Reviews list for Cruciform - Atavism (1993)

The only proper release from Sydney-based doom/death metal exponents Cruciform came to my attention at a time that I regard as being amongst the more exciting in my life to date. 1993 saw me forming the first iteration of my own death metal band Neuropath (still under our early moniker of Coprophagia) with four younger kids from the local area & we had every right to think that we might be the only metalheads in the entire Northern Beaches region that were clued up on the thriving death metal phenomenon that had taken off in the underground metal scene a couple of years earlier. One day one of us came back from the local record store Sandy's Music with a copy of the "Atavism" CD & shared it with the rest of the band who all enjoyed its filthy brand of death metal-infused doom. The music was simple enough for us to compare to our own early works but sophisticated enough to exude a strong pedigree in an underground scene that was currently thriving off the back of the tape trading concept. It wouldn't be long before we'd learn that Cruciform were actually located fairly close in proximity to us &, even more impressive, were also one of the senior players in the Sydney extreme metal scene at the time, being signed to the infamous Warhead Records label that was responsible for several key releases in the annuls of Australian metal history & would go on to release Neuropath's 1996 "Desert of Excruciation" demo too. This added additional appeal to the CD & would see us analyzing "Atavism" in greater detail. Opening track "Sanctuary" would become somewhat of a band favourite & we'd go about covering that song at all of our early live shows. At one Lewisham Hotel gig in 1994 we'd be approached by the sound guy after our set, only to find that we had just played a Cruciform cover to the band's new vocalist/keyboardist Simon Gruer which was terribly exciting. Shortly afterwards we'd realize that the long-haired gentleman behind the counter at Sandy's Music that had sold many of the local kids their copies of "Atavism" was in fact guitarist Leon Kelly too & I'd build up somewhat of a familiarity with him over the next couple of years. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was an idol but I certainly looked up to him & listened to what he said with great interest.

Cruciform would go on to develop & mature very quickly after the release of "Atavism", culminating in the amazing "Paradox" demo tape in 1995 which saw them poised to break out of the local scene with a new deal with legendary English extreme metal label Earache Records in the works. We were heading to all of the band's live shows (well... the ones we could get in to as most of the other band members were still under the age of 18) which had become immeasurably more epic off the back of Gruer's inclusion & the strength of the new material. But just when Cruciform's light was about to shine at its brightest, the band spilt up & were lost from the Sydney scene, seemingly overnight. They'd reform many years later in 2012 & are still playing shows now but have not released any new recorded material that I'm aware of up until now. That's obviously quite a story but was "Atavism" really as good as my young ears thought it was at the time? Or was I simply dazzled by the idea of some local brothers in arms that were older than me & had achieved things that I was still yet to attempt? Well, I think the answer is a bit of both looking at it with modern-day ears.

"Atavism" was a six song release that we actually regarded as being an E.P. back in the day given its relatively short 32-minute duration. It opens with a lengthy three-minute neoclassical darkwave synthesizer piece that hasn't stood the test of time very well & sounds fairly cheesy these days. The remaining five pieces are made up of extreme metal tunes that had all become staples of the Cruciform live sets & are all worth hearing too, some more than others though it has to be said. The production job has a lovely layer of underground dirt caked on it that gives the music some additional authenticity while the musicianship was still fairly basic at this time with several examples of timing issues being plainly visible in the recordings that were clearly produced under tight financial constraints.

The early Cruciform sound is often touted as sitting somewhere between the doom/death sound that had taken the global scene by storm off the back of the Peaceville Three a couple of years earlier & a more conventional death metal one. You can certainly see why on the evidence here but the doom/death component plays a much stronger role than the death metal one so I don't think there's much reason for a dual tagging personally. "Reduced to Dust" is really the only straight-up death metal tune included with "Proboscis" being more of a hybrid & I'd suggest that those two tracks are probably the least impressive of the five proper songs anyway. Those pieces often remind me of My Dying Bride's early death metal efforts actually. The doomier material is where the real guts of Cruciform's notoriety was formed though with the two songs that bookend the release ("Sanctuary" & "I, to the Heavens Shall Lift My Eyes") being the clear standouts in my opinion.  The band was still a four-piece at the time but utilized a three-pronged vocal attack that adds a great deal of interest to their sound. I particularly enjoy the ultra-deep death growl that reminds me of "Symphonies of Sickness" era Carcass although the occasional use of a higher register approach comes across as a little weak & gurgly.

Early Cruciform already possessed an uncanny knack for melody, particularly for such a young band. The way they allow their better compositions to build over time showed a good understanding of dynamics, even if the technical capabilities of the various band members still seemed to be a little immature at the time. Listening back now, I can easily pick up some sections of tracks like "Proboscis" & "I, to the Heavens Shall Lift My Eyes" that have been reworked into some of the more brilliant parts of the "Paradox" demo that I still regard as one of the finest I've ever heard to this day. Unfortunately though, I don't think any of these pieces compare all that well to the two epic numbers that make up that incredibly underappreciated release & this leaves "Atavism" as very much the entree to the "Paradox" main course. It's hard for me to think of it as anything else after all the years of solitary bedroom worship for Cruciform's later material but "Atavism" is still worth seeking out for early doom/death enthusiasts as there weren't too many artists exploring these creative avenues at the time. "Paradox" would see Cruciform pushing a sound that was wwaayy ahead of its time & could well have had a major impact on the global scene if it was given the right production & exposure in my opinion. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be though & we're left with only these limited recording to enjoy which in many ways pre-empted my own musical journey with Neuropath.

For fans of Hearse, Sorrow & Asphyx.