Claustrum – Claustrum

This brand new, for 2023, three piece Italian Death Metal band, Claustrum, just so happens to agree with a lot of us here and like their Death Metal to be of the Old School variety. As to who the three people actually are in this band, I have absolutely no idea. Well, except for the fact that they are all members of other, established acts, (such as Affliction Vector, Fierce and Grime), but there is no real info online as to whom from those bands is in this band. I am sure with a little deeper research someone could figure it out but I am really only here to worry about one thing. How good is this debut full-length in the end?

But before we get into the totality of how Claustrum’s debut is, let us first take a little side quest here and find out what Claustrum sound like. You know, like comparisons. And what they do sound like is Old School Death Metal that just so happens to be like a picture perfect marriage between Incantation and Asphyx, well, a perfect marriage that has frequent threesomes with Autopsy. And if that  comparison description doesn’t sound outstandingly good to you, then I do not know what will.

What you end up with an inspirational love triangle like that is an albums worth of Old School Death Metal that has that just oh so perfect amount of aggression, precision, technicality and catchiness to it. Like seriously, the exact right amount of every aspect while never crossing over the line of any one of them. You have that right amount of brutal, banging aggression while not leading down the path into the Brutal/Slam subgenre land. There is an extreme level of precision and care taken here, where every bit and bob is exactly where they belong without sounding too perfect, or over thought. We also get some rather impressive technically that stops itself right before heading in to the land of nerdish level of wanna be Tech. And lastly there is a, muah, chef’s kisses level of catchiness here that is neither campy nor outright derivative.

So, where we stand as of now? We got a new Old School Death Metal band who has an outstanding inspirational base that is mixed together in a manner where everything is done just right. Bur how does the production sound, you ask? Well the overall feel of ‘Claustrum’ is crisp and clear while still not making it sound sterile and streamlined. That crunch, grit and grime we all crave from this style is still all there, all the while the mix is still clear enough for each and every thing that Claustrum recorded to be heard. Every note, chord, vocal line etc. Almost as if each and every second of this album was thought of, looked at, poured over and executed to perfection.

This album was created, born, during the lockdowns of the pandemic. So all this precision and care they have taken to get just everything oh so right makes perfect sense, because as we all know, they had they time. But one of the absolutely great things about Claustrum here is that they have achieved all of that talked about above while still having the songwriting chops to have it all coming off as sounding fresh and spontaneous, an extremely tight and great sounding spontaneity.

On a side note before I get to the conclusion you’re waiting for. I want to say that I absolutely love the album cover artwork which was done by Davide “Dartworks” Mancini. It is absolutely fabulous and I just love his description of it. Which I will not copy and paste here because you can read it for yourself on Bandcamp while you are there buying this album.

Now, to answer the question at the end of the first paragraph. How good is this debut full-length in the end? Well, to put it franky, it fucking rules. This is an amazing debut album. Honestly, if you like Old School…….hell, if you like Death Metal in general you will love this album. Guaranteed. No money back guarantee but guaranteed.