Crematory have returned, with an album that’s enjoyable from beginning to end, and has a pretty nice selection of songs. It continues the mix of industrial music with different genres of metal used in their 2020 album Unbroken, and while it’s not as ambitious as that previous album, it’s still a really fun record.
Like its predecessor, this one starts with the title track, an industrial metal anthem about the band’s love for their music, this time their love for dark music and general darkness. It’s pretty catchy, the vocalist effortlessly switches from growling to barking to singing then whispering, and even laugh-growling, and it has a pretty nice mix of heavy guitars and well-done industrial sounds.
It’s a good indicator of things to come: the rest of the album consists of guitars and synths who both get the same chances to shine, and a mix of vocal and instrumental styles that make the album very unpredictable, the kind of album where you don’t know what to expect next and you love it for that. Some tracks have the same anthemic feel as “Inglorious Darkness”, like “The Sound of my Life”, another song about Crematory’s love of dark things, or “Break Down the Walls”, which is their attempt at a forgetting all your fears and fighting adversity kind of song.
But you also get the heavier, angrier stuff like the angry verses and more melodic choruses of “Trümmerwelten”, which still has a very catchy and danceable mix of riffs and synths. Or “Tränen der Zeit”, which borders on symphonic metal territory with its loud but sinister keyboards, but mostly uses growled vocals. Or one of the heaviest, “Until We Meet Again”, and its sinister bells and overall dark atmosphere. And of course, I must mention one of the most interesting tracks, “Rest in Peace”, which starts with a catchy main riff and a sort of barking growl delivery on the verses before turning into a more melodic synth-based chorus. It sounds like a mixture of Scarlet Sins and Black Sun Brotherhood, of all things, but with industrial sounds. And it’s not the only song to use that particular combination, because “Zur Hölle” also has a similar heavy riff and vocal delivery. Again, it just goes to show all the odd and creative ways that Crematory like to mix different ideas together.
Other tracks like “Not for the Innocent”, keep a similar heavy and angry tone, but still have some good synth work, and a strangely catchy and danceable quality. “Das Ende” has some of the catchiest industrial sounds.
The album’s catchiness, and its many creative little ideas, are what make it so good. You want to keep listening to see what it’s going to do next, and because the songs sound good, they’re very upbeat and uplifting, and also full of energy. It’s Crematory doing what they do best. Sure, it’s very similar to their previous album, and some of the songs at the end are a little less original or energized than the first ones. But it’s well-made enough to feel like more than a lesser version of Unbroken. Being shorter means that the songs are more consistent in terms of quality, there isn’t a lot of filler, and overall, it’s catchiness, enthusiasm and creativity will definitely win you over. Definitely a recommendation.
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