Feral/Crawl – Made As Those Who Are No Longer Alive (Split)
Release Date: 22nd September 2023
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Entombed, Paganizer, Vomitheist, Dismember, Wombbath.
Review By: Carlos Tirado
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of classic Swedish Death metal, evoking the raw sound of the 90s era. Bands like Feral and Crawl have hopped on the bandwagon, paying homage to that signature Boss MH-2 pedal-driven intensity. While they aren’t reinventing the genre, it’s undeniably a rollicking good time. By the way, did you know that Transcending Obscurity, the label behind these bands, also runs an animal shelter? Good people support vulnerable animals, and you’re a good person, right? So, you know what to do! Either way, enter Made As Those Who Are No Longer Alive, a title longer than the split itself. With only four tracks—it did raise an eyebrow or two initially. Not only is it practically an EP, but it’s a split EP. Is the content as thin as it appears?
Well, kind of. These four tracks are a blitz of unapologetic, classic Swedish Death Metal. They seamlessly flow into one another, making this split feel cohesive—a rarity in the world of splits, where often bands clash unevenly. This release is succinct; it’ll hit you and be gone before you know it. You might find yourself hitting the replay button, given its brevity—a positive in my book. It rushes in, relentless and unyielding, devoid of any filler. It’s a no-frills, meat-and-potatoes experience, stopping just shy of Grindcore territory.
The vocals are brutally fitting, perfectly complementing the classic guitar tones in each track. The blast beats are spot on. If a full album with this sound emerges, count me in! However, the song structures can become somewhat repetitive, a common trait in old-school Swedish Death metal. It’s part of its allure, but can also be its downfall. How many times can you unleash that frontal, catchy assault before it becomes predictable? It’s as pervasive as power metal’s galloping guitars—it has its place but has also become somewhat of a cliché.
In summary, this split doesn’t introduce anything groundbreaking. It’s more of a nostalgia trip to the early days of Swedish Death Metal. However, for newcomers who can’t quite appreciate or digest the production quality, and I’m being generous with the word quality here, of those seminal works (see Entombed and Dismember), this might serve as a great introduction.
(3 / 5)
