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| #FOR FANS OF: Black Metal |
Crafteon is a relatively new band which was born in Denver a few years ago. The band plays black metal with a clear melodic touch, which is notorious departure from what two thirds of the band members used to do in some of their previous projects. Those bands were more closely related to power metal, so Crafteon marks a new and much darker step in their careers. The band´s music, the concept and even the monicker itself are based on H.P. Lovecraft´s works. Curiously, the word Crafteon comes from a play-on-words between the words “Lovecraftian" and "Aeon."
Crafteon´s unsigned debut, entitled 'Cosmic Reawakening', has a truly eye-catching artwork, which fits perfectly well with the concept and the history behind the album´s music. The picture depicts a monstrous creature emerging from the oceanic depths, very appropriate in my opinion, for a “Lovecraft-esque” album. The booklet contains some paintings with a similar style and concept, which makes it look as a quite impressive artwork. Not a few extreme metal bands are inspired by H.P. Lovecraft´s tenebrous and mysterious works, and though Crafteon doesn´t reach The Great Old Ones wicked, complex and suffocating interpretation of this dark universe, it’s a different yet interesting offering. In contrast to the French band, 'Cosmic Reawakening' is a much more melodic work with an excellent guitars' work. The album has generally a mid-paced tone, with sporadic fast sections, like at the beginning of the opening track “The Outsider”. Another interesting detail is the bass lines, unlike in many other black metal albums, it can be listen to reasonably well through the album, which I personally appreciate a lot, because the bass lines are buried during the mixing too many times. With regards the production, the album has a slightly filthy production which doesn’t ruin the final result, mainly because the guitar lines, which reign in this album, are easily recognizable and distinctive. The combination of melodic sections and ultra catchy guitars work perfectly well in tracks like “The Colour Out of Space” and specially “The White Ship”, which is highly addictive. Crafteon surely knows how to compose riffs which remain in the head of the fan. This is usually the great difference between the just “ok” albums and the truly good ones like this debut. The vocals sound pretty strong and varied, ranging for slightly high-pitched to a more common hoarse and rotten tone, which for some reason reminds me Mayhem.
In conclusion, this is a fine debut by Crafteon and a pretty enjoyable work for those who want to make an immersion into Lovecraft´s tenebrous universe, without leaving aside a healthy dose of melodic and catchy riffs. For future releases, I would recommend a step forward in terms of production and perhaps the introduction of some atmospheric keys. In my opinion it could work pretty well. (Alain González Artola)
Crafteon´s unsigned debut, entitled 'Cosmic Reawakening', has a truly eye-catching artwork, which fits perfectly well with the concept and the history behind the album´s music. The picture depicts a monstrous creature emerging from the oceanic depths, very appropriate in my opinion, for a “Lovecraft-esque” album. The booklet contains some paintings with a similar style and concept, which makes it look as a quite impressive artwork. Not a few extreme metal bands are inspired by H.P. Lovecraft´s tenebrous and mysterious works, and though Crafteon doesn´t reach The Great Old Ones wicked, complex and suffocating interpretation of this dark universe, it’s a different yet interesting offering. In contrast to the French band, 'Cosmic Reawakening' is a much more melodic work with an excellent guitars' work. The album has generally a mid-paced tone, with sporadic fast sections, like at the beginning of the opening track “The Outsider”. Another interesting detail is the bass lines, unlike in many other black metal albums, it can be listen to reasonably well through the album, which I personally appreciate a lot, because the bass lines are buried during the mixing too many times. With regards the production, the album has a slightly filthy production which doesn’t ruin the final result, mainly because the guitar lines, which reign in this album, are easily recognizable and distinctive. The combination of melodic sections and ultra catchy guitars work perfectly well in tracks like “The Colour Out of Space” and specially “The White Ship”, which is highly addictive. Crafteon surely knows how to compose riffs which remain in the head of the fan. This is usually the great difference between the just “ok” albums and the truly good ones like this debut. The vocals sound pretty strong and varied, ranging for slightly high-pitched to a more common hoarse and rotten tone, which for some reason reminds me Mayhem.
In conclusion, this is a fine debut by Crafteon and a pretty enjoyable work for those who want to make an immersion into Lovecraft´s tenebrous universe, without leaving aside a healthy dose of melodic and catchy riffs. For future releases, I would recommend a step forward in terms of production and perhaps the introduction of some atmospheric keys. In my opinion it could work pretty well. (Alain González Artola)
(Self - 2017)
Score: 80
https://crafteon.bandcamp.com/releases
Score: 80
https://crafteon.bandcamp.com/releases