Creeping Death - Boundless Domain (2023)

Boundless Domain is the exact point at which it feels like Creeping Death would need to evolve its sound or flex a little more in order to create something more lasting and meaningful. Their output up to this time was pretty good and consistent, but still not nearing the level of mastery or immortality that so many of the first wave bands were able to achieve, not just because of their novelty but because of songwriting. I think that this second proper full-length does take a few small steps in new directions, but at the same time it doesn't really stride past its older siblings in quality. The differences here are largely those of the production choices and how certain vocals and instruments extract themselves and contrast with one another, though they definitely also try some riffing patterns they hadn't in the past, this is no re-run.

The cover from Tanner Caruthers is magnificent, I like how it melds the personal and cerebral with the expansive ugliness of all the fine death metal escapes, and even the logo and type colors are appealing. Their releases have always looked good, but this is probably my favorite. And it sounds as good as it looks, with perhaps their cleanest studio mix yet. It does sacrifice some of the bulk and heaviness for a more musical quality, not that the drumming and rhythm guitar is any less intense, but just pokes through the mix without bordering on overpowering the rest. Bass is a standout, you can hear it a lot more throughout this than on Wretched Illusions, and the increased integration of melodies in the guitars also gives this one a more progressive vibe than its predecessors, which is certainly what I would have wanted. On the downside, sometimes there are various riffs and patterns which just seem plopped down into tracks and don't really have as natural a flow, so the songs don't always hit enough of a payoff ("Vitrified Earth" is a prime example).

I would say the band continues to dial down its hardcore influence, but this is taken over by a more propulsive, thrashing energy in tracks like "The Parthian Shot", which feel like death/thrash that is about to explode into melodeath at any moment. You've still got a couple cuts ("Creators Turned into Prey") which are built almost exclusively for the beatdown, but even these improve once they accelerate into those choppy, thrashing rhythms, and in this way the material slightly embarks into a terrain they hadn't really explored in the past. Leads are well-implemented but often feel a little too spurious and brief in exercise, like an afterthought. The real highlight for me here is "Remnants of the Old Gods", which reminds me a little of Consuming Impulse Pestilence with an upbeat thrash-out, or closer "The Common Breed" with its nice spacious melodies; honestly I found the last half or third of the album the most entertaining, though not by a wide margin.

Boundless Domain is good, as with all their releases so far, but I get the feeling this is a transitional sort of record which might preface something really impressive. Creeping Death are not undeserving of their support, they have all the weapons present to become one of the premiere US death metal acts, I think they just need to innovate a little further, and that is certainly possible without abandoning the grooves and OSDM influences that inspired them. Wretched Illusions is a more entertaining listen throughout, but this is unquestionably a fraction more adventurous.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/