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/

Creeping Death - The Edge of Existence EP (2021)

Had a little bit of a Mandela Effect where I thought I remembered this one as their second full-length, but The Edge of Existence is in fact the third proper EP for Creeping Death, and one that showcases a lot of the band's studio polish and development. While you've still got plenty of chugging moments that will appeal to the slam-dancers, this was to its day the most purely 'death metal' the band had sounded, you could have easily convinces me this was a new effort from Malevolent Creation or Deicide if only certain details like the vocals had been different, and as they continue to use the morbid, cavernous cover art it seems like they are themselves molding themselves more into the purity of the medium. That said, half the material here is just a re-recording of their initial 2016 EP Sacrament of Death, which wasn't really broken, didn't need fixing, and serves really only to sate those who weren't able to get their hands on that.

Certainly a little bit of an upgrade in terms of comparing to to the studio aesthetics of the full-length that came out before this, but I felt like "Sacrament of Death" and its siblings felt a bit drier than they did originally. The one exception would be the vocals, which catapult into gruesome new depths, but the rhythm guitars and rhythm section are less impactful, not necessarily bad at all because they do line up better with the new tracks, which are where this EP is going to live or die for me...and it does for the most part succeed in cultivating all those late 80s/early 90s influences, though most of the riff choices here aren't terribly exciting, but workmanlike and catchy enough to keep your attention even though you'll probably be longing for something else in your death metal collection. The production is loud, the instruments very even, the drums flawless and the vocals once again continuing to ramp up their sickness, though he is also alternating more of that classic growl with lower gutturals and even a few accompanying snarls and neither is as interesting as his traditional delivery.

Essentially the new content on The Edge of Existence sounds like something that might have existed as an amalgam of old Floridian death metal, perhaps a bit of Gorguts or Dutch stuff, only modernized for the old school obsessed in the 21st century. It does its job, and the re-recordings certainly are strong enough to stay in balance with the energy and proficiency the band has been carving out in the years since they were originally released; it's not like you jump this gap between tracks #3 and #4, they all fit rather well together and, like most people, if you can't get a hold of the old version then this is a decent way to experience them. Probably made the least impression on me of any of their offerings to date, but still impossible for me to SIT still through.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/

Creeping Death - Wretched Illusions (2019)

Wretched Illusions didn't leave a huge impression on me the first time I heard it, possibly because I was just so inundated with epic throwback death metal sounds at the time that it came across a little cookie cutter. The EPs were certainly cool, and this doesn't betray them in any way whatsoever, but there were definitely riffs or tracks I remembered being a little bit of a chore on a longer, 40 minute record. In hindsight, I was likely not giving this one a proper chance, because it is actually quite solid, and understandable as the release that would spearhead their developing popularity among the fresher death metal crowd that was likely hearing a lot of this stuff before its own influences, or crossing over from the hardcore and deathcore genres to a niche like this that felt immediately more 'pure' and impressive.

Creeping Death definitely felt denser and busier here than the EPs, not because the style had shifted but rather that they were filling in the spaces better. The rhythm guitars are the vehicle, with constantly bruising, winding and chugging riffs that play around in the death metal of antiquity, with a little street mentality and also a few dives into a more death/doom crawlspace. They're not the sort that are unique or catchy individually, but always attention-getting enough that they can propel the listener along through the track, where he/she will receive the reward of some frilly little lead or breakdown that gives a dopamine payoff in the brain. The bass melds a little more into the guitars, where it had stood out more on Specter of War, and thus the dynamics here are sometimes too consistent, although it's all pretty awesome sounding if you isolate it. Reese Alavi's vocals, though, are a lot more gruesome and entertaining, he sounds ripping fucking pissed through a lot of these tracks and is starting to develop away from his influences, even though he carries them onward.

The songwriting is more confident, and extended outward, incorporating more death metal techniques from both the OSDM contingents and the 90s brutal style, and this variation actually helps to make the old school parts stand out much more when they erupt like the tremolo riff in "Sinner's Torch", or a Swedish d-beat arrives in "Corroded from Within". Weirdly, while this isn't at all 'cavern core' like you'd expect from the artwork, it definitely has a claustrophobic feel because it's just so tightly executed and matured. An impenetrable wall. It's another Creeping Death album which I might not instantly grab for on my shelf when I'm in the mood for the style, but as I sit here listening through it again, it's hard to really find much wrong with it. Average-to-good riffing patterns, competent playing all around, savage vocals, firm production values, loyalty to the styles that birthed it, and as the years have passed I can absolutely understand why it helped the band blow up like they have.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/

Creeping Death - Specter of War EP (2018)

Specter of War, the sophomore EP from Texans Creeping Death, has another of those cover images that doesn't necessarily match up to its musical content, but looks pretty badass nonetheless. The reaper riding, the hounds, the evil castle and bridge, the sunlight filtering through the ominous, evil clouds...all adds up to what might be a very sinister thrash, black or death metal effort. I won't say that the music itself avoids all such classifications, but here I felt like the alleged hardcore side of the band manifest itself a little more clearly than on the prior release. You could easily listen through some of the breakdowns on this and imagine Madball or Biohazard having a particularly dark day and dipping into their own crossover death metal influences for some similar inspiration.

Still, this stuff reeks of old Pestilence, Asphyx, and even some Bolt Thrower with the more tank-rolling sorts of rhythms that develop. Chugging intensity balanced off against the tremolo riffs you'd more equate with the classic DM sounds, and frankly these guys were one of the most seamless to blend together the styles into something that feels like a coherent entity and not just bouncing back and forth between the extremes. The bass tone on Specter of War is more prominent, like its bouncing around the cargo hold of some oil tanker, and the vocals, still in that Schuldiner/Grewe/van Drunen style, are a bit less pronounced, but also more ghastly sounding than the last time. Rhythm guitar riff quality is around the same, they try a few different techniques, and still offer the scarce lead or two, but what I can't deny is just how effective the tone is, it simply carves out the listener's flesh in huge chunks, with big, deep chords and caustic chugging that will entertain you even if it's not exactly unique or nuanced.

If you could combine these two short-players, you'd probably have my favorite Creeping Death record, it was just so fun and sincere and set in a style I'm not capable of getting bored with. There is nothing genius about any of this, it's just a band wearing its influences well, playing within its own parameters and evoking just the right amount of nostalgia and atmosphere while keeping it all real for the mosh pit crowds that will likely appreciate it the most. Angry, hungry, and worth hearing, especially those awesome bridge/breakdowns in "Salvation" and "New Agony", or the great opener "Revenge".

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/

Creeping Death - Sacrament of Death EP (2016)

Creeping Death is another of the younger US bands which has taken the scene by storm, punching far above their weight to some, well worth the time to others. They've certainly got a lot of ken when it comes to audience awareness, tailoring a lot of their music for the mosh-positive which inescapable amounts of breakdowns and grooves. To this effect, they are often described as a sort of hardcore/death metal hybrid, and I can agree with that to a degree, though I find a lot of that hardcore 'spirit' missing from the compositions...instead, this is pure OSDM with a few more breakdowns than you'd expect, perhaps more than are effective in a sheer listening context, but cognizant of how their concerts are going to go and wanting to leave some bruised knuckles in their wake, and who can really blame them? It's a meathead world out there. Give them flesh.

Having said that, I think Sacrament of Death was a promising start, one of their more truly death metal leaning efforts, which I would describe as a blend of old Death (Scream Bloody Gore, Leprosy) or Pestilence (Consuming Impulse), with a lot more fisticuffs to break up the searing tremolo rhythms and excellent, evil leads that contribute so well to its atmosphere. Just three tracks, and not even ten minutes long, and I could barely remember the difference between them, but they're a blast to listen through. Deep and churning rhythm guitars that sound good in either of the 'parent genres' they draw from, with lots of weight to the chug parts but also clear enough on the faster rhythms which often lead to a nice feel of impish mayhem. The mix of the drums and guitars actually reminds me once more of Consuming Impulse, maybe imagine that album had been written by a bunch of kids in New York around the same time and you've got a good approximation of this EP's tones, and as a sucker for that, I can't help but enjoy it. It's not that the riffing is particularly unique or exceedingly catchy, but for more primitive or simple grooves like old Obituary they can hold your attention.

Vocals are also quite good, again I'll reference Chuck Schuldiner or Martin van Drunen, but with more of a smackdown vibe to them that syncopates over the more tough guy rhythms below it. The lead guitars are really done with nice whipping tones, more of that 'unknown' vibe added for excess than trying to complete melodic or glorious cycles, and it fits right in with the knuckle-dragging groove that powers so much of the material. The mix is dark, thick and heavy and resembles the mosh pits that so obviously resulted from these songs. I also dug the cover art a lot, and usually do throughout the band's evolution...I'm not sure the ritualistic or vampiric imagery matches with the music, but on its own it is quite cool looking. Whether Creeping Death continues to live up to its own shitstorm of hype is yet to be determined, but Sacrament of Death was a solid introduction that holds up to this day.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/