siLLy puPPy Based in Vienna but formed in the central Austrian city of Judenburg, CROWORD (often stylized as CroworD) is the brainchild of bassist Lukas Rappitsch who formed the band in 2012 after recruiting Martin Karner (vocals), Michael Karner (guitar), Florian Bogensberger (guitar) and Gabriel Cresnar on drums. They made somewhat of a splash with the debut EP “Manifest of Mortal Sickness” in 2016 and has been gaining momentum ever since but still doesn’t seem to be quite well known outside of its native Austria.

Inspired heavily by the Gothenburg scene of melodic death metal, this quintet has so far released two EPs and this sole full-length THE GREAT BEYOND which came out in 2017, features 12 tracks and adds up to just over 51 minutes of playing time. The album was produced in the band’s own studio with André Alvinzi who has worked with Insomnium and The Foresaken in the producer’s seat. The mastering was done by Jens Bogren of At The Gates, Opeth and Katatonia fame.

Sounding like a veritable mix of Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility and perhaps a touch of Edge of Sanity, CROWORD delivers a convincing melo-death style that would make you swear they emerged from the southern lands of Sweden. The music features the typical melo-death characteristics of dueling guitar harmonies with distorted down-tuned riffing. The Amon Amarth comparison really ring true with lead singer’s Martin Karner’s deep guttural growling but the music isn’t quite as epic as that Swedish powerhouse.

While mostly an aggressive head banging journey from beginning to start, moments of clean guitar tones with slow melancholic moments do occur particularly on tracks like “Wall of Blackness (Part I) and (Part II).” Chunky riffs with blazing lead guitar solos underneath dominate the soundscape with a bouncy bass groove and diverse array of drumming styles. Generally speaking the band delivers the right mix of aggressive gnarly death metal with the typical melodic guitar sweeps in the vein of classic heavy metal. While as unintelligible as any guttural growly death metal, lyrics are inspired by medieval legends of the Alps and the works of Aldous Huxley, Michael Ende, Antoine Saint-Exupéry and Franz Kafka.

Overall this is a decent band that has absolutely nailed the classic Gothenburg melo-death sound but doesn’t quite add enough original imprints to make this stand out amongst the hoards of competition. Musically speaking these guys are incredibly talented and deliver this style of metal without flinching. It’s not exactly a clone of any particular band but sort of falls between the cracks of various Gothenburg metal bands thus sounding somewhat distinct but not instantly obvious that that’s the case. All in all this is certainly an entertaining listen and displays CROWORD as a veritable act that ready to hit the big time if only they could find some unique spin to break free from the somewhat generic approach they display here.