It’s something of a chucklesome name in some respects: ‘Warsnail’ or ‘Warcod’, anyone?! There’s little humour, however, in the nastiness peddled by Plymouth, Devon sextet Warcrab. Ashes of Carnage, last year’s EP from the band, is an incendiary mix of Deathly Sludge, blastbeats and groove, topped with howling leadplay and fearsome vocals, and gets a label reissue here through Contagion Records.
The deep growl seeping through ‘Lay All to Waste’ covers a saw-rhythm riff, whilst the scream akin to a pig squeal adorning opener ‘In this Iron Tomb’ shows the contrasting vocal range and provides hostile variation. Brief explosions of Thrash-style soloing are another welcome diversion, as is the ability to switch rhythms on a sixpence and take the tracks into a bulldozing furrow. The savagery and frequent turns of speed are remarkable, given that the rhythm section carries the doomy weight of a dead herd of elephants: the quickened rampant battery of ‘Scourge of Usurpers’ still kicking the bass cans with alarming force, while the knee-buckling bounce of ‘Entombed in Flames’ is delivered with such booming ferocity you’ll envisage an accompanying mountain troll, ninja-moshing into the pit.
The closing title track is a marauding crush through a hammering death groove, that heavy-as-lead power coating it in joyous reverberation. With the added bonus of two tracks from their 2012 eponymous album (Independent release), this is a refreshingly brutal and infectious addition to the low-end canon, steeped in old school sensibilities, and is a deeply satisfying listen.
Beware the waking ‘crab…
7.5/10
PAUL QUINN