Undead Creep - Enchantments from the Haunted Hills EP (2012)

The Ever-Burning Torch was a passable if not formidable entry into the Classic-Swedish-Death-by-Non-Swedes rat race, a competition that had spilled beyond the source borders and then back across them due to constant recycling and osmosis as thousands of modern musicians chased the ghosts of their forebears. Like it's some sort of personal achievement to make a record which sounds just like the ones you grew up with. Yeah, we've all been there, but at least a few of us went so far as to pay homage to an amalgamation of acts which inspired us, rather than just one or two. And I'm fine with that, but let's be honest here, the vast majority of the groups writing and performing in this style don't sound all that much like Grave, or Unleashed, or Grotesque, or Carnage, or even Dismember. They sound like fucking Nihilist and Entombed...it all comes back to that.

Italy's Undead Creep, ironically, can justly claim that they do in fact pay some tribute to a number of other older death metal bands, including many that I just listed, because while they probably take their foremost influence from the usual suspects, there is a particular crudeness and ugliness about their music which thrives between the Floridian and Swedish titans. The rhythm guitar tone is loud and abrasive, but somewhat 'cheaper' sounding than a lot of the big budget Left Hand Trailblazers. It's like the fatter, pugnacious, broken-nosed twit brother of the more traditionally grim graveyard keeper, with churning, chewy, oblique tremolo picked riffs that channel bands like Death, Cadaver, Carnage, Grave and Obituary just as much as they do Clandestine. The riffs are deeper and more turbulent than L-G Petrov, with a little reverb on them to carry them through the dungeon din, and when the band slows to a groovier section it almost explodes into a shower of bloody steak sauce, since the guitars are so blubbery ripe to bursting. They also try their hands at primitive death/doom melodies, like in the second, titular cut, but they feel rather sincere when plugged into the obese bass lines and soiled rhythm guitars.

It's not impressive stuff, because not only does it lack in creativity, but it simply doesn't excel beyond the forerunners of the style in any possible department except that it benefited from production values over a decade into the 21st century. Drums, vocals, riffs, alright...and nothing more. But I give the Italians a modicum of credit for the fact that they seem to at least be tapping into other veins of the regional medium than merely the typical Entombed xerox redux, and they've got no aversion to writing songs that are just dumb, ugly fun steeped in the mysticism of a ouija board session or late night D&D adventure. More focus needs to go to making riffs that stand out, and they could also ramp up their atmospherics & leads for a more rounded and memorable experience. They've gotten a new, female vocalist since this EP, so we shall hear where they take all this.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://www.facebook.com/UndeadCreep

Undead Creep - The Ever-Burning Torch (2011)

Amazingly, the classification 'Swedish' death metal seems no longer to apply exclusively to those practitioners of actual Swedish lineage. Elsewhere in Europe (and beyond), there is a growing tide of clones and aspirants who have apprehended the traditional burst of the scene's guitar tones and then applied their own, meager variations to the medium. Some are exonerated by stronger songwriting which appropriately mirrors the gloomy, potent aesthetics of Left Hand Path, In the Embrace of Evil, Like an Everflowing Stream, Dark Recollections and so forth, and some are simply pissing in the wind. The Ever-Burning Torch is thankfully a card carrier of the former category, and its Italian inventors, Undead Creep are strong enough to rival the 3rd and 4th generation Swedish acts in the field, but it only vaguely succeeds due to a handful of strong and haunting hymns that heave it over the lip of oblivion.

The foremost of these is the opener "Immolated in Reincarnation", which hearkens directly back to the sepulchral force of Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s. Surges of vibrant evil are manifest through the predictable pace and drumming, but the track really delivers when it cedes into its eerie, late bridge which would have felt right at home on Left Hand Path. So they know how to kick off an album, and then hold your attention for a couple more tracks, like the grooving and thrashing of "God's Disdain", the further acceleration of "Surrounded by Tombs", and finally the damp, doom of "Eternal Rest" that later busts out into this superb thrashing lead bridge. After that point, the album seems to dissolve, not in consistency but quality. Further into the play list, the tunes just seem to retread the previously established rhythms and descend into forgetfulness, even if there is an occasional standout riff or two.

The Ever-Burning Torch (possibly named for the thrifty D&D item?) is not hurt by its ominous, dark production standards, which effectively channel the cavernous miasma of past works, and the vocals of Sandro Casu further officiate its authenticity, though they too unabashedly draw their inspiration from the usual suspects. Undead Creep have included their s/t demo from 2009 as a bonus, and the sound there is only slightly rougher in execution, so there is an appreciable value to such completeness. But it's been done, folks, and done nearly to death by this point, so if you're not fresh to the post-Swedish sounds or you're sick of the style's redundancy, you will likely wish to steer clear of these Italians. If you're down for more of that same aesthetic, and fond of how non-Swedes (like Czechs Brutally Deceased) interpret that much lauded period at the dawn of the 90s, then have at this debut.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/undeadcreep666