ENCRYPTMENT is a Swedish death/crust metal band from Sweden. They formed in 2015 and “Dödens födsel” is their full length debut album; they have also released an EP and a demo. I have never heard of this band before and this album was a surprise from deep within the unending promo pile. I can confidently say that “Dödens födse” is a pleasant surprise—this album is savage as hell. The unrelenting battering ram that is death metal smashes into the unlimited energy of punk—-the result is some damn extreme crust that leans in heavy with the death metal elements.
Punk and metal are both uncompromising in their own ways yet this album embraces the two styles, mashes them together, and pushes them out the other side as the most beautiful waste. Marcus is the only guitarist and he does a great job in filling up the band’s sound—this album is chock full of tasty riff work. Joe and Anton’s rhythm machine is one that stays well oiled, using the feverish energy as a battery ram of pure focus. The leader of all this carnage is vocalist Christoffer, whose vocals mean, throaty, and grimy, Both the vocals and production benefit from a raw(ish) production but the mix keeps the songs from sounding too muddled. As far as the compositions themselves go, most of the songs don't sound too far removed from each other but there are a couple of surprises.
The album's run time certainly works in its favor, with eight songs clocking in about thirty two minutes. By the time any monotony can set in, the whole thing is over. The title track opens the album, a bold move to be sure but the band backs it up. Chaos rules the album with wild lead guitar and a frenzied assortment of riffs. All of it gets backed up by a strong rhythm section that embraces the chaos and controls it to use as a bludgeoning tool. The last half of the song is groovy as hell and reveals the album's secret weapon: songs that rise constantly. As the peak is reached, the downward slope doesn't begin but instead the music jumps to another, taller mountain and begins to climb once more.
"Silver Tongue" begins so immediately that it feels like the song has already been going. Some might find that frustrating but I appreciate the break neck approach. Sometimes all I need is musical carnage. Around the minute and a half mark, the song slows to a sinister crawl before picking up speed once more and throwing in a short but blistering solo because why not? "Existens i ambivalens," is coated in this subtle but strange atmosphere that is hard to pin down but it works by contrasting with the punk on steroids energy to lend the song this otherworldly atmosphere. This song is a nice surprise and the placement in the track listing sort of allows the album to refocus and finish out strongly in the final half.
"Poisonous Salvation," is an amazing song. The first part is a slow, massive dirge that feels like a growing, life sucking void that is approaching its zenith. The song grows, subtlety speeding up and gaining traction until this void finally consumes all around the 2:35 mark. The final track, "Withered Hands," is a goddamn beastly song. The tempo ebbs and flows, revealing different dangers upon the feverish sea with a subtle dissonance that is just enough to drive one mad while keeping the fear still very much alive. ENCRYPMENT's "Dödens födsel," is an album that reveals itself over time to have a surprisingly large amount of depth. This is one death trip well worth taking—over and over again, especially because the album gets better as it goes along.
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/cd_3/e_2/encryptment-doedens.htm
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