Artist: Evil Dungeon Crawler
Title: The Unending Vomiting Of Northern Blasphemies
Type: EP
Label: Digital / Wulfhere Productions
For those of us unable to frequently attend gigs, and eschew Spotify, this debut EP with a full lineup of Evil Dungeon Crawler was genuinely one I was eagerly looking forward to. After all the praise of their live performances it was just a ‘must listen to’ release. And I guess that its presence here shows that I believe it is well worth your attention too.
So what’s it like, Giz?
The eponymous opening track just grinds out a gorgeous raw edged, slow riff that w=you can absolutely feel wind up and, on the call of the vocals lurches into a headlong charge. The sound is live as live can be in feel. The drums are raw but excellent, the riff primitive but tight and the vocals? Oh the vocals are simply exactly what you’d hope for from a band called Evil Dungeon Crawler; cackling, gargling, growling and completely unhinged. But this together and it’s just an absolutely awesome bomb of black metal. It really grips you in withered but iron strong claws and drags you right into the sewer at the bottom of some dungeon.
‘The Final Stronghold Has Fallen’ straps a lot more bottom end to the sound, pounding and driving the bass through. Once more the vocals, from snap to howl to nattering lunacy are just fantastic and that drilling riff is excellent.
When people like me say old school I guess it feels over used but, honestly, this is absolutely burning black with that old school spirit; primitive, ghastly, dark and reeking of some forbidden thing. The sound feels so full of that live energy, like a demonic spirit trapped in some subterranean place.
And the songs?
‘Skin Ravaged And Calloused’ has a scream that puts all that torture into one bellow, a riff and guitar run halfway between Sargeist and heavy metal and a superb, dense and thumping rhythm. That voice nattering and screaming; a mad soul chained to the wall forever. Fantastic songwriting, incredible delivery. No isea if I should be grinning at this point but I am.
A scampering bass intro, bounds into ‘Vile Separation From God’ is that almost speed punk style; heads down don’t give a fuck if the chaos skips the rails here and there as it careers down into the darkness. A single bit of torchlight in a guitar run as the thick black bass consumes everything else.
There’s a bonus track of ‘My Lead Coffin’ (demo) but frankly if I hadn’t read the title I wouldn’t have noticed the ‘demo’ part. It’s still that urgent, nasty and insane charge of raw black metal thrashing and lashing around. Lead break, drilling riff, lunatic snarls. It’s superb.
‘The Unending Vomiting Of Northern Blasphemies’ isn’t a breath of fresh new modern air. It’s a fetid, sticky belch from where you know you always wanted to return to – down there, in the reeking dungeon with the mad and the possessed, hurtling through darkness pursued by hymns you shouldn’t be able to hum. But you can.
If your brain and soul are damaged enough.
Damn me if everyone who told me how good this lot are wasn’t right. Feral, gleefully nasty, utterly mad black metal. As it should be. Sell your soul for it people. It’s worth more than that tatty thing.
Gizmo
Evil Dungeon Crawler | Evil Dungeon Crawler
The Unending Vomiting of Northern Blasphemies | Evil Dungeon Crawler | Wulfhere Productions
Walking The Liminal Space 