Having reviewed their debut release Anatomy of a Loss and the much-improved 2018 follow up Wolves and the Hideous White and been impressed by their 2021 Bloodstock Open Air appearance, this was an album that has been long anticipated. Five years since that sophomore release is a long-time, but when you write crushingly heavy death/doom metal, these things take the time they take.
No line-up changes for The Crawling, so it’s Stuart Rainey on bass and vocals, drummer Gary Beattie and guitarist/vocalist Andy Clarke as the unit who return. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are depressing. Damn depressing. This is emotive, atmospheric metal that is crafted to get under your skin, into your head, and fracture bones. And it does that immediately with the opening song, “March of the Worm”, which blends early Paradise Lost with the blackened latter day Satyricon. Mountainous riffs, Rainey’s gargled roar, and the precision military drumming of Beattie combine to provide a gargantuan intro to the album.
Seven tracks in total, All of This for Nothing rarely switches tempo. There is a melodic taint to “Another Vulture”, although the riff-heavy delivery switches pace several times, from slumbering beast to more aggressive driving power before changing direction completely halfway through.
“Thy Nazarene” is a real slow burn, a brooding monster that slowly surfaces with some brutal blast beats before switching to a monastic type of chanting which brings things home in a faster manner. The Crawling have drawn on several of their influences throughout, with a bit of Rotting Christ apparent on this track. That’s probably apt, given the Greeks’ usual approach.
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It may not be the most varied album you’ll hear in 2023. The Crawling have a formula that works, and they stick relatively close to it throughout. Rainey’s vocals aren’t going to swoop and soar. They’ll remain on the level that he has delivered, within his limits and capacity. A sensible move, especially given the sombre darkness the band paint.
The songs vary in length. The central pillar of “Bound to the Negative” is the longest, at over eight minutes long. A melodic introduction gives way to more crushing riffage, the slow grind unstoppable as it follows its own march. Perhaps a little too close to Paradise Lost and Strigoi at times, but a very minor criticism overall as the song progresses to the inevitable conclusion.
If there is anything that detracts from this album, it’s the slightly repetitive nature of the songs. Final track “Sparrow” varies little from the six songs before it, and whilst The Crawling have established their own sound and style, occasionally a little variation would just break things up. That may be wishful thinking, for this is a band whose focus isn’t on pleasing others, but on delivering their own brand of doom with that death metal edge. Just don’t expect to be laughing when the album finishes.
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All of This for Nothing is out on August 4th
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