Bestial metal is a thing. It’s not widely-known, and none of the bands that typify it’s style are world-renowned, but then again, it’s a metal sub-genre, and Beherit is perhaps the earliest example of the Bestial metal style. What do I know? The fact that bands like Vomitchapel spew out more beastly growls and gurgles than a tribe of insane cannibals is not a surprise, so when I come across bands that play this style well, my ears are piqued. Count Crurifragium as one of bestial black/death metal’s best purveyors so far. Their release Beasts of the Temple of Satan inspires the sort of chaotic moshing that puts arena metal bands to shame, no matter how many lame-stream mainstream metal hits the latter have in their repertoire.
Live, this band may never fill an arena, let alone a theatre. “Who the fuck is Crurifragium?!!,” the modern mainstream metal fan may dare subject us to. “How can they compare to Watain?!!,” comes another absurd question. The fact is, Crurifragium may inspire zealots of underground war/bestial, black/death metal to check out the show, but most metal fans will be undoubtedly driven to stare at this band should they play live at a club. Beasts of the Temple of Satan is intense, to say the least, and no modern death metal band can punch holes in the tweeters like this band can.
Crurifragium occasionally groove, solo, and do the things that bands do, but they play with such downtuned heaviness and intensity, modern metal fans might either be won over to the dark side with splendid admiration, or altogether reject the band’s hyperion intensity as madness typical of a man made ill by a hamburger infected with mad cow disease. Again, it would be good for metal fans to have some well-roundedness, turned on to heavier, more obscure acts out of plain astonishment for music impressive as this, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim. In fact, most people will perhaps swear off of this bestial metal thing. Too extreme! Move on, the usual suspects proclaim.
And that’s a shame, but it’s the irrepressible truth of the matter. For Cvlt Nation, there are bands that plain murder with extremeness, and for mainstream media, there are bands that mosh to pop metal typicality. Watain playing? Save the date? Nah…I’ll check out Crurifragium instead. Beasts of the Temple of Satan, indeed.
