Craft - White Noise and Black Metal (2018)

Void arrived at a six-year gulf from its predecessor Fuck the Universe, and inevitably became a bit of a disappointment, if not remotely bad. White Noise and Black Metal, however, came after a seven-year break in studio releases, the longest wait in their career (until now, as we are approaching 8 years and counting); and I feel like this time must have been well spent since the songwriting and energy is quite refreshed. It plays within the same ballpark as their other material, but it doesn't feel quite so drudging or dreary as Void did, there's a more adventurous sense to the guitar riffing, and a lot more tasteful detail through repeated listening. Craft is an interesting band, because they are simple and easy to grasp, but their albums are always growers (one shrinker), and when White Noise and Black Metal came out, I picked up the CD, enjoyed it well enough, but didn't think much about it until the ensuing years of spins.

Today, I think it's pretty awesome. The sound is a little less bulky than its predecessor, I'd hate to say 'graceful' or 'vibrant' with a band as apocalyptic and evil as these Swedes, but a lot of the guitar tone is lighter and gives a higher-pitched feel, and that's where a lot of those details are. They are still largely a band that moves at that slower pace, and you get some killer churn riffs like in "Again" or the awesome "Darkness Falls". However, that space is filled in better here, especially by Daniel Moilanen's drumming, which is by far the most interesting that has appeared on a Craft record. While I wouldn't go so far as to call this material 'progressive', he certainly adds an element of that flexibility that he's brought to the recent streak of Katatonia releases, and it's another way in which White Noise stands out against the back catalogue. But the Joakim and John also keep the guitars interesting, with a bag of new BM tricks that poke through most of the tunes, and the added spaciousness to the mix and composition also allows the bass to have a stronger supporting role, a shadow thundering beneath the more ethereal guitars.

Nox does what he always does, one of the most formidably vile of the Swedish BM front-men, but again the scope of this album allows for his rasps to cascade about the atmosphere and create a lasting, resonant impact. The lyrics have been pretty top notch since the third album, but here they take on a more introspective feel, dark and ponderous but not as cliched or Satanic and anti-human as they were in the formative years. White Noise and Black Metal is a heater, and though it took some years to properly dig in, I'd now award it the silver metal, standing on the abyssal podium to the right of Fuck the Universe, with Terror Propaganda in the bronze. Great Swedish black metal that scratches the itch of their earlier work while giving you a lot more to think about.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

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Craft - Void (2011)

Void is an album that had sort of the opposite affect on me as its predecessor Fuck the Universe. Here is one that I quite liked upon its release, but have gradually grown a little bored of throughout the years. It sort of mirrors that Darkthrone era from 1996-2006 in its bleakness, only I happen to find all of those records more memorable. Actually, I don't want to complete drag this one through the dirt, because there's a lot going on here that I do like aesthetically, more going on in fact than what's on those Norwegian records, and in the right setting I'll still spin it, but often I'll pick and choose particular tracks rather than crave the experience as a whole. I can promise that it is as grim and apocalyptic as anything else they've ever put out, so...no worries there.

This is dense, slow, and atmospheric, with a selection of those simple Hellhammer/Celtic Frost derived grooves being sliced through by the tremolo picking parts. I'm glad for that exchange, actually, because it makes tunes like "Come Resonance of Doom" or "The Ground Surrenders" somewhat listenable. It isn't until "Succumb to Sin" where those leaden, thick rhythm guitar riffs really pull their own weight with an actually amazing riff, and that's my favorite track on the album with ease. A lot of the other patterns here just feel a little stale and leaning upon the atmospherics to get by. Another highlight are the eerie melodies in "Bring on the Clouds", but the latter half of Void is dominated by these longer songs in which I don't feel entirely fulfilled, they impress me in parts but can become a burden in their entirety. There is one track there, "I Want to Commit Murder" which has some faster riffing to break it up, but that one doesn't have a lot of payoff even when it slows back down with its thuggish bridge riff.

The vocals and consistency of mood here do a lot to keep it coherent; the former as resonant and evil as ever, though they do feel somewhat monotonous along the gray din of the songwriting. Yeah, this is an album you 'hear' by looking at the cover, and vice versa. It's certainly playing within the confines of Craft's tookbox, and suckers for its influences, or the slower, rawer side of black metal or black & roll will find that it stays pretty truthful to the aesthetics, but it hasn't aged for me as well as the albums on either side of it, and these days it's the last in their discography that I'm likely to revisit, though I'd throw "Succumb to Sin" on a condensed compilation of tunes if I were introducing someone to their music. It's competent, it's Craft, it's certainly not bad or even mediocre, the lyrics maintain the upgrade they got with Fuck the Universe; but it's down the trenches for now.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (Old, deformed and barren)

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Craft - Fuck the Universe (2005)

If you asked me to choose a favorite Swedish black metal for all time, I can't promise that this record would win the honors, but I'd absolutely be taking it down off the shelf to compare and contrast it against the other picks. Fuck the Universe elevated the band's nihilistic ravings to an entirely new level, as the Chaos symbol and title imply, we've gone beyond crushing mere humanity and/or Christianity to everything in all of existence, and I think that sentiment is reflected well by Craft's increased devotion to songwriting. I never really buzzed about this one enough back in the day or on my earlier lists; it was something I enjoyed upon first exposure, but has aged really well with time, and obviously grown on me more than anything else they've released. What's more, it does further distance itself from its more overt influences.

Yes, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Darkthrone still account for the DNA of the sound here, but it's been innovated upon, with a more layered and nuanced approach. Mood and melancholy are measured off against the grimness of the vocals and genre conventions, and the songs always give themselves enough time to express their ideas while absorbing the listener fully; we hear this in the 7+ minute "Thorns in the Planet's Side" with its spacious, doomy atmosphere, or the churning finale "Principium Anguis' with all its thundering fills and soul-crushing riffs. But another element that I really enjoyed here is that they started to incorporate a little bit of a black/thrash vibe ("Fuck the Universe") which reminded me of the direction Aura Noir had started to head in, or "Xenophobia" which has these similarly thrashy pulses and grooves which capitalize on the surging evil verse riffs. They explore far more material here than on the prior records, the 51+ minutes offering you a lot of range while also honoring all of what they brought to the table from 2000-2002.

Vocals still sound as nasty as ever, but they've got a lot more to compete with musically, which is where Craft have truly developed here. I think the drums and bass lines stand out more here too, there's just a more organic vibe to the entire recording that reminds me a lot of some of the black & roll stuff put out by a Satyricon or Sarke. It's robust and clean, but all of that sinister attitude from the band's riffing and singing is fully intact. Fairly refreshing when you consider that a lot of the 'necro' black metal bands shy away from such production improvements in order to retain the icy rawness. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you, but I don't feel as if it would achieve what Fuck the Universe does with this sort of atmosphere. A phenomenal album, the first off my shelf when I am in the mood for this band, with a good amount of content and plenty enough ideas to fill that time. Craft at their finest, with at least 4-5 songs ("Fuck the Universe", "Terni Exustae - Queen Reaper", "Xenophobia", etc.) that would make my highlight reel of their whole career. Also: better lyrics than the first two albums by far.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]

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Craft - Terror Propaganda (2002)

Terror Propaganda is another of the early Craft records which has so many similarities to the earlier post-Soulside Journey Darkthrone material, back when those Norsemen were first exploring black metal, that it's not hard to understand why some were calling it a knockoff. But when you dig beneath just the surface impressions I think there's plenty going on here to enjoy...are they paying tribute to their more established peers? Absolutely. The black/white cover with the pose (but hey no fire breathing!). The entirely colorless, nihilistic lyrics and pure malevolence created through the riff progressions and vocals. The first song here is even titled "Ablaze". But it's a damn GOOD tribute, is the thing, and never tries to hide it, and in exploring this sound, once again develops a few ideas of its own that make it eminently re-listenable.

They did drop a bit of that Hellhammer influence here, especially in the guitar tone. Some of the slower, oozier riffs have disappeared, although not entirely, and you'll recognize it in songs like "Reaktor 4". In fact, much of the material here is still mid-pace cruise mode, but that's also where they come up with a lot of their darker guitar patterns ("The Silence Thereafter"). The tremolo picking guitars have evolved from the debut, and more confidently take the lead on some of the tunes, but they've also got some layers of atmospherics or melodies that will appear at the edge of perception to elevate the material. Some would say that the Hellhammer bits have transformed into the 'black & roll' school of riffing, and that's true, but once again one of my favorite parts of the recording, for example in "Hidden Under the Skin" these bad ass guitars balance out nicely against the more wistful melancholy of the licks in the mid-paced blasting sequence. And "False Orders Begone" is an amazing use of that Hellhammer vibe into something that feels fresh with Mikael's nasty vocals slathered all over it.

They still use some of the crazy screams here, and they feel more bloody and fresh-killed than on the debut, adding more depth to the heights. I would say that the overall structure of the album is slower, but they never become boring, always exploring some ideas to flesh out the compositions which are usually only 3-5 minutes to begin with. The drums are tinny and efficient as was popular for this necro niche of black metal, but I didn't notice a lot of bass presence throughout, it's certainly taking more of a back seat than Total Soul Rape, but not absent. We've still not hit the peak of the Craft yet, and this one isn't quite so diabolically fun as the debut, but I'd say musically it's one I place just a stride beyond that. It's a little colder, more atmospheric, and numbing, but still has tasteful evil melodic licks and dark, powerful grooves.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (We are messengers)

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Craft - Total Soul Rape (2000)

Craft was such a cool band to see at the turn of the century because they were already playing this retro brand of necro black metal only a decade or less since the originals. The Darkthrone parallels were obvious here, from the black & white photography on the cover to the sound that was heavily reminiscent of Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost. That said, they've got plenty of personality unto themselves, with a few creative riffing ideas that they were adding to that legacy, some truly nasty vo-kills and an unapologetically dark and depressive attitude that is on full display throughout the lyrics. The debut Total Soul Rape was my first exposure, and while I enjoyed it to an extent, the years have definitely given me a greater appreciation for its brash charisma.

You've got that fuzzy rhythm guitar tone circa Hellhammer, the difference is that Craft will burst out into these tremolo picked evil riffs or blasted messes that were taken from the earlier second wave stuff. The stuff is pretty saturated, the drums rocking out with a nice crash and clutter to them as the bass lines just churn back and forth below. The vocals have this hideous presence front and center, as I think was the intention, but everything else is also pretty clear and loses no potency against Mikael's formidable rasp. Most of the tracks have this really memorable feature to them, also, like the frilly, whipping leads in "Death to Planet Earth", the climactic dissonant grooving riffs of "(Desolation) Death", or the doomy Hellhammer riffs in "Past, Present, Dead". The band might seem purposefully raw and unrefined on the surface, but they were good songwriters even from this earlier stage, even the debatable choices on this record like the weird wailed vocals that occasional appear seem deliberate and effective atmospherics.

Lyrically it's bleak; not in a 'bad' way (is there a good way?), but just about every song here is apocalyptic in scope, supremely nihilistic and misanthropic, whether it's teabagging Satan or not. So in other words, it's your average 90s black metal approach which earns the tile of 'grimness', and let's face it, when we gaze upon its Darkthrone-like title with the splash of red/orange in the logo/title, that is exactly what we would expect. Total Soul Rape is not my favorite release from them, but it's also got a lot more longevity to it than your typical newspaper-tone necro-black metal recording, of which there have been countless released since this one (and a lot before it too). This really holds up, and I had fun listening to it here in 2025 as much or more than ever in the past. It's like A Blaze in the Northern Sky if you turned off the air conditioner and cranked up the evil instead.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (purest noxious water)

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