LIVE review: Limelight II - 03/09/2016 - Belfast Metalheads Reunited

A smoky and atmospheric intro heralds the arrival of doom/death metal headliners The Crawling,
who – once the smoke clears – are instantly engaging, particularly vocalist/guitarist Andy Clarke, who is all intense glares and mesmerising charisma, with a voice straight from the bowels of Hell.

Their richly textured songs combine both slow and fast sections – doom and death – with the faster sections simply commanding the crowd to headbang, which they do, ecstatically.

They play a mix of both current songs such as 'Catatonic' and, excitingly, new tracks from their upcoming, as yet untitled album, such as 'Violence, Vanity and Neglect', which has a thick groove and an almost stoner metal feel.

There's a real symbiotic relationship between the crowd and the band, with Clarke in particular feeding of the waves of applause and relish washing over the stage. And when they close their set with the magnificently creepy 'The Right to Crawl', with its buzzing fly intro and masterful use of pace changes, the flailing hair in the room could power a wind turbine.

Once again, it's a visceral and thrilling set from this talented bunch.

The black/death metal scene in Northern Ireland is in gloriously rude health right now, as was made abundantly clear tonight by the three bands who played so convincingly and so ardently. Menacing, bloody and murky: the kind of music that punches you in the gut and gleefully eviscerates you. Oh yes.

Review by Melanie Black

Belfast Metalheads Reunited

Comments

CD review: 'In Light of Dark Days' - Lords of Metal

Marcel H. : Yes, I know. I am a sucker for death doom and then especially for the kind that has some real death metal in it and not that gothic stuff.. So, hell yeah, I am listening to The Crawling’s ‘In Light Of Dark Days’ EP with a huge grin from ear to ear. Drummer Gary Beattie some of you might know from his drumming in Zombified and it’s especially he who puts the death metal into The Crawling. For death doom this EP is short with its three songs which clock in at a total of a little over nineteen minutes. The longest song is just over eight minutes. An advantage is that the listener will be fully focussed from start to finish. Don’t expect any innovation but just well-executed death doom which makes it clear where these gentlemen got their inspiration from. Lords of Metal

CD review: 'Anatomy Of Loss' - Worship Metal

Anatomy of Loss is the debut full-length from The Crawling, a trio of death/doomers hailing from Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The melancholy stylings of classic Paradise Lost are strong influences here, so you should have a good idea of what to expect. There isn’t anything groundbreaking about Anatomy of a Loss, but lyrics, tone, and instrumentation all come together to create a solid expression of mourning as expressed in the album’s title and the “dedicated to” section of the liner notes. Guitarist Andy Clarke does a good job of blending tremolo death riffs, single-note doom riffs, and dissonant chord progressions, making for songs that are varied enough to stay interesting without losing the depressing, bleak edge that is the album’s theme. “All Our Failings” and a few other sections get a bit groovy, which throws off the downcast vibe a bit, and there are a few transitions that are slightly jarring, but highlights like “An Immaculate Deception” and a re-recorded version of “Th

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