(Andy Synn boldly goes… where light fears to descend)
Due to the fact that DGR and I have been spending the last week or so terrorising the mean streets of Seattle together, we’ve had a lot more time than usual to hang out, shoot the shit, and discuss important matters like art, music, and where to get our next beer.
And it was during these discussions where he raised the point that there’s a bunch of bands – quite a lot of them now, to be perfectly honest – that we’ve adopted as favourites here at NCS, to the point where we actively try to cover everything they do in the hope that other sites will also pick up on them and help give them more exposure.
As some of you may have already guessed, Black/Doom/Sludge coven Crust have been one of these bands for a fair number of years now, and with their new album set for release very soon – this Friday, in fact – now felt like a good time to once again try and give these devils their due.
With a new, expanded line-up in place since their last album, plus a brand new logo, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that Where Light Fears to Descend is a subtly different beast to its predecessor(s).
Don’t get me wrong, the basic building blocks of the band’s sound – the snarling vocals and seething tremolo guitars, the grimy, sludgy grooves and oppressively doomy chord progressions – are all still present and correct (just one listen to the corrosive, slow-burning conflagration of opener “Soul-Grinding Abyss”, for example, will let you know that things haven’t changed that much) but there are definitely signs that the group have evolved somewhat since the last time we heard from them.
What stands out most of all, to my ears anyway, is the increased use of lacerating lead guitar work and sinuous, sinister solos – from the spiteful shredding which adds an extra ounce of feverish fury to the blast-fuelled intensity of “Premeditation of Evils” to the moody, hypnotic harmonies of “Your Sweet Smell and Bitter Taste” and the bleak, banshee wailing which closes “Apokatastatis Panton” – which further expands the sonic scope of the band’s music in a way which feels both nuanced and natural and totally organic.
That’s not to say, however, that Crust have gone soft or “sold out” by any means – even if there’s a greater sense of dynamic depth and immersive atmosphere to be found on many of these tracks – as the creeping, Celtic Frost influenced crawl of “Coffin Sodomy” or the surging blasts, rumbling bass-lines, and scorching guitars of “Lightgiver” (whose frantic finale errs closer to the realms of DSBM than ever before) both hit just as hard (if not harder) as anything they’ve done before.
And while I’m not quite ready to declare Where Light Fears to Descend as the “best” album of the band’s career so far – its initial impact is instantaneous and undeniable, that’s for sure (“Crimen Contra Humanitatem” immediately established itself as one of the nastiest, and catchiest, songs they’ve ever written, for example), but I think it’ll be as much a “grower” as it is a “shower”, and only get better the more time I spend with it – I’m definitely about 80-90% of the way towards making that declaration… so you’ll need to check back with me later in the year for my final thoughts on the matter.
Until then though, don’t be afraid to descend into this one, or you’ll be missing out, I assure you!