Crypt Rot
Embryonic Devils
(Southern Lord)
Crypt Rot play an aggressive style of old-school death metal, if that weren’t patently obvious from their logo and the skulls strewn about the cover art. While there are way too many groups just doing a copy and paste job of early 90s Swedish death metal, this Ohio-based band wisely injects some of their own flair into this short but very sweet debut album. Much like some of the best of the retro Swede death style (Gatecreeper, Sentient Horror), Crypt Rot understand why riffs sound so barbarically bonkers with the HM-2 pedal, but what makes them great is more about how they use that classic buzz saw tone than a reliance on tone alone.
Fusing that classic Swede death style (Dismember and Carnage, notably) with doses of black metal, sludge, hardcore, and doom makes these five actual songs a real delight. Regrettably, this “full-length” is only five actual songs with five numbered segues, but while my distaste for filler interludes is strong, they serve an important function on Embryonic Devils. That purpose: these horror samples and bits of horrifying noise remind the listener that Crypt Rot aren’t your friendly neighborhood metal band. The music carries a serious sinister edge, especially in the hauntingly atmospheric “Pit of Morbidity”, and these segues generally augment the horror movie feel of the record, almost as if the band were slowly dragging the listener deep into a pit that opens to the gates of Hell.
Thankfully, the journey into madness is mightily enjoyable with Crypt Rot serving up a welcome dose of gore-soaked retro death metal. The group’s multi-faceted sound shines through on this excellent, if too short, debut.
