Cruciamentum - Charnel Passages

CRUCIAMENTUM - Charnel Passages (PROFOUND LORE / ME SACO UN OJO - LP 2015)

Everything what’s been going on in the UK death metal scene of past few years is great, I think. With the likes of Abyssal, Grave Miasma, Hellsworn, Sheol, Scythian, Lvcifyre, it's became super exciting scene to watch. I cannot forget about Cruciamentum, who're probably my favourite band from the lot. I was absolutely fascinated with their first two releases, which I bought around 2011 - "Convocation of Crawling Chaos" and "Engulfed in Desolation". Oh, they're absolutely fantastic. So I was also impatiently waiting to hear Cruciamentum's debut full length LP, which finally has been released in 2015 under the title "Charnel Passages". Believe me, this album did fulfil all my expectations. It's absolutely beast of death metal and one of the most crushing and killer death metal releases of the recent years. Almost perfect record for me personally.

"Charnel Passages" is kind of an album, which catches attention from the very first second and it immediately becomes a favourite. I love this sort of brutal death metal with old school, vicious feel. You could say that Cruciamentum is a band, which takes a lot of influences from the classic stuff like Morbid Angel, Vital Remains, Immolation, Incantation, there are even some riffs, which remind me Vader. But the way it's all been putted together and arranged makes this album sound quite original and definitely more spectacular than majority of death metal releases of recent years. Every song sounds killer, I love the riffage, sometimes combined with little details like keyboards or bells to achieve even more obscure and darker feel. It's all vicious and brutal, but memorable as well, this is why songs like "The Conquered Sun (The Dying Light Beyond Morpheus Realms)" immediately standout and become a favourite. Tempo wise it's also very well balanced record, so you will find here fast, blasting tracks like "Necrophagous Communion", but also many, many mid or slow paced pieces like "Rites to the Abduction of Essence". So, it's very, very interesting and intriguing album to listen to.

Brutality is one side of Cruciamentum music, but one cannot not to notice that in order to achieve this dark, vicious aura, band brought a lot of atmospheric passages. They used keyboards in the background for few riffs and did so very skilfully. They're (keyboards) not dominant and are rather hidden behind the crushing wall of heavy riffage, but I love how it fits this sort of sinister death metal. Cruciamentym sometimes comes with even slightly more melodic (almost Swedish like) patterns played by guitars, like in "Dissolution of Mortal Perception" and the result is simply stunning. And the music is almost like epic death metal here and there, don't be surprised then to hear almost eight minutes long anthems. Believe me, the music never gets boring or monotonous, all songs are arranged and structured in very interesting and great way, so for me "Charnel Passages" is mind-blowing album from start to finish.

Standout tracks: "Dissolution of Mortal Perception", "The Conquered Sun (The Dying Light Beyond Morpheus Realms)", "Rites to the Abduction of Essence"

Verdict: 90/100