CRAVING – Revenge

Black Metal, in most of its forms, always in a way, by many examples, is associated to the chilling and frosting northern winter. Craving, the German band from Oldenburg, is an example of that association. In 2005 they started out playing Melodic Black Metal with Modern Melodic Death Metal and small doses of Folk Metal features. The frost warriors lashed out with a demo release in 2006 and this year they present their first EP which goes by the name of Revenge. The band is currently unsigned.

This release, from its beginning to the end, leaves a chilly feeling in the hearts of the listeners. The music embarks with a pleasant and melodic rhythm till hell breaks loose with an up tempo pace, speedy melodic guitars and growls from under the ice. Overall, the music is very melodic and dark with influences of late Dissection and some Norwegian Black Metal, especially from the melodic era of Immortal. In addition there are small shares of Folk Metal a’la Finntroll. The production on the EP is solid but has some small problems with the mastering, mostly regarding the bass and the vocals. The bass sound, on the recording, is way louder and on various parts it chokes the rhythm guitar. For Example: the 3rd track “Nameless”. In the vocals area there are verses when the vocals are displayed on two channels. The first has the chill of Immortal’s Abbath style vocals and the second has brutal and low death growls. The blend between those two channels is not so complete in various parts of all the songs. Despite these flaws the band shows its intent and executes it with a fine performance.

The one, mostly behind the music is, Ivan Chertov, the leader and on vocals / guitars. Ivan presents his influences all around this release, playing with a versatile capacity. His solos and rhythms help keep the feel of winter on the EP along with demons of winter. The drums by Maik Schaffstadler are, remarkably, crafted and mastered with finesse. A good example is the drumming on the track “Nameless” which has a simple but a strong beginning.

Revenge is a pretty solid piece that shows promise to the band’s next steps in the Metal world. Two of the tracks can be considered standouts. “Nameless”, the best and the longest track on the release has the winter freeze, power and some uplifting and captivating melodies. The vocals on this one are mostly excellent with a strong Immortal influence. “They Will Burn”, the second best track, starts beautifully but only in the middle of it, gets interesting with amazing melodic sections and great vocals.

Craving’s first official creation is full of the glacial world of the wintery northern Black Metal that engulfed the extreme scene of the 90’s. With that influence they explode with mounts of melodies that keep this sub genre more interesting and true. It is positive to say that this band can go far but only time will tell.