Crowpath "Old Cuts and Blunt Knives" CD
[Robotic Empire]
These Swedish nutjobs fucking rule. I was blown away by their 5" and that's all here, along with other previously released vinyl-only goodies, a compilation track, and two new songs from their forthcoming "Red on Chrome" full-length. Expect scathing vocals, breakneck changes, tons of jarring discordant riffs, a mix of frantic speed, moderately paced rhythms, and the scarce slower passage, etc. It's pretty technical and insane stuff, but played with total precision and a definite sense of pure fury. The two new songs are not unlike the older tracks, but of course the recording is heavier and clearer, and the writing is even more focused. So they shed just an ounce of the craziness in favor of more powerful structures. The four tracks from the band's first 7" make up the noisiest and most chaotic material herein. Still tightly performed mind you, but stylistically they're the closest to what has since become a fairly derivative style of very metallic metalcore - granted Crowpath still pulls it off without a hitch. The last two tracks are from an old split 7", but the master tapes were lost, thus the songs were mastered from the 7". The songs are actually really good, a bit slower and chunkier, but the recording is fucking horrendous. The vocals are way up front, the drums sound like smacking/clapping noises or something... it's just a shame. The two songs from the 5" are still my favorite tracks here. The drumming is just fucking sweet, I love the bass playing because it's really all over the place and peaks through with a define tone... something about the songs just hits harder. The layout is fairly minimal, using shades of brown and subtle textures with clean text and lots of layering of the band's excellent logo/icon of the knife with brass knuckles on the grip. The lyrics are inside with some succinct information about where the tracks were originally released. The lyrics are bleak and cut to the chase, which I enjoy: "Million faces, waiting past their souls, Humanity failed, A long row of crusaders marching down the path of the dead, I'm one of those empty souls and I will forever burn in regret in this violent chaotic existence..." This is a cool collection, but I find it hard to refrain from asking the question of whether or not it needs to exist? I'm not sure there's much of a place here for the two tracks from the new record, which will be out in a few more months, and the two tracks from the split 7" are just not that enjoyable due to the sound quality. So an already short CD then becomes shorter as far as bang for your buck. Maybe an EP without the new tracks would've made more sense? I'm not sure. Good, but not great. I'll keep an eye out for the new record, though. (6/10)
Running time - 27:54, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Like Flies to Flames, Kings Among Cockroaches, Knives and Sharpened Scissors, The Silhouette of a Bastard]
Robotic Empire - http://www.roboticempire.com

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