WARCRAB "Damned In Eternal Night"

WARCRAB

"Damned In Eternal Night"

This cranky armored crustacean is not the kind to dip in drawn butter and consume...they're more likely to pull your legs off than the other way around.

The English sand crawlers are the latest in a long tradition of Brit band playing doomy, murky death metal.Their noble ancestors include bands like BENEDICTION, SACRILEGE, CEREBRAL FIX and of course, the mighty BOLT THROWER. I wouldn't say WARCRAB is yet on the same level as those bands, but they are well on the way and they are definitely keeping the flag of British sludge death flying high.

The album starts oddly with the instrumental "Perpetua", which as a very quiet beginning that morphs into something heavy but melodic. Then "Halo of Flies" announces WARCRAB's true intentions...thick and murky slower paced death metal with very chunky riffs that stick in the mind. The song steadily builds and changes up just when it needs to. And from there, things continue in much the same fashion, often reminding me of BENEDICTION but occasionally with traces of ugly sludge like IRON MONKEY.

To be honest, some tracks like "Blood for the Bloodgod" and "Magnetic Fields Collapse" are a bit on the flat side and show WARCRAB still have some work to do, but the album ends strongly with "Unfurling Wings of Damnation" which starts with an almost Gothic tone before picking up speed and aggression and "Swords", which definitely has a BOLT THROWER feel to it. Throughout the length, the general guitar tone and production remain admirably swampy and organic sounding.

Give these crabs a little extra time to stew and they will become a tasty enough dish!

TRANSCENDING OBSCURITY

WARCRAB