SON OF SULPHUR

"Son of Sulphur" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish extreme metal act Crowpath. The album was released through Willowtip Records in USA and Earache Records in Europe in November 2005. Crowpath have existed since 1997 and have put out a couple of minor releases before they released their debut full-length studio album "Red on Chrome" in April 2004. The four-piece lineup who recorded the debut album is intact on "Son of Sulphur".

"Son of Sulphur" is a concept story about a pyromaniac and opens with a couple of tracks telling of his crimes and then the third track on the album "Chased, Caught, and Charged", tells about his capture, but the lyrics for the remaining tracks are actually a bit more vague. I understand the rest of the story as if our protagonist is locked up and is haunted by his illness, and we get a little glimpse of his past with a drunk stepfather, inflicting a trauma on his child soul, which results in his pyromanic tendencies. I interpret the lyrics to the closing track "End in Water" as if the protagonist commits suicide by drowning (...the irony of a pyromaniac drowning isn´t lost on me). It´s a bleak and unpleasant story which suits the extremity of the music perfectly.

...and stylistically "Son of Sulphur" is an ultra extreme album, combining the chaos and speed of grindcore, with the filth and aggression of hardcore, the brutality of death metal, the heaviness of doom/sludge, and the creative ideas and adventurous nature of technical/progressive metal. But whatever you chose to label the music style on "Son of Sulphur", it´s an interesting and very challenging listen. The vocals are a combination of aggressive hardcore/grindcore shouting and death grunts. The riffs are very rarely "normal" metal riffs, but more frequently twisted and dissonant fretboard excursions, while the drums play odd-metered and very brusy patterns and beats. It all sounds like one big uncontrolled chaos (which it certainly isn´t) and it takes a few spins to fully grasp and appreciate Crowpath´s vision.

Everything is performed with great skill and conviction, and the raw yet detailed sound production helps the material shine. To my ears the experimental but more mature songwriting, the high level musicianship, and the concept lyrics, all result in "Son of Sulphur" being a step up from "Red on Chrome (2004)" and Crowpath can be very proud of this sophomore release. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)