite cliché lyrics are also worth a mention. It´s not often songs with titles like "Born Again Satanist", "Hail Satan", and "Kiss the Goat" don´t come off as somewhat kitchy and while that´s to some extent also the case on this album, it still works wonders because the lyrics are delivered with the right rythmic, raw and ballsy attitude.
The band are well playing and understand the importance of a good hook. They also prioritize changing pace between songs and there are both fast-paced and heavier mid-paced tracks on the album, which is great for the variation. Featuring a perfectly chosen raw, brutal, and savage sounding production job, "Infernal Earthly Divine" is just about the perfect proof that you don´t have to compose innovative music to matter or to make an impact. Crucifyre do what they do in such a convincing and commaing fashion that I was left with a big smile and a "hell yeah" on the lips after listening to the album. And when it comes down to it, that´s really all I wish for. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.