Crematory
Pray

Crematory has been turning out their musical wares since 1991, in one incarnation or another. They were a little more raw in the early days, adding subtle hints of Electronica and cranking up the Goth a bit on the way. Their 2008 offering Pray is a full on Gothic Death Metal assault complete with the clean/growl vocal combo, piano/synthesizer presence and tight, heavy production.

A little more melodic and accessible than My Dying Bride, Crematory tend to put a few more commercial hooks into Pray, without going full on into MTV-goth. The melodies are somber and, while not blatantly copying anyone, also a tad familiar. The tempos range from your standard Gothic drone to more upbeat, head-banging passages. The growl vocals are deep and rich, while the clean vocals are melodic and competent. The interplay between the guitar riffs and the coloring of the keyboards comes off nicely. “Have You Ever”, “Left The Ground” (good energetic tempo), “Sleeping Solution” (nice mid-tempo groove and good melody), “Just Words” (haunting number with a creepy piano intro), and opening kicker “When Darkness Falls” are all strong, melodic songs.

While there’s nothing terribly new about Pray, it does manage to be a catchy, enjoyable Metal album. It’s more of the same without being mundane. Its well worth the repeated listens it’s going to get from me.

http://www.myspace.com/crematorymusic

[Visit the band's website]
Written by Shawn Pelata
December 30th, 2008

Comments

  1. Commented by: Erik Thomas

    These guys are still around? I remember semi blowing my wad over …Just Dreaming for some reason


  2. Commented by: Cynicgods

    Still around but they should’ve stopped two albums ago, if you ask me. This one is by far their worst output. What happened to the band that made excellent records such as Transmigration and …Just Dreaming? This tends to happen to every long-running band except Bolt Thrower, AC/DC and Motorhead. Their new influences overcome their sound but the band you once loved gets lost in the process.


Leave a Reply

Privacy notice: When you submit a comment, your creditentials, message and IP address will be logged. A cookie will also be created on your browser with your chosen name and email, so that you do not need to type them again to post a new comment. All post and details will also go through an automatic spam check via Akismet's servers and need to be manually approved (so don't wonder about the delay). We purge our logs from your meta-data at frequent intervals.

  • Mammoth Grinder - Undying Spectral Resonance EP
  • Wretched Fate - Incineration of the Pious EP
  • Kaivs - After the Flesh
  • Witnesses - Joy
  • Mythbegotten - Tales from the Unseelie Court
  • Worm Shepherd - Hunger
  • Chained to the Dead - Only Hunger Remains EP
  • Entheos - An End to Everything EP
  • Trollwar - Tales From the Frozen Wastes EP
  • Gigan - Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus
  • Whispering Void - At the Sound of the Heart
  • Human Harvest - Void of the Vile
  • Defeated Sanity - Chronicles of Lunacy
  • A Scar For the Wicked - Acolythus
  • Sentient Horror - In Service of the Dead