Crypticus / Scaremaker - Crypticus / Scaremaker
Holy Hell is it good to hear Crypticus again! I thought Patrick Bruss had fallen off the face of the Earth after dropping 2005’s classic Dedicated to the Impure LP on us. This time he has a real drummer backing him (Brynjar Helgetun of recent Ribspreader/Paganizer fame) and the Crypticus trademark sound of Impaled-gone-Swedeath is still kicking names and taking ass. The vokills are brutally, blatantly, and beautifully pitch-shifted a la Carcass on steroids, adding a nice, thick layer of grime on an already filth-ridden aesthetic. Their half of the split is 11 minutes of gore-drenched perfection.
Scaremaker is the Death Metal lovechild of Billy and Vanessa Nocero of Razorback records-founding fame. I remember Billy from the tangible zine days. The Razorback camp were always some of the coolest folks to correspond with, and they put out some quality underground shit, too. God damn I miss those days. Anyway, they’ve enlisted the talents of Encoffination/Father Befouled skinsman, Elektrokutioner, and the trio’s half of the split is a bit more adventurous. Stylistically a foundation of slow to mid-tempo Old School Death that Impetigo would be proud of, with a few Crust and Sludge hooks thrown in. They also occasionally toy with varied Doom elements, like the mammoth Stoner grooves found on “Demon Slave” and “Mansion of the Macabre” (the former showing that Vanessa is every bit as good a singer as she is a growler). Still, their half is somehow lacking a certain something… I don’t know what. It could just be that nothing sounds as heavy after Crypticus. I’d like to hear what Scaremaker could make of a full-length release with cleaned up, stronger production. Come to think of it, a new long-player from Crypticus wouldn’t hurt either.
(1) Comment(s)
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Patrick Bruss said:
Thanks for the support Jack! I do have to correct you however: My vocals are not pitch-shifted. They were indeed on the debut, but since then, never.
Cheers,
-Patrick (CRYPTICUS)
http://crypticus.bandcamp.com/
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