The word super group gets thrown around a lot, but in the case of Crator, it’s pretty fitting as  Crator features Colin Marston (Gorguts, Withered, Krallice Etc) on bass, Jason Keyser (Skinless, Origin) on vocals and Jon Longstreth (Origin and everyone else) on drums. The only member who I didn’t instantly recognize is guitarist Jeff Liefer, who has been in a handful of bands I have not heard of (Tentacles, Foaming at the Mouth), but carries his weight admirably here.

The result of this unholy death metal communion is as you’d expect; a mix of a little of everything the main guys are known for. At its heart , it’s a brutal tech death record, but with some blackened atonal flourishes and a more gritty, earthy and authoritative delivery than the cleaner, more clinical ‘true’ tech death bands like Origin (though there is still a heavy Origin influence as heard on “The Judge on War”). It’s more Skinless meets Gorguts and Krallice.

Marston’s fingers are literally  all over the material with lots of twangly off kilter, discordant bass work pulsing under the crumbling, shifting guitar work, which almost takes a backseat to the rhythm section in the murky but commanding mix. The 39 minute, 9 song behemoth isn’t a quick fix, it’s a swarming, caustic, bristling album that teems with angular, almost alien, disjointed menace, but is rendered with top notch tech death musicianship.

Standouts include the aforementioned “The Judge on War”, the title track,  which has a nice slower lurch to start then a chaotic, shambling discordance to finish and the cosmic, atonal shimmer and shudder of the Gorguts ish “The Noble Lie”. There’s even a more pure black metal outburst towards the end of the album in “The Echo That Conquers Voice”. But none of these are tracks you are going to be humming or air guitaring to, except maybe the solo in “The Sixth Genocide”.

Considering who is involved in this project and the quality of the overall presentation (comes in a gorgeous, embossed digipack), it’s mind boggling this is a self released/independent release, and that someone like Relapse or Comatose didn’t release it. Much like Devourer of Worlds from Milwaukee’s  Ara a couple of years ago and the recent Construct of Lethe EP, is a must have independent release of churning, discordant, brilliant technical bliss, from guys you’d expect no less from.

[Visit the band's website]

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