DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

Since their debut "To Kill Is Human" back in 1999 DRAWN AND QUARTERED have become one of my all-time favorite bands. Especially the unholy trinity of "Return Of The Black Death" (2004), "Hail Infernal Darkness" (2006) and "Merciless Hammer Of Lucifer" (2007) were my front-running Death Metal albums during the mid 2000s. Brutality mixed with sick and twisted melodies, performed with a barbarous and ruthless attitude. An unholy bastard of IMMOLATION, INCANTATION, early SLAYER and MORBID ANGEL. But like Bob Dylan put it straight: "The times they are a-changin’". Personal interest and flavors, both of musicians and listeners. Still feels wrong when writing these lines, but album number seven is the weakest one in the history of DRAWN AND QUARTERED. The obscure and diabolic feeling is completely lost, since the weird and tangled riffs and the coiled songwriting are missing. Brutality is still on board, but just brutality and nothing more. Of course the trio from Seattle, USA, are luckily far away from being a frog-noising and pig-squealing Deathcore band. But even if you leave the history of the band aside, the album has some severe weak points. The production went wrong, leading to a dull-edged sound. Some riffs sound more like whatever but not like genuine Death Metal guitar work. Blame it one the swampy sound, but for me lots of details are close to being inaudible. At some moments during "The One Who Lurks" (great title anyway) it seems to me the band is lacking of inspiration. The opening tracks ‘Nefarious Rites’ and ‘Ravage The Cadaver’ are convincing with their doom ridden atmosphere, but after ‘Horned Shadows Rise’ with its Black Metal riffing things are getting worse. Besides the mentioned tracks all other songs are build up the same unvaried way. Blastbeat, break, then again blastbeats and interspersed fast guitar solos. One-dimensional brutal Death Metal, surely better than dozens of other bands, but compared to the predecessor "Feeding Hell’s Furnace" a step backwards. www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Mirco Szymyslik

Mirco Szymyslik

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

Somehow I totally missed out DRAWN AND QUARTERED from Seattle in the US, even though the guys are already active since 1993, so they finally celebrate their 25th anniversary with the release of their 7th full-length "The One Who Lurks“. Checking out our page gave me already a hint, what I might have to expect and that the guys are known for quite solid material. The opening track ‘Nefarious Rites‘ already is a thick piece of slow and doomy Death Metal, spreading an uncanny atmosphere. Somehow I felt like I was in the middle of the horror movie ‘Conjuring’ I just watched some days ago. The guitars are thick as hell. The drumming is intense and the deep horror-esque grunts which are mixed to the background really spread an intense atmosphere. Somewhere between maybe INCANTATION and AUTOPSY, the guys managed to find their own little gloomy niche. The material is not too easy to get into and the classical songwriting scheme does not appear here at all. Instead of writing songs with a clear structure and the typical chorus stuff, the band varies their material with some really fine leads and solos but always interrupting the classic flow of the tracks. But together with the deep monotone but well-fitting vocals, this way of songwriting makes this output pretty interesting because on the one hand the listener is taken into a deep and dark world and gets apathetic while listening, on the other hand the incorporated solos really keep the mind concentrated not to miss any good details. Sometimes the guys leave their own structures and bring some organized chaos into the material like MORBID ANGEL used to do in their golden years but they always return to the left hand path. There are dozens of small and fine details to discover in the songs but it takes several spins to find those. The overall production is raw and dirty but still very powerful and gets rounded off by a disturbing cover artwork. Fans of the mentioned bands but also fans of bands like CRUCIAMENTUM etc. should give this output a try. For more info, please check the following sources: www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Michael Kujawska

Michael Kujawska

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

There are bands that are like a fine wine: they get better with age. A privilege for the chosen few and I think that DRAWN AND QUARTERED from Seattle deserve to be part of this restricted circle. They’re a pretty old and legendary name in the American Death Metal undergound scene, since they’re active since 1993. In a quarter of a century DRAWN AND QUARTERED have released six killer albums and a bunch of demos and EPs; now in 2018 they’re back with their seventh full length effort entitled “The One Who Lurks” and released by the French label Krucyator Productions. Eight songs for almost 40 minutes of top quality old school American Death Metal, the way it should be played. Here you get everything you could ever want from a perfect Death Metal album: heaviness, musicianship and evilness, all following in the highest tradition of the genre. Take all the adjectives that can be associated with a Death Metal masterpiece, and you’ll get a clear idea of how “The One Who Lurks” sounds; it’s putrid, evil, morbid, sick, suffocating when the tempo slows down and brutal when they speed up. The whole album is imbued with a strong INCANTATIONesque feel, characterized by an oppressive alternation of doomy parts in the vein of AUTOPSY and furious accelerations. The riffing is solid and well structured with many creepy melodies and some killer guitar leads, able to create a gloomy atmosphere in the slow parts and pure chaos in the fast ones. The rhythm section is brutal and precise with a punchy bass tone and a dynamic drumming very reminiscent of killer American Death Metal drummers such as Lee Harrison, Craig Smilowski and Jim Roe. What the vocals concern, here we have the typical deep and ultra guttural growlings à la Craig Pillard, much better than the last John McEntee’s performances. There’s a great potential in “The One Who Lurks”, an album that can boast a Morrisound like production, as well as an obscure and gore drenched cover artwork. If you call yourself a true Death Metal fanatic and if you’re into bands like INCANTATION, DISCIPLES OF MOCKERY, early IMMOLATION, MONSTROSITY, SADISTIC INTENT, early MORBID ANGEL etc. this is a mandatory addition to your collection. All further DRAWN AND QUARTERED information you will find at: www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, label contact: www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Rick Peart

Rick Peart

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

The name DRAWN AND QUARTERED crossed my way from time to time without really raising my attention. I somehow knew that they were a Death Metal outfit, but I didn’t even remember that they are from the US, for example. Yet I was really surprised to find that DRAWN AND QUARTERED are around for a quarter of a century by now, having released seven full length albums plus some demos and EPs. Listening to their newest album “The One Who Lurks”, I realised that I might have missed something rather huge until today since this album really blew me away. From the first notes of the opener ‘Nefarious Rites’, this old school based Death Metal knows to captivate the listener. It is the dark atmosphere and the basic, pretty lavaesque speed of DRAWN AND QUARTERED that caught my attention to the fullest. Yet, “The One Who Lurks” can not by classified as Doom Death Metal, due to some rather chaotic blast attacks every now and then, that really are the special charm of the album. But as soon as these attacks are over and the basic slow grind returns, it feels like coming home somehow. And the diversified drumming is not the only thing worth mentioning on “The One Who Lurks”, of course. The guitars are excellent as well, always dark and downtuned, yet never boring or too simple. The dark growling vocals might miss some change for some, but on the other hand, they fit perfectly to the dark and exalted songwriting of DRAWN AND QUARTERED. In addition, the sound of the album is raw, intense and concrete. So, in case you like Death Metal, you should really check out “The One Who Lurks” and maybe some older stuff from DRAWN AND QUARTERED as well, at least I will do that. Find out more at www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered or www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Thomas Meyer

Thomas Meyer

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

DRAWN AND QUARTERED (founded in 1993) is one of the most underrated contemporary Death Metal bands and definitely one of the best bands around. They released one killer album after the other but never got the attention they deserved. And that’s something I will never understand. Countless mediocre or crappy bands or hipster wannabe Death Metal projects were highly praised by the media but a true Death Metal monster such as DRAWN AND QUARTERED is still ignored by most magazines, fanzines and webzines. Well my friends, it’s never too late to check out “new” bands, isn’t it? DRAWN AND QUARTERED stands for darkness, brutality, vicious and grim atmosphere and great compositions. The band created eight varied hymns of sinister, unholy and brutal Death Metal the way it was meant to be. DRAWN AND QUARTERED perfectly combines heavy doomy parts, galloping mid paced parts and thundering speed eruptions to great songs. Demonic vocals and a dirty but powerful production complete the picture. Just listen to track five ‘Temples Of Arcane Devotion’ and you will understand what I’m talking about. In my humble opinion the band’s seventh full-length "The One Who Lurks" is one of the top ten Death Metal albums of 2018. To sum it up: this a killer release you better don’t miss. Get your copy now! Hail the Metal of Death! Hail DRAWN AND QUARTERED! More info at: www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Hacker

Hacker

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

Since their debut "To Kill Is Human" back in 1999 DRAWN AND QUARTERED have become one of my all-time favorite bands. Especially the unholy trinity of "Return Of The Black Death" (2004), "Hail Infernal Darkness" (2006) and "Merciless Hammer Of Lucifer" (2007) were my front-running Death Metal albums during the mid 2000s. Brutality mixed with sick and twisted melodies, performed with a barbarous and ruthless attitude. An unholy bastard of IMMOLATION, INCANTATION, early SLAYER and MORBID ANGEL. But like Bob Dylan put it straight: "The times they are a-changin’". Personal interest and flavors, both of musicians and listeners. Still feels wrong when writing these lines, but album number seven is the weakest one in the history of DRAWN AND QUARTERED. The obscure and diabolic feeling is completely lost, since the weird and tangled riffs and the coiled songwriting are missing. Brutality is still on board, but just brutality and nothing more. Of course the trio from Seattle, USA, are luckily far away from being a frog-noising and pig-squealing Deathcore band. But even if you leave the history of the band aside, the album has some severe weak points. The production went wrong, leading to a dull-edged sound. Some riffs sound more like whatever but not like genuine Death Metal guitar work. Blame it one the swampy sound, but for me lots of details are close to being inaudible. At some moments during "The One Who Lurks" (great title anyway) it seems to me the band is lacking of inspiration. The opening tracks ‘Nefarious Rites’ and ‘Ravage The Cadaver’ are convincing with their doom ridden atmosphere, but after ‘Horned Shadows Rise’ with its Black Metal riffing things are getting worse. Besides the mentioned tracks all other songs are build up the same unvaried way. Blastbeat, break, then again blastbeats and interspersed fast guitar solos. One-dimensional brutal Death Metal, surely better than dozens of other bands, but compared to the predecessor "Feeding Hell’s Furnace" a step backwards. www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Mirco Szymyslik

Mirco Szymyslik

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

Somehow I totally missed out DRAWN AND QUARTERED from Seattle in the US, even though the guys are already active since 1993, so they finally celebrate their 25th anniversary with the release of their 7th full-length "The One Who Lurks“. Checking out our page gave me already a hint, what I might have to expect and that the guys are known for quite solid material. The opening track ‘Nefarious Rites‘ already is a thick piece of slow and doomy Death Metal, spreading an uncanny atmosphere. Somehow I felt like I was in the middle of the horror movie ‘Conjuring’ I just watched some days ago. The guitars are thick as hell. The drumming is intense and the deep horror-esque grunts which are mixed to the background really spread an intense atmosphere. Somewhere between maybe INCANTATION and AUTOPSY, the guys managed to find their own little gloomy niche. The material is not too easy to get into and the classical songwriting scheme does not appear here at all. Instead of writing songs with a clear structure and the typical chorus stuff, the band varies their material with some really fine leads and solos but always interrupting the classic flow of the tracks. But together with the deep monotone but well-fitting vocals, this way of songwriting makes this output pretty interesting because on the one hand the listener is taken into a deep and dark world and gets apathetic while listening, on the other hand the incorporated solos really keep the mind concentrated not to miss any good details. Sometimes the guys leave their own structures and bring some organized chaos into the material like MORBID ANGEL used to do in their golden years but they always return to the left hand path. There are dozens of small and fine details to discover in the songs but it takes several spins to find those. The overall production is raw and dirty but still very powerful and gets rounded off by a disturbing cover artwork. Fans of the mentioned bands but also fans of bands like CRUCIAMENTUM etc. should give this output a try. For more info, please check the following sources: www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Michael Kujawska

Michael Kujawska

DRAWN AND QUARTERED
The One Who Lurks
(Krucyator Productions)
40:33min

There are bands that are like a fine wine: they get better with age. A privilege for the chosen few and I think that DRAWN AND QUARTERED from Seattle deserve to be part of this restricted circle. They’re a pretty old and legendary name in the American Death Metal undergound scene, since they’re active since 1993. In a quarter of a century DRAWN AND QUARTERED have released six killer albums and a bunch of demos and EPs; now in 2018 they’re back with their seventh full length effort entitled “The One Who Lurks” and released by the French label Krucyator Productions. Eight songs for almost 40 minutes of top quality old school American Death Metal, the way it should be played. Here you get everything you could ever want from a perfect Death Metal album: heaviness, musicianship and evilness, all following in the highest tradition of the genre. Take all the adjectives that can be associated with a Death Metal masterpiece, and you’ll get a clear idea of how “The One Who Lurks” sounds; it’s putrid, evil, morbid, sick, suffocating when the tempo slows down and brutal when they speed up. The whole album is imbued with a strong INCANTATIONesque feel, characterized by an oppressive alternation of doomy parts in the vein of AUTOPSY and furious accelerations. The riffing is solid and well structured with many creepy melodies and some killer guitar leads, able to create a gloomy atmosphere in the slow parts and pure chaos in the fast ones. The rhythm section is brutal and precise with a punchy bass tone and a dynamic drumming very reminiscent of killer American Death Metal drummers such as Lee Harrison, Craig Smilowski and Jim Roe. What the vocals concern, here we have the typical deep and ultra guttural growlings à la Craig Pillard, much better than the last John McEntee’s performances. There’s a great potential in “The One Who Lurks”, an album that can boast a Morrisound like production, as well as an obscure and gore drenched cover artwork. If you call yourself a true Death Metal fanatic and if you’re into bands like INCANTATION, DISCIPLES OF MOCKERY, early IMMOLATION, MONSTROSITY, SADISTIC INTENT, early MORBID ANGEL etc. this is a mandatory addition to your collection. All further DRAWN AND QUARTERED information you will find at: www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered, label contact: www.facebook.com/krucyatorproductions

Rick Peart

Rick Peart

Related reviews / interviews:
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence (Randolph Whateley)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence (Thomas Meyer)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence (Alfonso Perez)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence (Rick Peart)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence (Vamsi Kanagovi)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Proliferation Of Disease (Hacker)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Crusaders Of Blasphemy (Frank Stöver)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Crusaders Of Blasphemy (Stefan Franke)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Feeding Hell's Furnace (Hacker)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Conquerors Of Sodom (Hacker)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Return Of The Black Death (Frank Stöver)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Merciless Hammer Of Lucifer (Jeroni Sancho)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Hail Infernal Darkness (Frank Stöver )
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Extermination Revelry (Stefan Franke)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Interview (Rick Peart)
DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Interview (Frank Stöver)

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