Feeling like it would be a fine time for some mid-paced death metal, maybe? And wanting to find some new blood, possibly? And it would always be plus if it would come from a bit more exotic country, perhaps? Then it is time to turn to Stormgrey, who hail from Lithuania, and their sole release, 'Pray.Crawl.Suffer' album.

Why? Because one could choose much worse a band with that criterion, period. These guys aren't rookies; they have played in Dissection (not that one), Necropsy, Burying Place and Conscious Rot. Well, didn't mean much to me, except for Dissection, but now you're reading a Stormgrey review, so... The album opens with slithering march 'Fury', which contains some strong Bolt Thrower influences, such as tank-like drive with low-tuned guitars and double bass drum assault, plus chord progressions resembling Mid-Eastern music. There's also Eastern European death metal vibe during its blast beat part. Yeah, songs sometimes contain faster tempos, too, but still this is mostly mid-paced. At times there are loads of nonstraight beats to enliven the rhythm section.

It took me a while to get it: One of the biggest influences for Stormgrey was Obituary, and especially their former guitarist Allen West. First Six Feet Under albums and also Lowbrow (who, by the way, have an album titled 'Sex. Violence. Death.'...) come to mind at times. Low tuned guitars offer sturdy palm-muted riffing and impetuous open-string playing, and not forgetting some heavy string bending.

The vocal performance is one of the highlights on the album. It is very diverse, but still allround brutal. Beary growling takes place between guttural and more high-pitched vociferations, plus some varying shouted ones. The vocals, the guitars and the bass blend into one heavy, bassy, assaulting wall. The mix is variegated by the cymbals, which bring that needed trebly reach into it. Reminds me about latter era Gorefest.

Not every song is a goodie. For example 'Smoke That Pot' is somewhat stale when compared to better material. There definitely is variety in the songs, and even throughout the album, yet it all feels a tad too familiar. Still, if you're looking for Obituary-influenced stuff, this is a cool album to inspect. Sadly, the drummer passed away last year, so the band's fate is unknown...

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/31/2019 12:20