Review by Carl on September 28, 2023.

I have mentioned it before, I'm a huge sucker for great cover art. And if that cover art is also a medieval or early renaissance painting, my wallet seems to almost fly out of my pants and empty itself in the hands of whoever has it for sale. So it was no surprise that I had to have the latest Crucifier release, an EP adorned by stunning artwork and an awesome layout, with great music to boot.

You can put Crucifier in with dark US death metal bands such as Acheron, Sadistic Intent, Bathym and Sathanas, but keep in mind that this band has a face of its own. A big part of this is formed by the vocals of Cazz Grant, who provides a low cavernous growl that gives the obscure sounding music and dark riffing an extra demonic edge. With songs that vary between fast paced aggression, driving stomp and crawling slower dirges, the band pulls up an old school monolith of well crafted death metal. The execution of this demonic music is well above average, with the intricate riffs and drum patterns creating an obscure wall of sound, and despite a few little slip ups here and there, it is clear that this is a band consisting out of musicians with experience in the field. Closing off this EP is a cover of Carnivore's 'Race War', and Crucifier is certainly not the first one to put this one to tape, with Wolfen Society and Germany's Warpath preceding them, but they deliver a solid version enough. Besides, there can never be enough Carnivore in your life, right?

The production sounds very authentic, which is a good thing, of course. You can't have a death metal band like this sound polished, slick and totally overproduced, and that natural drum sound is a thing to treasure. This production makes the music sound spontaneous and authentic, harnessing the dark and gritty sound of Crucifier to the fullest. Although the instruments do tend to overpower each other in places, with the vocals being really up front while the guitars could've been given more room in the overall mix, this is not a big flaw in my book. Again, you don't want to have a band like this sounding spotless and perfect, there's gotta be some dirt under those fingernails, I say.

This is a terrific EP of filth ridden death metal, with a dark atmosphere emanating from it, while being delivered in a gorgeous package. If you consider yourself a serious afficionado of old school underground extremity, get your mitts on this.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10