siLLy puPPy One-man band Michael Engel has been cranking out albums, splits and EPs for over a decade now as the ominous sounding CRAWL but found a long gap between his latest DAMNED and the 2019 release “Necrotic Fear.” While traditionally a mix of sludge and drone metal, DAMNED has pretty much abandoned any notion of sludgery for a bleaker mix of funeral doom metal plodding, drone metal monotony and dark ambient atmospheric chill effects.

DAMNED features four long plodding tracks that extend past the 37-minute mark and showcase Engel’s frightful blackened dungeon doom effect in full lo-fi regalia. Nicely paced and seemingly demonically possessed, the music exudes a horrific march into the depths of the underworld with molasses slow bass / guitar grooves accompanied by Engel’s black metal rasps that simulate a grim reaper having a very bad day.

The sludge metal of previous releases has been totally replaced by a monotonous funeral doom procession with only energetic drum rolls breaking the hypnotic spell of torturous cyclical loops playing the soundtrack of hell for eternity. The mix of the elements is perfect for the overall effect and the lo-fi exuberance perfectly scratches the itch for a droning blackened funeral from the deepest depths of the unseen darkness. Occasional keyboard melodies creep out of the underbelly of the beast.

Drone metal in general can be quite boring but CRAWL adds the right amount of tension by slowly ratcheting up the tempos while the tortured blackened screams become more frenetic as the tracks progress. The mixing is excellent and the entire effort really does harken to the earliest days when first wave black metal was giving way to the second coming. The ambience stands alone as spectacular like frightful howling winds kissed by the demonic forces that summon a war of the worlds.

In this minimalist approach CRAWL has focused on the elements that really make the horror soundtrack work on all levels. While my appetite for drone metal oriented albums rarely make it to the top of my list, when i do find the right combo of elements that work in tandem so well to craft the utmost dread and fear factor, i cannot resist the temptation to venture into the world of the snail-paced where every ounce of doom and gloom is milked for your depressive pleasure. Much better than many of the SUNN O))) releases that try to hard to cram too much in which ruins the effects. Sometimes less is more and CRAWL got that memo.