CROATOAN

Croatoan is the third album by the band Starkweather, one of the pioneering bands in Metalcore, after the hiatus since 1997 with Into The Wire, my first contact with this band was with the EP ''Nightmare Memory'' from 2013 and I absolutely loved it. insanely heavy and diverse sound, and after listening to the whole album, I say without a shadow of a doubt that Croatoan is one of the best things to come out of the genre, one thing I like about Starkweather and that remains here is how insanely heavy the songs are but in no way do they end up becoming cheesy, which ends up happening a lot in bands that want to be as extreme as possible, the mix is strident and with a lot of identity, the riffs are memorable by Todd Forkin and Harry Rosa drums are simply mind-blowing, and the songs are not only heavy and catchy, but also present diversity and very progressive aspects, Silken Garotte has a very tribal session, Taming Leeches With Fire and the constant change of riffs along with Liam Wilson groovy versatile bass, and so on. The way these elements fit together with how powerful the composition is very unique.

and what can we say about this album without mentioning Rennie Resmini vocals? I love them, not because they are beautiful, in fact, it's just the opposite, it's raw, strange and Rennie sings with a lot of pain and despair even in the softest sessions, Rennie is the one who gives Starkweather the most identity and it's difficult to think of a work by band without him, are vocals above all, organic and unique and that fit perfectly into the painful atmosphere that the band wants to convey, however, Croatoan doesn't completely work, at times it falls into the trap of falling into cheesiness due to wanting to have a heavy sound, Taming Leeches With Fire is fantastic, but the part where Rennie repeats the name of the song doesn't sound very good compared to half.

Silken Garotte sometimes sounds pretentious, and in general, it's a material that has its moments that don't do justice to the highest points, but in no way do they end up detracting from the experience and they still sound cool, but as a whole, Croatoan is incredible, a must have for those who like extreme metal, extreme prog metal, metalcore, and experimental music, Starkweather cruel universe is not for everyone, but for those willing to give it a chance, you may come across one of the densest and heaviest albums that has already emerged in the Metalcore scene.

9/10

(Note: I recommend that moderators change incorrect information that is -The bassist on this album is Liam Wilson, not Vince Rosa -The order of the songs is wrong)

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