Info
- Band(s): Deathcrush [ITA]
- Label(s): Time to Kill Records
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, Cassette, CD
- Release Year: 2022
- Review Date: July 29, 2023
- Author(s): Ben Schultz
Italian Brutal Death/Black Metal band Deathcrush have returned, as of 2022 that is, with their third full-length album in the devastating ‘Under Serpents Reign’. Now, having three full-lengths doesn’t seem like much of a feat to many of the bands featured on this here fine fanzine but when you are twenty-two years into your existence as a band and you are just now hitting number three there has got to be something there. And there is, they didn’t release a single full length until 2013, so that’s three in nine years. That’s a little more normal I guess but does all that time and experience equate to something great?
Sadly, the answer is kinda a mixed bag. This ten tracked, forty-one minute blast fest suffers from one major flaw that I see. But that flaw is only a slight detractor from the whole no matter how much I call it a major flaw. And this flaw that I noticed is a case of what I call “Blasting Numbness”. A rather common and possibly debilitating disorder that causes your brain to shut off and drift away whenever a Brutal type assault is used for a long duration of time. A condition where the blasting tempo of every song becomes too similar, even if actually not, to hold your interest for the rest whole playtime of anything over thirty minutes.
While that still seems to be rearing it’s ugly head here, it is nice to see that Deathcrush have been trying to alleviate this condition a bit. Adding some reprieves with some more harmonic, atmospheric sections or whole, spiraling decay into finger shredding solos and epic, harrowing leads. Which do help the “Blasting Numbness” a bit but not enough yet to fully hold my attention through a complete listen. I.e. I had to go through this album multiple times before I could even begin to form a thought on it, the “Blasting Numbness” would just take it all away.
So, all in all, ‘Under Serpents Reign’, is a rather good, rather competent showing of some high quality Brutal Death/Black Metal that super fans of that subgenre sect would be sure to love. For the rest of us that can suffer from that horrible affliction that I named above I would say give it a shot, especially if you think Hate Eternal mixed with Belphegor would be killer, with how good it is when you can actually concentrate on it, it is totally worth taking that shot.
Deathcrush [ITA]
- Country: Italy
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal
- Links: Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Spotify
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Time to Kill Records
- Country: Italy
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube
