Review of Crionics - Neuthrone

Crionics continue in the Polish national tradition of creating violent, unrelenting death metal. They spice up their sound with a noticeable black metal influence, along with a touch of electronics, giving them a futuristic cyber-metal aura. I have heard their prior album, Armageddon’s Evolution, once or twice and remember having the same reaction to that album as this one: enjoyable, quality death metal.

The production on Neuthrone strongly benefits their sound, by processing Waran’s vocals to a real guttural and garbled roar…unless of course he produces these sounds on his own, and then I’d really be impressed. His voice carries a slight accent that is common to other Polish vocalists like Peter of Vader. He also plays guitar, and the guitar is produced with a fuzzy low-end emphasis, which combines with a prominent bass to create a thunderous din. Darkside’s drumming is fast, meticulous, and mixed clearly at just the right volume.

So, the music is great asthetically, but how are the songs? Pretty damn good. “Arrival 2033” jumps right into a monstrous riff that leads into a choppy verse. They base their approach on rapid-fire drumming, and tremolo picking, rather than dancing all over the fretboard. Their playing seems more visceral than over-technical, and there is room for both styles in extreme metal. “Hell Earth” features a great passage where a computerized line is layered on top of groovy percussion with riffing that follows the drumming rather than vice versa. I’d like to see them dive deeper into that style and carve out a niche for themselves, but their preferred style works for them, almost as well it works for Behemoth. The last track is a re-recorded demo song from their earliest days, and is a nifty piece of thrashy black metal.

Neuthrone will likely be a familiar album to Crionics fans, but there are enough worthwhile songs to merit a listen. Besides, they are from Poland, perhaps the most consistently excellent country for death metal. What else do you need to know?

Release Details

Crionics

Neuthrone

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