In the Grasp of the Starving Dead

Although Finland has its own history and touch in old school death metal, it seems to be the legendary Swedish scene that has influenced these Finns when they created their first offering, an EP named Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead, a 28-minute feast on graveyards and the stench of rotten flesh. Yes, Cryptborn offers here nothing but old school Swedish death metal. If by now you think you’ve had your share of this style already, do not read further, as there’s nothing whatsoever novel on Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead.

I, myself, am also growing a little tired of the constant stream of bands hailing this early 90s period in metal’s history, but fortunately I’ve had a little break now for, say, a month or two. So at least right now Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead kicks just enough ass to keep me focused throughout the seven tracks, starting with the introductory ”A Feast for the Grave” that, luckily, isn’t a lame synth piece but an actual piece of the very meat: thick, asphyxiating, down-tuned guitars, low growls from the depths of hell, and a somewhat slow tempo. And so the rampage begins and there’s no sign of compromises to be found anywhere - a vague moment of difference is when the accented, ominous church bells hit on the third, self-tield track.

On records like this, it is not uncommon to come across deliberate compositional stagnancy as the bands want to stay within certain borders, so the main focus, at least for me, goes on the atmosphere and production. And these two things are certainly top-notch here: the sound is fittingly ugly and filthy, a lot better than on many other contenders within this style, evoking a horrific atmosphere. Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead can not be recommended to anyone else than the worshippers of the certain old style (look out for the CD version via Dark Descent Records next month), as can be deduced from the above paragraphs already. In its narrow category, the EP is a success that also I like to listen to when the mood hits for the filthiest of death metal sounds.

3 / 5
[ http://www.vehementconjuration.com/ ]

I think it is a real pleasure to watch the resurgence of the Swedish and Finnish death metal scenes, which happens since about three or more years. Especially the Finnish scene has been really stagnated for over decade, when it became dominated by either utterly primitive black metal hordes or the pitiful, over melodic and ridiculously poppy doom / whatever gothic shit. Looking at the present time I can mention at least few young bands, which truly raised the flag of death in Suomi, delivering killer releases. Let’s see: we’ve got Hooded Menace, Claws (and probably few more bands, which has Lasse Pyykkö in the ranks), Swallowed, Decaying, Krypts, Lie In Ruins, Stench of Decay, Ascended, Corpsessed… You must admit that this is quite impressive list of bands, right? And of course we must also add Cryptborn to it, as this Helsinki based squadron impressed me totally with their music. “In the Grasp of the Starving Dead” was meant to be a demo, I think – or maybe I’m wrong? I don’t know, but there was a tape version available also, only the limitation of it was ridiculously low – but Dark Descend Records has luckily released it on CD, so there will be more maniacs, like myself, who missed the cassette and who can enjoy “In the Grasp of the Starving Dead” and get devoured by its rotten, cadaverous atmosphere.

The material contains about 30 minutes of old styled death metal, which is more influenced by the Swedish sound rather than the Finnish cults, what may disappoint those of you, who would prefer to get something in the vein of Disgrace or Demilich. But that’s what Cryptborn has opted for and even the production, guitar tone especially, resembles the classic Sunlight sound so much… I don’t mind that personally, especially that the riffing and the overall composition of “In the Grasp of the Starving Dead” is truly great and brings a lot of devastation and ruin. The playing on this EP is mostly quite slow or mid paced, often it is almost doomy, what brings Grave to my mind immediately and I must say that really Cryptborn must be very influenced by this legendary band, even their last LPs, like “Burial Ground”. “Gift of Rotten Flesh” is I think the most Grave-esque track on the whole EP, it could have easily been a cover track from “You’ll Never See…” LP or something like that, but that’s not a disgrace, rather a compliment! And when you listen to “A Nebulous Parting” then you’ll know what I mean, when speaking of the doom / death style of Cryptborn’s music. This track starts again quite like Grave, but then in the second part of it the pace is slowed down totally and I must admit that I really love that doomy riff, which Cryptborn plays there (“Sorrow… Grief… Release…!!!!!!!!!!!”). It is so heavy that the walls crack.

And since such tracks as “Rotten Gates of Heaven” also have many doomy parts, then I must say that this is something what may distinguish Cryptborn from many other newly formed old school Swedish sounding death metal bands. The doom influence is just much bigger here than you would expect, there aren’t any blasts at all and it effects in really heavy and massive blend of this style with Swedish death metal, what I enjoy a lot. Can there be anything better than a conglomeration of styles of Grave, Asphyx, Incantation, “Clandestine” era Entombed (they sound close to this LP in “Atonement from Hell”) and maybe even Bolt Thrower? And we mustn’t forget about Phlegethon, Convulse, Abhorrence and Demigod?! Killer stuff, I’m telling you. There’s no song on this EP, which I would consider as filler, each of its seven gems is a monstrous, haunting anthem. The atmosphere of this music is eerie, dark, gruesome and sinister and I cannot even mention how many times I have listened to this CD in the past weeks. It’s damn great material, so you must get it if you haven’t done it yet.
Standout tracks: “A Nebulous Parting”, “In the Grasp of the Starving Dead”, “Atonement From Hell”

Old school death metal continues its dominance well into the 2nd decade of the 21st century, as scores of younger bands emerge to venerate both the Swedish and US scenes that dawned in the 90s. Cryptborn is yet another Finnish entrant into the field, and while you'd think they might aesthetically mirror the traits of local heroes like Demilich, Demigod and Convulse, they actually bear a lot in common with the primordial power behind Entombed's legendary debut Left Hand Path. Only one should take the overbearing breadth of that familiar guitar tone and imagine it cranked to overdrive, thick as body parts in a zombie-infested shopping mall during peak hours of business.

A lot of slow, potent grooves dominate the song-scape, with pretty standard d-beat drumming used to drive the burden of the guitars. Vocalist 'Christbutcher' has an expansive, ominous tone to him which brings to mind the peak years of Martin van Drunen, only more butchered and abrasively guttural. That said, it did take me a few tracks before finding something I liked here, as the intro "A Feast for the Grave" and the ensuing "Gift of Rotten Flesh" have an unfortunate dearth of memorable riffing. Once the juicy, pummeling grooves of the title track emerge, you are transported back to the crunching, effective simplicity of Clandestine, and the burgeoning rhythms of "A Nebulous Parting" and "Never Perfect When You Die" also deliver a neck banging bombardment of soil-shifting riffs that feel adequately carnal and comprehensible. The leads used on the album are basic and not compelling, but they do rekindle their intended nostalgia.

And that's really the name of the game here. Cryptborn bring nothing new to the formula, but their obvious reverence for the style they emulate is delivered with genuine abuse. That doesn't make In the Grasp of the Starving Dead an item one should go out of his way to acquire, but those devoted to the influences are unlikely to find themselves underwhelmed or disappointed by what transpires here. The EP is short (under a half-hour), brutal, tonally appropriate, and as dark as the cemetery scenery which inspired it. I dug about half the tracks, and the other half seemed competent but forgettable, gruesome graveyard shovel-ware. However, the release is expertly produced for the style, throwing the guitars right up front, and those who missed its original cassette incarnation will be able to grab the CD through Dark Descent this fall.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com