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CRYPT DWELLER
Coven Of The Ancients

Death Is Imminent (2022)
Rating: 8/10

Trudging through extremely eerie realms of fog and dankness, Klamath Falls, Oregon-based oddity Crypt Dweller oozes out its third full-length volume of gloominess. Miserably esoteric, Coven Of The Ancients is one hell of an atmospheric lumber through death / doom dimensions and is the brainchild of the mysterious Brandon “Corvus” Cundiff.

If you like deep, dark and ominous extreme metal that emits strong whiffs of the mould-ridden underground then you’re going to be an immediate disciple of such dismal clanks. For 50 minutes I became enveloped in thick, gloopy mists and a pea-soup fog of musical drudgery which bestows upon you a grim, dissonance brand of macabre weight.

However, it’s far from being a one-dimensional death / doom outing. Instead, there are tracks like ‘Count Nachtkraken’ which are laced with mystical female vocals and effective Gothic synths, but the general feel is one of a bewitching dungeon that leaks weirdness and doom from its very walls, such as on the slow motion drool of ‘Into The Well Of The Damned’ and the monolithic rolls of ‘Forbidden Spell’.

At the fringes of such a suffocating lumber is a cosmic coating which twinkles with a cold and desolate glee as Cundiff bellows morbid prose amidst stodgy seas of chilling turns. Don’t expect any sort of pace as this is very much dense doom that acts as a pitch black blanket which occasionally sparkles with celestial coldness. But from the slogging ‘Cloaked Mage Cult’ which is again peppered with theatrical female chants, this is a rather mesmeric and spooky trip that forces you to keep watch for any ethereal manifestations that may sweep across that allegedly uninhabited Moon.

Neil Arnold

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