Crush the Cenotaph

Conceptually, the Crush the Cenotaph EP was an opportunity to draw on a few of the older Asphyx tracks (from the 1989 demo of the same title), re-recording both the music and vocals with Martin van Drunen; to also give the fans a sampling of what was to come on their sophomore Last One on Earth, and lastly, slap on a few live offerings. So at the time, one might consider it a sort of 'past, present and future' celebration during a time when this was quite a standard setup for the EP format, across multiple musical genres. Of course, this often led to a feeling of disjointedness when listening through, since the audio quality was very unlikely to be consistent, thus I'm not the biggest fan of these short players unless all the content is on the same 'page': new studio material, all-live, all re-recordings, etc. But I probably threw down only about 4-5 USD on this in a bargain bin somewhere, mainly to experience more van Drunen vocals and because I though Axel Hermann's artwork was quite sick. Otherwise, my expectations for this were pretty humble...but not met regardless.

Production-wise (courtesy of Waldemar Sorychta), I actually enjoyed the re-recorded versions of "Crush the Cenotaph" and "Rite of Shades" more than anything off The Rack, largely because the guitars seemed a little more rich and robust in tone, if sacrificing some of the futile fuzz and tension off the full-length for clarity. Thanks to this decision, Martin's ghoulish vocals seemed to splatter all over the rhythm tracks like viscera to a polished and sharpened knife, and I also felt like Bob Bagchus' drums stood out more evenly than the album. Bass is roughly equivalent, perhaps a bit louder, and the leads really tear up the scene where they appear; the guitar riffs in general just seem more muscular and potent than so many I had been disappointed with on The Rack, even if these are not incredibly memorable death metal tunes for the time, but rather on the primal level of what bands like Cianide and Cancer were coming up with during the same period. "The Krusher" was mildly catchier, if not impressive, with a nice death/doom lurch to it that got along well with the grotesque vocal lines, and so it did generate some positive portents for Last One on Earth, an album I ended up enjoying more than the first. I must say, though, that nothing here is necessarily spectacular and the EP doesn't have much value beyond that of a collector's piece or for anyone who REALLY WANTS to hear the demo cuts 're-imagined'.

As for the live tunes, both ("Evocation" and "Wasteland of Terror") are off The Rack and seem quite vibrant from a Stockholm gig. I have long believed that the simplicity of Asphyx' material would lend itself better to the live setting, and this confirms it, because neither track sounds as laconic or impotent as the previous studio recording. The drums have a lot more pep, the guitars fuzzed the fuck out and van Drunen sounds absolutely fantastic here, on both the bass and microphone. That lead in "Evocation" sounds somewhat transcendent here, but even if the majority of riffing selections are still pretty barebones for early 90s death metal, I feel like they would have been fairly fun to watch. As a result, Crush the Cenotaph seems like pretty solid fan bait, just not something to go out of your way to acquire unless you can conveniently get the 2006 Century Media reissue of Last One on Earth which includes both this EP content and some other early material. Musically it's not so grisly as the cover artwork would imply, but then anyone who hear The Rack probably wouldn't be expecting anything more than stock death metal with a few morbid, doomy hooks. Asphyx was not yet living up to the hype that succeeded them 15-20 years later, but in my opinion they still haven't, so this isn't something that I often, or really ever have the urge to listen through.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

After few demo tapes and an album, which at the time (1992) wasn't released and even finished, Asphyx came to the point in their career, when they either split up (especially as Theo Loomans, vocalist / bassist, has left the band) or survive the hard times with a raised head. And so they added a dude named Martin Van Drunen for vocals / bass duties, a person known well from his works with another Dutch legend Pestilence and carried on with new release, which they decided to be a five-track 12" EP (titled the same as their demo from 1989), for new label, Century Media.

I must honestly say don't like the production of "Crush the Cenotaph" as much as I like the one on "Embrace the Death" LP. It's more polished and not as obscure, which is probably a shame, but still this is probably one of my favorite recordings from Woodhouse Studio, as I don't like the production of many albums that have been recorded there. Also luckily Asphyx hasn't changed their attitude towards writing simple, pure death metal songs, with the special care on the dark atmosphere and with splendid mixture of mid paced and heavy slow riffing. And so all three songs on side A of the vinyl are standard Asphyx songs. "Crush the Cenotaph" is the fatest one, I guess, and I love this track. It doesn't take much time before I find myself banging my skull in the rhythm of the furious section and morbid riffs. Its version on "Embrace the Death" was great and so is this one. "Rites of Shades" is bit slower, but probably also slightly catchier, as the main riffs are really possessing. And then "The Krusher", which will shred you to pieces easily. Adding Martin to the band definitely gave Asphyx an extra amount of ferocity, he surely did amazing job here, screaming and vomiting his lines like a maniac with an enormous energy.

Side B has two songs only and what's more, they've been recorded live, in Stockholm, November the 30th of 1991. Both "Evocation" and "Wasteland of Terror" sound rather rough, but good enough to be on this release. I guess you all know them from "The Rack" album, but I must say they're two great tracks, especially "Wasteland of Terror" must have slaughtered the fans gathered in Stockholm. It sounds like there was one pure death metal insanity, well documented on this live recording.

When I listen to this EP, I always have early Morgoth recordings in my mind. I always loved both bands equally and can say that for many years I've been missing new bands, which would play something in similar vein to these two legendary acts. Luckily we've been blessed by those from below with new old school death metal acts, many of which, take the influence from early Asphyx (and Morgoth)... But it's always amazing to come back to those old, classic recordings. They simply don't get old that easily and even if I might have got bit older since the first time I've listened to them (and in "Crush the Cenotaph" that would be about 15 years now), the feeling of morbid joy and chills going through my body are still there. This is what I call classic band.

Holland's Asphyx have got to rate in my book as one of Europe's heaviest ever death metal bands. They knew the value of a simple but effective riff, and when singer Martin Van Drunen (who'd done a great job on the first two PESTILENCE albums as well) was among them, his vocals could shred the bark off of trees! They also notably avoided the trap of so many European death metal bands, and enjoyed a bass-drenched, powerful sound on their recordings, unlike the mid-range sound so many bands went for (courtesy Tomas Skogsberg). Some of Skogsberg's work is okay, but too many bands bear his mark and their individuality is compromised in my opinion.This EP followed up their savage debut THE RACK, which is no slouch either. But this EP which included some older and even more primitive demo tape material was really just what the coroner ordered!


The title cut brings back memories of eldest death metal influences like HELLHAMMER, but mixed with a powerful production job, and Martin's shrieking vocals. Similar to early vocal work from Chuck Schuldiner of DEATH, he posseses one of the genre's most fearsome throats, wrenching out painful cries of death from deep within. "Rite Of Shades" is cool, but the real winner among th studio material here is "The Krusher," which is very aptly named given the nature of it's monstrous guitar riffs. For those expecting typical death metal grind-style tempos, please note: Asphyx's true power lies in delivering slow to mid-tempo paced songs that ooze power. Sure they could thrash out too, but it was not their speciality.


Two live cuts from the debut album close affairs out, and they're both great. "Evocation" has some of the sickest riffing ever, while "Wasteland Of Terror" just tears the enthusiastic audience to shreds. I really miss this band, and wish they'd reform with Martin on vocals. Their material without him is good, but lacks the flesh-tearing edge his noxious voice provides.

This ep is what you would call fucking brutal. Asphyx is a band that brilliantly combines the sorrowfulness of doom and at times breaking into fantastic old school death metal riffs. To say that Martin Van Drunen’s voice is average is a complete insult to death metal. Martin is one of the greatest vocalists that this genre has produced. His brutal screams and just over all evil tone can be heard in respected bands like the mighty Pestilence, Comecon, and Bolt Thrower just to mention a few. Therefore, I do not really understand how someone that is into this kind of music can say that Martins voice is not one of the greatest in all of death metal.

The ep starts with “Crush the Cenotaph”; it starts with a roar of a guitar riff, and into this plain old school style, trust me, the opening sequence to this song will make you want to head bang as hard as you can. Then the insane vocals, how does he go down so low! It sounds like a demon himself is singing. This is definitely the best track of the ep. Next comes “Rite of Shades”, a great doom metal piece, slower much gloomier, the band really kicks ass on this one. Then comes a fan favorite, “The Krusher”. This has to be one of the best death metal songs ever, it starts out slow, and then turns into a fast paced monster that just crushes you.

The last two songs are live tracks. First comes “Evocation”, Martin dedicates it to the Stockholm metal heads and his voice sounds identical as in the cd’s. This guy is the real deal, what a brutal growl, I can’t even imagine what it must be like to hear that live in your face. The last track is “Wasteland of Terror”, Chills go down my spine as I hear Martin say “we always knew this is the death metal capital of the world!!, you are the most insane mother fuckers we’ve had at any show!!!” That turns into a truly devastating rendition of this song that can only be summarized with the word BRUTAL.

Plain and simple, if you are into older death metal bands like Pungent Stench, Morgoth, Pestilence, or Unleashed just to name a few, you will love this album and this band, if you are into the newer more melodic stuff, with the perfect production, neat, organized and pretty, then go look somewhere else, this is for fans of old school death metal.

This EP is rather strange. Most of the time bands will pop out EP's so people can enjoy music that will be on the upcoming album. This however is not the case. Crush the Cenotaph only has one song, The Krusher, that ends up on the next full-length album Last One On Earth.

This EP opens up with Crush the Cenotaph, probably the fastest song on this album. Nothing really important about this song. It has decent riffs and mediocre death metal drumming. The singer Martin Van Drunen is not the best death metal singer. Personally I think his singing style is a required taste. He likes to do these screams that are ear piercing, and at times annoying. Rite of Shades and The Krusher are very similar in song structure. Both songs are very slow, melodic death metal. The Krusher does speed up towards the middle of the song, offering a pretty sweet chorus riff.

There are two bonus features on the album, which are two live songs that come from the album The Rack. Most of the time these added live tracks are really shitty; these ones are pretty good though. The production is decent, but of course not the best. The two songs capitalize on Asphyx's style of death metal, which is at times melodic, but then changing to a fast, bang your head beat. The fact that these two songs come from one of the best Asphyx album also helps.

This EP is pretty decent, but nothing worth dying over. It offers some decent songs that can only be heard on this album. Add the two decent live songs and you have a decent EP. Plus EP's aren't that big any ways, so for an EP it's well displayed.