Crocell - The Wretched Eidola (2011)

2008 saw the release of The God We Drowned, a promising if futile and unnoticed debut of Danish death metal falling between the poles of unquestionable brutality and melodic vigor. Not so surprising due to the band's relationship to another act, Compos Mentis, who also flit about the easy classifications. Three years later and we've got another wonderful album title, another work wrought of effort and high studio standards, but it ultimately falls short of its predecessor. This is largely the fault of the writing, which is dynamic, yet for the most part, wholly uninspiring, like a mesh of God Dethroned and Amon Amarth riffs with an underlying melodic canter that simply never stands out in the memory.

It starts off fairly strong with a churning, mosh-worthy intro in "06-07-09", glinted clean guitars ringing off against the sullen, grooving beat. Then "I Know the Taste of Your Tears" arrives, with a title far cooler than the pretty standard melo-death momentum of its ascending verse rhythm. This is unfortunately all too typical of the sophomore fare: songs like "Chronos", "The Craven's Work" and "Thieves, Whores and Heretics" all offer a half-decent guitar line that never quite pays off, a modicum of thrash, melody and groove that too quickly escapes the memory. Crocell are admittedly more brutal than your garden variety In Flames outfit, and songs like "The Age of Iron and Rust" and "The Purity Harlot" are suitably aggressive enough to appeal to those who are loathe to melodeath exposure, punishing through their mindless dynamics, but those 'money shot' riffs so important to the genre simply never arrive...

Vocalist Magnus Jørgensen (who is now also the frontman for veterans Panzerchrist) delivers the same mix of styles as he does through Regiment Ragnarok: average if acceptable gutturals infused with a few snarling breaks. They sound strong in the mix, as do the drums and the punch of the guitars, but sadly the production overtakes the songwriting in short order. If you're really, truly into the more weighted edge of the melodic death spectrum, i.e. the early Amon Amarth records, just about anything from Hatesphere, God Dethroned or Carnal Forge, then there is a possibility you might find something in this. Personally I thought The God We Drowned was stronger overall, from the compositional quality to the cover art.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://www.crocell.dk/

Crocell - The God We Drowned (2008)

Hovering somewhere between the simpler Swedish melodic death of Amon Amarth and the more extreme death of countrymen Exmortem or Panzerchrist, is the debut from this Danish outfit. The God We Drowned is a solid slab with 11 tracks, each a pummeling statement of the band's intent to deliver grooves and breakdowns amidst decent riffing.

"Behind the Veil" begins with thundering drum fills over a simple, desolate guitar riff, it has an old school vibe which reminded me quite a lot of Bolt Thrower until the faster riffs picked up. "Apotheosis" has a lot more groove to it including a fairly weak breakdown. Things improve again with "Winter is Coming", a slow yet driving number with some catchy riffing. "The God We Drowned" and "Death Knell" are faster again and decent examples of Crocell's beefy, battering and simple style with an occasional foray into melodeath riffing. "The Chosen" could have very well appeared on the latest Amon Amarth album. "The Culling" thrashes it up with a very groovy melodeath gait akin to In Flames. "The New Blood" is the most bludgeoning bit of death metal on the album, one of the best songs with some nice choppy riffing.

This isn't an extremely original album but a good enough debut to those open minded death metal fans who don't mind a middle ground before the more accessible and the more brutal. The guitars sound good, its heaviness is never in question, and it's never quite boring. 2-3 of the tunes were weaker and ultimately forgettable but the rest of the album is worth hearing.

Verdict: Win (7/10)

http://www.myspace.com/crocelldk