CRAWL
CRAWL "Altar of Disgust"
By Dr. Abner Mality
Longtime Worm-fiends will know that the Good Doctor is a huge fan of classic Swedish death metal. I do give extra attention to any band with that distinctive "chainsaw holocaust" production. But it takes more than just the usual HM-2 sound to put me over the moon. It takes actual songwriting and a commitment to establishing your own identity.
CRAWL lacks these attributes. Sure, they got that chainsaw grind sound down pat. But everything on "Altar of Disgust" sounds like the Dollar General version of DISMEMBER. The riffing here is perfunctory and unexceptional; they take the easiest parts of DISMEMBER and GRAVE and get rid of the interesting semi-melodic touches that make those bands top notch. The songs here are all short and come across like "Indecent and Obscene". There's not much variety and nothing sticks long term.
I don't hate CRAWL or "Altar of Disgust"...I can get mild enjoyment out of it...but this is clearly a lower tier of Swe-death. Even the album title and the song titles are tired. CRAWL, you should try and find yourself, and not come across as DISMEMBER's little brother.