Warcrab – Damned in Endless Night (Review)

This is the third album from UK death/sludge metal band Warcrab.

Scars of Aeons was a very enjoyable mix of sludge and death metal, so when I found out that this new album was on the horizon, I prepared myself accordingly. Damned in Endless Night is a bigger monster than Scars of Aeons was though, with double the tracks and a total duration of 52 minutes.

Apparently this is being touted as the band’s first full length album, despite previously releases being referred to as albums by most people. So is this actually their first or third? Either way, it doesn’t matter; the music is what’s important here.

The band’s three-guitar assault focuses on massively heavy grooves, with crushing waves of distortion large enough to smash buildings. The death metal elements, (recalling Bolt Thrower and Autopsy), are intact and well, although there’s overall more going on during these songs than previously. The sludge metal feel of the songs has also increased, in no small part due to the new singer.

Yes, Warcrab have a new vocalist for this release, so gone are the deathgrowls of old. The new vocals are delivered from more of a sludge metal perspective than a guttural death one, although like the music the vocals are actually a hybrid of both. Mainly performing harsh rasping vocals that fall somewhere between a scream and a growl, the new singer acquits himself nicely.

Full of enticing riffs, hostile attitude, and memorable songs, the Warcrab of 2019 have offered a very compelling and absorbing release. Incorporating elements of doom and classic metal into their sound here and there, (the former in moments of foul slowness, and the latter predominantly in solos), Damned in Endless Night is a very well-rounded slab of material.

A hostile mix of Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Eyehategod, and Dopethrone, Damned in Endless Night is Warcrab’s most accomplished work to date.

Very highly recommended.