ALBUM REVIEW: Craft – White Noise And Black Metal

I am here to review the new album of Misanthropic Black Metal act CRAFT!

1.The Cosmic Sphere Falls opens the release with atmospheric, bleak and intricate riffs. The cascading notes fall into place perfectly with blasting drums and eerie screams. The sounds created create a haunting melancholy with shifts that bombarde the listener beautifully. The progressions are played very well and the song structure is very technical for Black Metal, then falling into more old school territory. A great opener.
2. Again is a sheerly bleak, misanthropic and experimental piece of Black Metal mastery, it is unnerving and blistering in sound. A really great track that makes the listener feel attacked in a way Misanthropic Black Metal should. The dissonance of this song is wonderful and absolute.
3. Undone opens with more atmospheric and traditional Black Metal riffs but still holding on to the dissonance and general experimentation that Craft keep up so well. The attack of this song is executed in a really melodic manner and makes for a very interesting listen. The vocals have a really miserable and ambient feel to them which sounds gorgeous in the mix. The guitars create an intricate and original atmosphere which for Black Metal seems very grandiose and is just a pleasure to witness.
4. Tragedy of Pointless Games kicks in with heavily distorted guitars and a more old school style, an awesome change in pace to a more headbanger friendly approach. The lead guitar work is hypnotic with a simple but still unusual rhythm and bass section. The drums feel more unique than a lot of modern Black Metal and finally the vocals sound hideously great.
5. Darkness Falls has an opening riff that sounds more suited to a classic NWOBHM song, but of course that goes into more blackened territory, the shift being doing in a very creative and interesting manner. The experimental nature of this track reminds me of Master’s Hammer but without the techno synths. It clearly draws inspiration from a wide spectrum of genres and artists, which is a very good thing in making unique art.
6. Crimson slows things into a bleaker and more depraved soundscape. The structure and songwriting are fascinating and sound some inhuman. The track has a discomforting feel and although being very relatively melodic, the sinister vibes are not shying. The instruments work together to create a very disillusioning wall of sounds, the musicianship is very impressive here and the spoken word section sounds evil as hell on top of all this.
7. Shadow brings more dissonance and hateful sounds. The more aggressive blasts and tremolo picking topped with hideous vocals may seem more traditional to Black Metal but I assure you this is unlike most things you will hear. Few acts perfect this Misanthropic and uncomfortable sound so well as bands like Craft or Leviathan. The song is masterfully played and written and just shows no forgiveness to the listener, a true attack of Black Metal and White Noise for sure.
8. White Noise closes the album with one last epitome of aggression. The discordant and atmospheric riffs sound beautiful in a sort of grotesque way. The song is more antagonistic in rhythm and the vocals more akin to bands like Immortal or Inquisition which sound very different to previous Craft songs. An absolutely astounding last piece and definitely one of the best (though I like “Again” most of all). The cold and more traditional Black Metal approach to this song works excellently and sounds really phenomenal.

What we are given is over 40 minutes of dissonant, aggressive and uniquely experimental Black Metal with killer production and great songwriting. -8.5/10