We all have those funny tales and memories to recount from gigs, and thus I shall regal you with one now. Once upon a time me and a friend decided to visit Berlin to watch Amenra with a show comprising of live tattooing taking place on stage. Alas, when we arrived we found the show to be sold out and had no way in. We were gutted and after a swift pint walked back to our hotel. However on the way back we were stopped by a fellow Metalhead whom asked ‘do you like Death and Black Metal?’ naturally we said yes and we were led into perhaps the grimiest venue I’ve ever seen. It was perfect and the night turned out to be one to remember.

One of said bands whom I witnessed that night was Cryptic Brood. They themselves being of German origin. They formed back in 2013 and thus I saw them the following year, I even picked up a copy of their split with Graveyard Ghoul fittingly entitled The Graveyard Brood. I was pretty into it but sadly the band slipped from my radar with me even missing their 2017 debut Brain Eater. Yet now the chance has come to review their second full length Outcome Of Obnoxious Science which comes to us in all its Death Doom glory through War Anthem Records.

Despite having a Doom laden ethos and very Autopsy inspired bass riffs the album thunders through tracks with the nature of a more traditional Death Metal band. Alas the music therein is enjoyable, crushing blows at its start in Biting Through Flesh, Mantled With The Stench Of Death and Ferocious Torment make for a sluggish trudge of archaic Death Metal bliss. Indeed the album is in every essence ancient in sound, yet it treads a sort of middle ground between the totally cavernous and old school making for an all round unique take on the genre, especially in a time where extremity seems so essential.

As we cross the threshold into the second half of the record with the titular track the barbaric assault of bass heavy riffs keep coming. In fact it is at this point which I raise an interesting and quite conflicting argument. I for one love Autopsy (one of the best Death Metal bands of all time) but I’m not mad about Death Doom, I really have to be in the mood for it. Yet Cryptic Brood on this record harness the ethos of the California based legends by creating snappy punches that are still rooted in a Doom ideology. I do have one gripe however, the Interlude. Musically brilliant, practically pointless. I really don’t see the need for instrumentals in an album like this, there’s no atmosphere to be added or need for a break, alas it is a subject I shall forever rant about. Luckily the closing two tracks are as blistering as the rest of the record and serve as a suitable climax.

For me this is some top notch Death Doom, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I love this album but the song-writing is of a high standard. Equally the old school outlook the band project shows promise. If this is what Cryptic Brood are beginning to offer then I am certainly very intrigued and excited to hear more. If like me you prefer your Death Doom with heavy bass and still chock full of fast paced traditional sections then this is sure to be a winner. Likewise if you’re wanting something just that little bit different then Cryptic Brood have you covered too.

(7/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/CrypticBrood

https://crypticbrood.bandcamp.com/album/outcome-of-obnoxious-science