It may be a common thing to bitch about, but fast-paced modern lifestyles and an endless stream of metal releases dropping every week make it an impossible task to catch on to every worthwhile album that may fit snuggly into your wheelhouse. Trawling through a stack of overlooked gems from 2023, I stumbled across the impressive sophomore album from Japan’s Kruelty. In another bumper year for death metal enthusiasts, Kruelty channel classic Swedeath vibes from yesteryear, done Japanese style, armed with a healthy hardcore and doom kick. The Tokyo quartet formed in 2017, recording a lengthy string of short-form releases before arriving at their 2019 debut LP, A Dying Truth. Now with a solid number of years under their belt as a unit, Kruelty unleashed a power-packed second LP way back in March 2023. And if you happened to miss it initially, as I did, I am here to rectify the oversight and introduce you to the formidable slab of solid school death, entitled Untopia.
Kruelty plow and grind their way through seven meaty cuts across a tight and filler-free thirty-seven minutes, freeing the beast and leaving nothing in the tank. “Unknown Nightmare” kicks things off with eerie samples and chants, giving way to a thunderous assault of caveman clubbing grooves, violently catchy d-beat rhythms, filthy death meets hardcore riffs, and thick, throaty roars. Simple on the surface, the ironclad strength of the writing, diverse delivery, and catchy pummel keep the listener firmly locked in. Dueling vocals, including crazed higher-pitched shrieks and anguished screams to complement the predominant deeper growls, add more fuel to the bloody rampage. The song-to-song consistency and quality are impressively maintained throughout the album’s duration, each cut bringing its own character, memorable riffs, and churning grooves to the table. In the end, it’s the solid, passionate performances, tight, efficiently brutal execution, and uncomplicated, memorable songwriting that lifts Kruelty’s Untopia above the pack.
Kruelty’s crusty, mighty dealings possess the far-reaching appeal to attract old school Swedish death aficionados, into the likes of Grave and Entombed, along with listeners who get their kicks from the battle-hardened grooves and crushing weight of Bolt Thrower, or contemporaries such as Gatecreeper and Warcrab. Whatever your deathly poison of choice, Kruelty caters to a wide audience. The varied tempos, top-notch riffs, and loose, unhinged vibe elevate well-constructed songs dripping with atmosphere and loaded with potent hooks, killer riffs and headbangable moments. Highlights include the riffy, skull-cracking heft and doom-encrusted weight of “Burn the System,” grinding, swaggering crush of ‘Reincarnation,” and the more frantic, deadly assault of “Maze of Suffering,” but it’s all good stuff. “Harder Than Before” is another strong cut that brings the beef, doomy-death crush and crusty hardcore attitude in spades.
There is some serious heft and a rough, endearing garage charm to the production, especially the drums. As such the whole package carries a sizable weight and raw organic edge, without sacrificing crisp clarity. Amidst a quality selection of varied death metal platters in 2023, Kruelty’s Untopia is a top-shelf platter not to be underestimated and is well worth the time and energy to tap into their gnarly old school death meets hardcore/death-doom formula.
Tracks to Check Out: ”Maze of Suffering,” “Burn the System,” “Reincarnation”
