Killing Technology

We're having some problems with our domain name of http://theeclaw.com at the moment, so if you could all point your browsers to http://theeclaw.blogspot.com for the next few days that would be grand.

In order to stop this just being a repeat of something we've already posted on Facebook, can I direct you all to this?

The Devils Ride Out - Ninkharsag, Crypt Lurker, Coltsblood & Cult of the Head - 1 November, The Pilgrim in Liverpool

"While the crowd had been busy at the tables, their leaders had donned fantastic costumes. One had a huge cat mask over his head and a furry cloak, the tail of which dangled behind him on the ground; another wore the headdress of a repellent toad; the face of a third, still masked, gleamed bluish for a moment in the candlelight from between the distended jaws of a wolf, and Mocata, whom they could still recognise by his squat obesity, now had webbed wings sprouting from his shoulders which gave him the appearance of a giant bat."

Crypt Lurker - Baneful Magic, Death Worship and Necromancy Rites Archaic

"My hour is almost come, When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames must render up myself."

Whilst the metal world delights in the occult rock false doom of bands like Ghost and Uncle Acid, sombre, atramentous types have been gathering in the dark, harking back to traditional, funereal death/doom and writing tunes to make toes curl.
 
Crypt Lurker are one such band, drawing together elements from all dark corners of the metal world, the stygian crawl of Burning Witch, the sprawling emptiness of dISEMBOWELMENT and the harsh cold of early Darkthrone but carving their own niche with so much more than spectres of the nineties.
Opening with the mesmerising riff of "Shadowclad, Pale", Crypt Lurker conjure up a thick atmosphere, punctured by a tolling bell and ghastly vocals.This dreadful, cloying feel continues into "Bearer of the Two Torches", resulting in almost twenty minutes of slow, downtuned riffing, before the relatively short "Crossing the Abysmal Depths" with it's wardrum-style introduction, strangely majestic feel and sound of buried strings prepares the way for the epic EP closer “To the Piping of Two Amorphous Idiot Flute-Players” - a ten minute-plus journey into some form of Lovecraftian nightmare.
This is real death/doom, and should be as much of a fist in the face of metal that the Peaceville Three were to an equally unimaginative scene in their day.

Crypt Lurker have been making a name for themselves playing with the likes of Black Magician, Dragged into Sunlight and so forth, and this 12" EP is out in strictly limited numbers from Ulthar Records, to be pressed on CD by Mordgrimm Records later this month.

www.facebook.com/cryptlurker 
www.ultharrecords.com 
www.facebook.com/ultharrecords

Limb / Gurt - Split Roast EP

Frightening the neighbours courtesy of Witch Hunter Records is the new combined release from Gurt and Limb - and what a release, really showcasing where sludge is at in the UK right now. Each band has contributed an original track, a cover version, and then covered a track by the other band on the split - resulting in a unique, varied selection.

Gurt kick off the proceedings with new song "Sophisticate" Southern style sludge boogie that barrels along nicely and gets your head nodding and foot tapping (I even broke into some air drumming),  and their cover of Limb's "Gift of the Sun" is transformed into a fuzz-heavy whirlwind of a track,  but the strangely jarring cover of Talking Head's "Psycho Killer" is an unexpected highlight here - it lends itself to the heaviness in a way that I would never imagine, breaking down into a middle-of-the-pit stomp at the end. Most interesting.

Long time Claw favourites Limb debut a new track, "Plague Doctor", a mid paced barnstormer with casual, nodding Sabbath tones giving way to a heads-down middle section that picks up the pace a slightly before shuddering to a halt like a jack-knifing truck. Lesser-known Queen track "Son and Daughter" gets the fuzz treatment here, mutating into a riff-heavy, howling phantom of it's original version. Brian May on spacecakes. The EP closes with Limb covering Gurt's sweary "Soapfeast" and putting their own stamp all over it, then dragging it to it's feet and stamping on it again.

All in all, WHR have put together two of the most interesting sludge bands in the UK at the moment and done something fresh and new - a new highlight in an already impressive catalogue.

Get yourself over here for limited edition handmade CDs, NOW.