CRAWL (TX) — Damned (review)

CRAWL (TX) — Damned album cover Album · 2023 · Drone Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
One-man band Michael Engel has been cranking out albums, splits and EPs for over a decade now as the ominous sounding CRAWL but found a long gap between his latest DAMNED and the 2019 release “Necrotic Fear.” While traditionally a mix of sludge and drone metal, DAMNED has pretty much abandoned any notion of sludgery for a bleaker mix of funeral doom metal plodding, drone metal monotony and dark ambient atmospheric chill effects.

DAMNED features four long plodding tracks that extend past the 37-minute mark and showcase Engel’s frightful blackened dungeon doom effect in full lo-fi regalia. Nicely paced and seemingly demonically possessed, the music exudes a horrific march into the depths of the underworld with molasses slow bass / guitar grooves accompanied by Engel’s black metal rasps that simulate a grim reaper having a very bad day.

The sludge metal of previous releases has been totally replaced by a monotonous funeral doom procession with only energetic drum rolls breaking the hypnotic spell of torturous cyclical loops playing the soundtrack of hell for eternity. The mix of the elements is perfect for the overall effect and the lo-fi exuberance perfectly scratches the itch for a droning blackened funeral from the deepest depths of the unseen darkness. Occasional keyboard melodies creep out of the underbelly of the beast.

Drone metal in general can be quite boring but CRAWL adds the right amount of tension by slowly ratcheting up the tempos while the tortured blackened screams become more frenetic as the tracks progress. The mixing is excellent and the entire effort really does harken to the earliest days when first wave black metal was giving way to the second coming. The ambience stands alone as spectacular like frightful howling winds kissed by the demonic forces that summon a war of the worlds.

In this minimalist approach CRAWL has focused on the elements that really make the horror soundtrack work on all levels. While my appetite for drone metal oriented albums rarely make it to the top of my list, when i do find the right combo of elements that work in tandem so well to craft the utmost dread and fear factor, i cannot resist the temptation to venture into the world of the snail-paced where every ounce of doom and gloom is milked for your depressive pleasure. Much better than many of the SUNN O))) releases that try to hard to cram too much in which ruins the effects. Sometimes less is more and CRAWL got that memo.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Everything Hurts And I'm Dying Atmospheric Sludge Metal
NEGATIVE BLISS
Buy this album from MMA partners
L'impôt du sang Melodic Black Metal
CONIFÈRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Pleroma Progressive Metal
ORGONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
n​ê​bam​Ω​ejn Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
∫um'ad​∂​ejja cavvaj Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Origin Of Infinity - Chronosphere (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
ORIGIN OF INFINITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Kingdom of Heaven - “Pleasures of Pain”
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Bosh66· 1 day ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed