As always with bands I do not know, I first listened to the release a few times without acquiring any further information. And that is why I was amazed at the break in both style and sound. But that makes some kind of sense, because it is the EP “Blood Sustenance” from 2020 and the one year prior released debut “To The Grave”. Just in case you heard the name CRYPT CRAWLER or the first time, their latest full-length “The Immortal Realm” is a fine mixture of bands like INCANTATION, BOLT THROWER and DEATH during times of “Leprosy” and “Spiritual Healing”. All of these roots are already laid out in the four songs on the EP and are a real feast for Death Metal listeners. When it comes to the first full-length, things are a little different. The sound is quite thin and the songwriting is not down to the point. Instead, especially the opener, with its interspersed female spoken words, sound more like an experiment back in the early 1990s. Bands like TIAMAT or PARADISE LOST with their first releases came to my mind. Fortunately the album manages to turn things around and CRYPT CRAWLER are not drifting further toward Gothic Metal, sound more like slower parts of BOLT THROWER or UNLEASHED. Just to be clear, I really do like the early works of TIAMAT and PARADISE LOST, but the opener ‘An Exorcism’ is quite different from the rest and does not seem to fit to the more genuine Death Metal played during the rest of the playing time. Anyway, fans of CRYPT CRAWLER will definitely want to check this out and everyone else should definitely give it a listen too by visiting www.facebook.com/cryptcrawlermetal, www.facebook.com/fdarec