What we have here as an impressive self released debut of Lovecraft themed melodic black/death metal from  Denver’s Crafteon. Eschwing the usual Lovecraftian throes (churning miasmal chaos or deep complex, atmospheric black metal), Crafteon go for a cleaner, sharper sound more akin to Dissection, Dimmu Borgir or Ancient’s better output.

The guitars have a crisp clean presence, the bass throbs with aplomb, and the raspy, croaky vocals of founder and guitarist  Lord Mordiggian are standard for the genre and the whole affair is competently and confidently rendered. That said, the song writing could use a little more staying power as there’s no single song or riff that really gets my old blood pumping.

Still, there is some enjoyable stuff here. The lyrics are directly lifted from Lovecraft’s works, and there is a good mix of more urgent slicing riffage like opener “The Outsider” or  and slower, moody paced tracks like “”What the Moon Brings” or “Dagon”. The atmospherics are not heavy handed and left for a few acoustic/atmospheric laced bits here and there (“The Color Out of Space”), rather than the over used moist, gurgling or writhing FX often tied to Cthulhu based music.

While nothing really jumps out, “The Temple” has a nice creepy vice and “From Beyond” (where I really hear Ancient circa The Cainian Chronicle) has a solid variety and definite narrative. But “The White Ship” has a solid almost Viking, melodic marching riff, and ends up as the album’s standout track. Still, there’s just that extra ‘it’ lacking to elevate the album above ‘solid’, something I hope Lord Mordiggian and co. rectify for the next effort.

[Visit the band's website]

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