ALBUM REVIEW: Monstrous Eruption Of Impetuous Preposterosity – Crepitation
CREPITATION are a band that many within the UK extreme metal scene, and notably fans in the North West, are all too familiar with; for a band that still puts on incredibly energetic and ferocious performances, it’s hard to believe that the now Liverpool-based five-piece have been creating music and playing live for close to 20 years. First gaining wider attention via their contribution to the North West Slam Fest split alongside INGESTED and KASTRATED in 2007, the band have gone from strength to strength as the years go by, cementing their reputation as one of the country’s best slam and brutal death metal acts. Their second album Monstrous Eruption Of Impetuous Preposterosity comes just shy of eight years after their 2015 debut The Violence Of The Slams, and shows a more technical and polished version of the band whilst possessing all the core elements that have made them and their music so impressive.
Carcinogenital Space Hopper is an intense and groove-laden start to the record, with dense vocals providing a counterpoint to the stringent music that backs them, resulting in a powerful opening gambit. Rancid Blubbery Encrustments is a brilliantly punchy affair with slick guitars, monolithic bass and frenetic drums, blending grindcore with melodeath touches and standing in stark contrast with the following track Methanated Propulsion Of Gaseous Levitation – a song that shifts heavily in favour of the tech death elements within the band’s sound as technical guitar and drum performances, thick vocals and throbbing bass cut through to add some depth to this crowded and visceral offering.
The Gyrospastic Photomancer (Purging Of The Able-bodied) is a short, sharp shock of brutal death metal with sludgy bass interludes, crushing guitars and domineering vocals providing a brief yet belligerent aural assault. Vicious Entwattering Of Obstinant Nepotistic Shithouses has a sharper, mathcore edge, driven by bursts of extremity and jarring, discordant hooks that mesh well with the tight drums and make for an incredibly rabid sound that immediately grabs the listener’s attention. Priapismic Whisking Of Mucilaginous Concrete Slurry is another dizzying whirlwind of virtuosic musicianship with polished guitars and impenetrable gutturals, bringing together the band’s bestial and catchier sides. Custardized Urethral Vomit Cannon serves as a monstrous slab of slam with solid cacophonous elements turning this into a muscular but agile number.
Bloated Festering Mass Of Corpulent Immensity brings back the mix of huge rhythms and grating mathcore flourishes, again showing that CREPITATION are at their best when they are at their most feral. Devourification Of Skewerised Rottiserie Hominids pushes the intensity of the music, notably the drums, to new, unhinged heights, teetering on the brink of collapse but managing to keep things precise, making this sound more caustic and savage as a result. Molecular Testicular Spectacular Dracula Vernacular backs up the band’s underlying humour with fantastic riffs, punishing percussive blasts and animalistic vocals, proving to be one of the album’s catchiest tracks by being relatively slower than many of the other songs and allowing the weighty rhythms to shine through.
Reeking Blobs Of Globular Viscosity again utilises fluid guitars for a grandiose, technical sound, with equally vile vocal performances matching the nauseating tone and adding a focused, vitriolic edge that makes it even more impressive. Barkkake continues in the same vein, with the music on all fronts being energetic and aggressive, whilst making plenty of room for some memorable hooks that distinguish this from many of the preceding tracks. Superkalifragelisticexpibabyshakeus, another extremely frenzied offering with blistering guitars, thunderous drumming and unflinchingly harsh vocals, brings the album to a conclusion with a meaty, cavernous piece of brutal death metal with a generous helping of slam and technical prowess.
In the eight years since the release of The Violence Of The Slams, it’s clear that there have been some musical shifts within the band’s sound that, although subtle, have made Monstrous Eruption Of Impetuous Preposterosity an impressive follow-up. The slam elements that were quite a dominant part of the band’s sound in their early work don’t feature as prominently, and there’s a larger focus on deathgrind and brutal death metal within this album, with intricate and technical hooks, especially from the bass and guitar, lending this a leaner, sharper feel. It’s still got that intensity and urgency that has been a hallmark of CREPITATION‘s since even their earliest days, but it’s a lot more refined, trimming away much of the fat and leaving behind only the most focused and visceral parts of their sound.
Rating: 8/10
Monstrous Eruption Of Impetuous Preposterosity is out now via Vicious Instinct Records.
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