The Crawling are a death/doom band from Northern Ireland and this is their third album.
The promo blurb for this album recommends it for fans of Paradise Lost, Officium Triste, Evoken, and Sentenced, which gives a decent starting point for what sort of style The Crawling play. To this I’d also add touches of My Dying Bride and, from a mid-paced death metal perspective, Gorefest in places, (I can’t help but be drawn back to certain parts of Gorefest’s 1995 album Erase. Although The Crawling sound different, I can’t help but feel that their approach to building solid song structures out of strong riffs is similar).
All of This for Nothing contains 43 minutes of professionally crafted music. It’s very well-written, with the band demonstrating an obvious understanding of the style beyond the simple basics. Constructed around choice riffs, bleak melodies, nuanced drumming, engaging bass, and hooked vocals, these songs are hideously enjoyable and satisfying.
It’s hard to do justice in mere words to how good this is. Honestly, All of This for Nothing just exudes quality. It’s a record that has instantly striking songwriting, yet also a depth of substance that brings you inevitably back again and again.
Each song blends heavy slabs of downbeat death metal with misery-drenched doom, resulting in dark death/doom that is a captivating exemplar of the style. The Crawling have a song-based approach that’s remarkably well-crafted and memorable, while still having plenty of atmospheric and emotive presence.
All of This for Nothing is a shockingly impressive album. The quality of songwriting and delivery on this record should, by all rights, see The Crawling ascend to the highest echelons of the scene. Whether that happens or not, only time will tell, but I urge you not to miss out on this superlative album in the meantime.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 