Review by Vinny for Crawl (TX-USA) - Damned (2023)

Woah!! Come to halt there and apply the handbrake, taking the car out of gear please. Did you just say, “drone metal”? I mean, I know what that is, and usually I don’t like it, but I have been nodding along appreciatively for the past few spins of this one. Maybe we should hit play again and go around the block a few more times to make sure one of us isn’t wrong? That, or I could just admit that my tastes are broader than I thought and we can all just get on with our lives. Either way, as it turns out, Damned is a great record, whatever it is.

Before I had even picked up on the details for this one I had picked up on the Hell comparison and was therefore delighted to see that MSW was involved in the record. Crawl certainly inhabits that same claustrophobic, smothering space that Hell revels in yet at the same time I get a lot of Primitive Man in Crawl’s sound, which is equally high praise also. Considering I had never heard of Michael Engle until this release, it was surprising that his output musically was limited to this solo project and him also being the one-time drummer of a progressive sludge band called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. I can see that he also toured with Boris in 2022 on their US tour, so this is a man with some serious heavy credentials.

This combination of rattling bass and oppressive atmospheres that dredge their way through various elements of noise, doom and drone creates a unique sense of discomfort, of solid things being displaced. The opening track is little more than heavy atmosphere, but it works so well as an introduction to the rest of the album that it is in its own way, perfect. I don’t know that any of these tracks work particularly well in isolation, with my thinking being that they are best consumed as part of a whole album sitting. There are no finger buffet style pickings here, Damned is an experience to be immersed in. Herein could lie potential weaknesses for some listeners seeking a more immediate listening experience. It took me a few goes to understand exactly how to listen to Damned before its true majesty became obvious. Glad I got there though.