Crypt Rot walk a fine line between sincere homage and pure parody. That they come from the more hardcore-based scene of Cleveland (three of their members have served or still are serving in Homewrecker) makes them suspicious enough for a band citing the classic early Swedish death metal of Nihilist and Carnage alongside Celtic Frost and Dissection as main influences. The sixth-grade corpsepaint and ugly artwork don’t inspire confidence either. But focus on the music and Crypt Rot’s debut EP actually turns out to be an enjoyable excuse to start grabbing invisible oranges with a grim face. Imagine Metalucifer transported to a different metal sphere or Powerwolf urging you to let your inner metal warrior flow with no boundaries. While the fairly useless but thankfully brief interludes and instrumentals that precede each of the five tracks only serve to break the overall flow, the five actual songs here have enough buzzsaw guitars and hooks to make you want more.
Crypt Rot - Embryonic Devils album review
Black/death metal deviancy from an unlikely source
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