KRUELTY – Profane Usurpation

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7.0

• Bands:
  KRUELTY
• Duration: 00:16:03
• Available from: 11/22/2024
• Label:

• Closed Casket Activities

With “Profane Usurpation”, Kruelty and their now infamous death metal/hardcore hybrid mark a new phase in their journey, landing under the aegis of the increasingly interesting American label Closed Casket Activities. A four-track EP for just over a quarter of an hour of music that not only consolidates the Japanese band's position in the extreme international environment, but also shows a stylistic evolution that emphasizes its energy and increasingly marked dynamism.
Recently the group has become a trio, with guitarist Zuma now also behind the microphone, and this reduction in membership may have influenced this more direct musical imprint: the songs of “Profane Usurpation” in fact renounce certain old death developments -doom in favor of tighter structures and greater rhythmic vitality. What emerges is a now perfectly balanced fusion between death metal and hardcore, with some unprecedented forays into more metallic grindcore which are called into question here to give the whole thing further bite.
It almost seems like we are dealing with more square Nails, especially if we think about the way in which the Japanese blend (death) metal and hardcore worlds without adhering to pre-packaged formulas and licked productions: the sound is raw but dense, and recalls organic warmth recordings the old fashioned way without giving up a defined and powerful performance. This is also thanks to the supervision of the increasingly sought-after producer Taylor Young (Xibalba, Nails, Drain), who enhances the brute strength of the band while keeping their authenticity and their live feeling intact. Even Kruelty's attitude today is more reminiscent of the formation led by Todd Jones, especially in its search for a violent and extremist sound mix, even if the trio's style stands out precisely for its greater weight and for a sense of control that makes the most powerful proposal.
For the rest, the influences are the same as always, with references to the death metal of Rippikoulu, Grave and Coffins in many of the main riffs, but also to the hardcore scene of the Nineties, both American and Japanese, with names like All Out War, Turmoil and Dyingraces that peek out among the mossiest folds of the work.
In short, this EP marks another important step for Kruelty, not only for the change of label but also for the maturity they demonstrate in balancing past and present. If the extreme heaviness of the debut “A Dying Truth” is starting to be a memory, it cannot be said that the band has lost intensity and inspiration. For those who have appreciated its evolution up to this point, “Profane Usurpation” is, in short, an unmissable stage.