(Andy Synn gets filthy with the new album from seminal Metal/Hardcore band All Out War)
As some of you may know, All Out War easily rank among my favourite bands of all time.
And I know I say that a lot – look, when you listen to a lot of bands you have a lot of favourites – but in this case I really mean it, as it was bands like All Out War, Ringworm, and Earth Crisis (and many more) who played a seminal role in defining my taste in Metal/Hardcore in the early days.
Which is why it’s crazy to think that this is the first time I’m writing about them for the site.
I’ll grant you that by the time I actually started writing for NCS they were once again on hiatus, and in the years to follow would only release one EP (and you know how terrible I am at keeping tabs on those… though I’m trying to do better) and an album which, to be honest, I’m not a massive fan of.
But, still, it feels weird to think that this is my first time properly reviewing the band… so I’d better make it count, right?
Thankfully, however, Crawl Among the Filth makes it very easy to be enthusiastic, as not only is it simultaneously a return to their roots (even more so than its predecessor, to my ears) it also represents a significant step forward for the band, taking their signature Metal-meets-Hardcore sound and adding more “blackened” and grind-inspired influences into the mix.
From the opening tirade of howling vocals and hammering snare beats which kicks “Divine Isolation” into gear to the final choppy, down-picked chug of “Despised Regime”, the group’s seventh album showcases a leaner, meaner (and, arguably, bleaker) approach that both calls back to the likes of “Burning Season” and “Witness The End” from For Those Who Were Crucified while also establishing that the current line-up of the band (the very same, pretty much, from the …Crucified days) are somehow even angrier and more intense than ever.
That’s not to say there aren’t moments of unexpected nuance and some subtle surprises to be found – the sinister, stomp ‘n’ crawl of “Contempt Be Thy Faith” makes it an obvious highlight, while the occasional flash of dark melody (such as can be found during penultimate stand-out “Hanging on the Wire”) helps add an extra layer of moody menace to the music – but the real meat of the album is pure, uncompromising aggression.
And while every listener will obviously have their personal favourite, for my money (in addition to both “Contempt…” and “Hanging…”) the Vader-level viciousness of “Judas Always Crawls”, the uber-aggro Death-Thrash attack of “What Was Becomes Undone” (think The Crown meets Kreator meets Cro-Mags), and the relentlessly heavy “Suffocate and Subjugate” (which could easily go toe-to-toe and blow-for-blow with modern-day Misery Index) are some of the most killer (and I do mean killer) cuts of the year so far.
So while the common wisdom says that “war never changes”, it turns out that All Out War are definitely capable of moving and evolving with the times… and as those times get darker and more unforgiving for so many so do the band.